'Authorities should deliver an honest explanation': First comments by Tianjin’s ex-party boss - now current vice-premier - on disaster response

Chinese state media has for the first time reported remarks over Tianjin’s deadly blasts by a senior politician, who had served as the Communist Party’s city boss before rising to the top echelon of politics.

Executive Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, a member of the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, had convened seven video conferences and issued 29 instructions over the rescue operation and investigation into the hazardous warehouse explosion that killed at least 158 and injured hundreds, Xinhua reported, citing Mayor Huang Xingguo at an special meeting on Monday night.

According to Huang, Zhang repeatedly called for thorough investigations into those who had violated the law, no matter their position, it said.

In the aftermath of the blast, media reports have questioned how the warehouse’s operator, Ruihai International Logistics, was able to secure authorities’ approval to convert a logistics centre near residential areas and highways into a time bomb.

The investigation should be a thorough one, Huang quoted Zhang as saying. The authorities should be transparent in their response and deliver an honest explanation to the public.

On Sunday, Zhang called for precautions in handling the work at the disaster scene, as rain was forecast in the upcoming days, Xinhua’s website reported.

The authorities are still clearing sodium cyanide – a toxic chemical that releases deadly cyanide gas upon contact with water – from the area.

Before joining the seven-member standing committee in 2012, Zhang spent five years in Tianjin as its party boss. Binhai New Area, where the blasts occurred, was the hub of the port city’s economic growth during his tenure.

Official media had previously not carried comments from Zhang about the disaster, even though his immediate boss, Premier Li Keqiang, had inspected the area.

Zhang’s portfolio focuses on economic and financial issues, while industrial safety falls to Vice-Premier Ma Kai.