2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics, was supposed to be a year-long celebration for China. Instead, the country has been hit by turmoil and tragedy. The devastating earthquake in Sichuan province, which has claimed nearly 13,000 lives, is but the latest in a series of disasters and controversies since the beginning of this year. As Claudia Blume reports from Hong Kong, one effect has been rising national pride.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, center, consoles the families in Beichuan, Sichuan province, 14 May 2008 China's leaders were quick to respond to Monday's earthquake. Tens of thousands of troops have rushed to provide relief operations. Premier Wen Jiabao immediately flew to the disaster zone. His visit and the rescue efforts are constantly shown on Chinese television.
Danny Paau, a political scientist at Hong Kong's Baptist University, says this has an enormous propaganda effect on ordinary citizens.
"It seems to me that everything just drums up the nationalism," he said. "They are identifying with the government, the very quick responses. Then of course through the TV, everybody is watching - all these things."
China has faced a number of disasters and controversies since the beginning of 2008, which was supposed to be an Olympic year of celebration. It started just before the Lunar New Year, when the country was hit by the worst snow storms in five decades. Transportation in much of the country was shut down and millions of homes lost electricity.
In March, anti-government riots erupted in Tibet. The subsequent government crackdown sparked worldwide protests and led to chaotic scenes during the global Olympic torch relay. Those protests led to a rise in nationalist sentiment as millions of Chinese complained about what they saw as unfair treatment by Western media and human rights activists.
One thing that has gone well has been the Olympic preparations. Facilities have been completed on time, and with few problems. Despite glitches in the sales system, demand for tickets has been high, and Beijing is ready for the thousands of athletes, officials and sports fan who will arrive in August.
Ordinary people seem not to be too worried about the string of problems this year.
"I don't think it's a problem," one person said. "Good luck will follow us. I trust China will hold the Olympics successfully."
The disasters do have a cost - the snowstorms early in the year contributed to inflation and shut down factories. The earthquake may add some inflationary pressure but economists say it is likely to do less damage. Ting Lu is an economist with the investment bank Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong.
"That's because first of all, the earthquake is in China's western provinces, in Sichuan, and actually it's not in a manufacturing center or even agricultural center. It's in the mountain region, so economically it's not so important," Lu said.
Lu says Sichuan's manufacturing output is only two-and-a-half percent of the country's total, and most of that is concentrated in urban areas that were less affected by the earthquake. He also expects there will be no severe effect on farm production in the area.
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2008年是中国的奥运年，按说应当是喜气洋洋的一年。但是实际上，这一年里，中国面临的却是灾难和麻烦不断。四川省刚刚发生的大地震，已经夺去了将近一万五千人的生命，而这只是今年年初就开始的一连串天灾人祸的最新一波。所有这些天灾人祸加在一起，所产生的一个效应，是增进了中国人的民族自豪感。
中国领导人对星期一四川省发生的这场大地震所作出的反应是非常及时。成千上万的部队官兵被急速派遣到当地投入救援工作。温家宝总理也立即飞到受灾现场。温家宝在灾区访问的画面，以及各种救援工作的场面，都频频显示在电视屏幕上。在香港浸会大学的政治学教授鲍绍霖看来，所有这一切，在普通老百姓心目中，都起到了巨大的宣传作用。
他说：“在我看来，所有这些都能激发民族主义情绪。这一切，包括这次地震过后的快速反应，都激发老百姓对政府的认同感。不用说，电视上播出的画面，人人都在看。”
原以为2008是一个充满著庆祝活动的奥运年，但是自从年初以来，中国面临了一系列的天灾人祸。先是春节前夕那场五十年不遇的雪灾，使得全国大部分地区交通瘫痪，数以百万计的住宅停电。3月份，西藏地区又发生了抗议活动。接下来，中国政府对上述抗议活动的镇压又招致了国际间的广泛批评，以及奥运火炬传递期间的各种风波。
与此同时，国际间的批评和抗议又引发了民族主义情绪，很多的中国人认为，西方媒体以及人权活动人士在西藏问题的报导上有所偏失。
有一件事进行得很顺利，那就是北京奥运的准备工作。各个奥运场馆设施都准时完工，而且没有什么问题。尽管售票系统出现一些故障，但是购票的需求高涨，北京也已经为8月份前来的成千上万名运动员、官员和体育爱好者做好了准备。
一般人也似乎对今年以来一连串的问题不感到特别担心。一名香港妇女说：“我不认为这是一个问题。好运会随著而来。我确信中国会成功地主办奥运。”
这些灾害的确也造成了损失，今年初的暴风雪就造成通货膨胀，导致工厂关门。刚刚发生的地震也许又会对通货膨胀构成压力，但是经济学家表示，造成的损失可能比雪灾小。
卢廷是美林投资银行香港分行的经济专家。他说：“这是因为，首先，这场地震发生在中国西部的四川省，而那里不是产业中心，甚至不是农业中心。那里主要是山区，所以对经济不是那么重要。”
卢廷说，四川省的制造业产值只占全国的百分之二点五，而且大部分集中在城市地区，而那里没有受到地震的太大影响。他并且预测，地震对当地的农业生产也不会造成什么严重影响。
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