Special report: Reconstruction After Earthquake

    By Xinhua Writer Bai Xu     

    CHENGDU, May 31 (Xinhua) -- As International Children's Day is approaching on Sunday, the Chinese government has promptly issued policies for parents whose children were killed in the May 12 earthquake.

    Families with children who died or were disabled in the quake should be given "due consideration in terms of re-birth policies," according to a statement released by the earthquake relief headquarters of the State Council on Friday.

    The move was made to provide consolation to the thousands of parents who lost their only children in the devastating quake that shook Sichuan and the neighboring Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, among others.

    Sitting numbly in a tent in Mianzhu City, 26-year-old Wang Wenying murmurs the name of her dead son, Zeng Yu.

    "Indeed, having another baby could ease our pain of bereavement," she said, adding it was still too early to think of it and her husband and her needed some time to pacify themselves.

    Zeng and his grandpa were on a bus when the massive quake jolted the mountainous area of southwestern China. They have not been seen since.

    "The day after the children's day will be his fifth birthday," Wang said. "He was cute and dear to us. I should preserve a room for him in my heart forever."

    The quake, so far, has killed 68,977 and left 17,974 others missing.

    Wang Zaiyin, head of the Population and Family Planning Commission of Sichuan, estimated about 7,000 deceased and 16,000 injured were the only children of their families, although the exact numbers were still being counted.

    With a population of more than 87 million, Sichuan has maintained tight control over child birth. In its family planning regulation there are 13 items under which parents could have more than one child -- death in an earthquake is not on the list.

    "We will discuss with the provincial people's congress on Monday to amend the regulation as soon as possible," Wang said.

    "Adjustment of the family planning policy in the disaster-hit regions is quite timely. It could soothe the anguish of parents," added Zhang Mincai, China Population Association secretary-general.

    China's "one-child" policy has been in effect for more than three decades and has prevented an estimated 400 million births. It limits most urban couples to one child and rural couples to two.

    "The policy came out in a special age, when curbing population growth was a paramount goal. But it should be adapted to the real situation," Zhang added.

    But some netizens expressed worries.

    "In many such families, parents are no longer young enough to have kids," said one from the central Hubei Province anonymously. "In fact, middle-aged parents could choose to adopt or resort to high-tech measures to give birth to another child."

    The statement said child-bearing consultation and relevant technological services should also be provided free of charge.

    If these families were willing to adopt children orphaned in the quake, relevant agencies should give priority, according to the statement.

    A netizen from the southern Guangdong Province suggested that mature couples be given the first chance at adoption.

    According to the statement from the earthquake relief headquarters of the State Council, the country's Cabinet, all school buildings in the quake zone should be appraised. Buildings whose design and construction violated the construction standard should be dealt with according to the law.

    "I believe that the government should give us a satisfactory answer for the death of my daughter," said a pale women with disheveled hair who declined to be named.

    Her daughter was among 127 dead in the Fuxin No. 2 Primary School in Mianzhu City. The building was leveled within 10 seconds. However, most of the surrounding residences remained standing, including those built in the 1960s.

    A Xinhua reporter witnessed that the steel reinforcement rods inside the collapsed school building were "even thinner than straws of wheat."

    On May 25, more than 100 parents of children killed in the school collapse marched downtown with slogans reading "We need a reply for the undeserved victims," as well as photographs of their children. They questioned the construction quality and asked the authorities to investigate.

    It was a quiet protest and they planned to reach the seat of Deyang City less than 50 km away.

    Jiang Guohua, Mianzhu City Party secretary, knelt down four times trying to persuade the crowd not to go any further.

    "I promise to produce a solution within a month. If the collapse was caused by construction problems, we will seriously deal with it according to the law. We will mete out due punishment to people accountable for that, as well as compensate the victims' families," he said.

    "We want to get the answer in Deyang," said the unnamed mother, whose eyes were dry, apparently drained of tears.

    Chen Baosheng, an expert from the Shanghai-based Tongji University and a member of an investigation team under the Ministry of Construction, confirmed speculation of quality problems in the Juyuan Middle School in Dujiangyan. Its collapse buried 900 in the quake.

    "The steel reinforcement rods in the building's concrete were too thin," he said.

    "I am saddened about this fact. Children are our nation's future and the quality standard of schools should definitely be higher," said sociologist Ding Yuanzhu from Beijing University.

    "If we can turn back the clock and had paid more attention to the qualities of school buildings, more students would have survived," said a netizen nicknamed Liuli Suiyue. "Hopefully, this tragedy would make people reflect on the quality issue."

    Wu Zhongmin, a professor with the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, noted the reconstruction of belief was also important in rebuilding the homeland of the quake-affected area.

    "Such policies could help boost the trust of people to the society," he said, "especially as they are related to children. The attitude to children in a country reflects its governing concept."

    (Xinhua reporters Yuan Jian, Hai Mingwei and Yang Sanjun from the Sichuan bureau contributed to the story.)