Vilification turns to sympathy for China after quake

By Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING (Reuters) - After weeks of being vilified for a crackdown on rioting in Tibet, China is suddenly at the receiving end of international sympathy and goodwill as it grapples with the aftermath of Monday's deadly earthquake.

"China is the victim. It'll be politically incorrect to criticize China (now)," said Lin Chong-Pin, a veteran China watcher and president of the Foundation on International and Cross-Strait Studies, a Taiwan think-tank.

For China, 2008 was supposed to mark its emergence as a world power, with the Beijing-hosted Olympic Games in August being the jewel in the nation's development crown.

But a crackdown on Tibetan protests, natural disasters and scandals over shoddily made exports over the last year have instead highlighted the problems that the Communist Party faces governing a vast country of over 1.3 billion people.

A cold snap ahead of the annual Lumar New Year holiday in February kept millions of people from traveling to visit their families, cutting off power to remote areas and dealing a $15.4 billion blow to the economy.

The suppression of protests by Tibetans in March was seen as a major public relations disaster for the government. The global relay of the torch that will light the Olympic flame in August was supposed to make China proud, but instead the parade was dogged in city after city by protests over its Tibet policy.

Western governments in particular were vocal in their criticism of Beijing, prompting outrage among ordinary Chinese and even boycotts or protests at businesses with foreign interests across the country.

But since Monday's quake, condolences and offers of aid have poured in from the United States, Japan and Europe, changing sentiment on both sides.