China moves to prevent protests

(Are government officials succeeding in preventing protests?) They may have today, but over the past month, parents have been protesting. They want to know why schools collapsed while nearby government officials did not. (Is anybody in the government giving any answers?) The government response is that they are concerned, they are investigating and if shoddy workmanship is to blame, people will be punished. But nothing has been made public. (Is the fact that the Chinese government had earlier opened up allowing these parents to feel that they can protest?) It was an extraordinary time right after the earthquake struck. In that climate the parents must’ve felt they had room to speak up, but they were also deeply wounded and hurt. (Has this clamp down on the parents also been mirrored by a clamp down on journalists?) By and large foreign journalists have had more freedom lately, the earthquake included. I don’t think the government regrets that. (So why is it not concerned about that image now?) They still are, but there’s a difference between the parents complaining of negligence with the government and that’s when the government gets uncomfortable.