China has reportedly censored flood-related videos from Nepal and Tibet as journalists tried to collect accounts from people and the latest details on the flash floods that killed 676 people and left nearly 3,000 missing so far.
Chinese state media used only a still image from the footage in its reports, according to UK daily The Telegraph.
The outlets reported that the government had deployed Chinese military personnel and other emergency workers to the affected area, along with drones and helicopters. Chinese state-controlled media outlets have focused their reports mainly on rescue operations. “Everything about Tibet is seen through the national security prism. Rajendra Bajgain, a former member of the Nepal parliament, criticised Beijing over what he described as a lack of transparency.
Chinese authorities put the number of deaths at seven and said more than 550 people were missing. Nepal’s disaster agency reported 669 deaths and 2,426 missing people. And therefore nobody is going to say anything or report anything that has not been cleared from the very top,” Tsang said.
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, reported on Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had ordered that every possible effort be made to assist those affected in Gyirong. The US Geological Survey said the deadly surge of water that struck the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday was caused by a glacial collapse.
