EDITORIAL - It is often supposed that men can be evaluated based on the way in which they confront conflict. The same may be said of nations.

On May 12, a high-magnitude earthquake originating in China’s Sichuan Province rocked East Asia. Of China’s 32 provinces, regions, and municipalities, only three areas were left completely unaffected by the quake; indeed, tremors were experienced as far as Thailand and Pakistan. To date, the disaster has left some 70,000 Chinese dead, 375,000 citizens injured, and five million individuals homeless.

As one might expect, the domestic response was rapid and generous. Almost immediately, the Chinese government dispatched 115,000 soldiers to search the rubble. Over 100,000 military vehicles were used as part of the effort, doling out more than 780,000 tons’ worth of quilts, food, medicine, and tents. In addition, the afflicted have enjoyed the kindness of their countrymen, with Chinese citizens donating $1.5 million toward the recovery-and-rebuild effort.

But despite the severity of this crisis, the Chinese government has not allowed such feelings of post-earthquake goodwill to supplant the necessity of maintaining order.

China Aid Association (CAA) reports that on June 1, a Taikang County house church meeting was disrupted by police forces. Several participants were arrested, and after interrogation, were kept under detention for “sending money to a disaster area in the name of a house church.” Similar charges have been brought against Christians in Mao County.

According to the International Herald Tribune, Chinese authorities have even targeted earthquake victims’ parents. In Sichuan Province, earthquake tremors caused the collapse of several schools, killing some 10,000 schoolchildren. Grieving parents, in turn, openly wondered why their children’s schools had collapsed when a number of surrounding buildings had survived the earthquake intact.

Initially, concerned parents were politely asked by the government to “quiet down and accept financial compensation for their dead children.” When certain parents nonetheless chose to publicly demonstrate, they were met by police. Some parents left of their own volition, while others were forcibly escorted away. Since this episode, the government has sealed off several such debris sites so as to avoid future outbursts over shoddy building construction.

Without doubt, Hu Jintao’s China enjoys many more economic freedoms and personal liberties than did Mao’s or even Deng’s. But the above stories indicate that the People’s Republic is not yet a people’s republic. Even in the face of colossal disaster within, as well as harsh, Olympics-related pressure from without, China’s leaders view the preservation of order and stability as superior to all else.

Average Chinese are generally supportive of the government’s order-keeping measures. But if stability continues to trump the people’s basic rights to organize, petition, grieve, and assist their fellow Chinese, the government’s fixation on order could lead to the very unrest it was originally intended to prevent.