China's Communists praise quake heroes and own role

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's leaders on Wednesday paid tribute to heroes from the devastating Sichuan earthquake, claiming their acts of courage as vindication of the ruling Communist Party's values.

The May tremor killed over 80,000 people but the tragedy also brought pride in the government's rapid response and a fervent outpouring of help from the rest of the country as volunteers flocked to the area or donated food, cash and blood.

The ceremony in Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People ahead of the five-month anniversary of the May 12 quake celebrated those who raced to dig survivors from rubble or rush them to hospitals and safety.

It was another act of solemn patriotic theatre in a year that has featured much nation-building drama.

Fireman Sun Guoli masterminded one of the most dramatic rescues of the quake, pulling an 8-month pregnant woman from the tottering remains of her apartment block after about 50 hours.

"I'm just an ordinary soldier in the Chengdu fire unit, who did what I had to do," said Sun to thunderous applause.

Other heroes spoke of a trapped official who told rescuers to hunt for children and let him die, and the anguish of having to amputate a young dancer's leg to save her life.

But the officials stiffly massed on stage, including the nine most powerful men in China, were keen to share the glory and claim credit for the ruling Party, which also used the Beijing Olympics and a recent space mission to burnish its credentials.

"The earthquake rescue efforts caused us to feel more deeply: the big family that is our socialist motherland is the warmest," President Hu Jintao said in a nearly hour-long speech broadcast live on state television.

"The superiority of our socialist system, the excellent moral quality of the Chinese people, the political nature of the People's army, and the firm leadership of the Communist Party are the outstanding political advantage of our country and people, that we should cherish enormously and always support."

STATE CONTROL

The response to the quake was initially hailed as a watershed moment for media freedom and civic society in a nation long used to the heavy rule of a single party.

Journalists ignored propaganda officials' edicts and rushed to the scene to file vivid reports, and many young Chinese had their first experience of volunteering.

But the party has since regained control of reporting and relief efforts, with downbeat stories off the airwaves and the government and Party taking most credit for the massive scramble to help in the aftermath.

But even though rescue efforts in the ruins of schools tumbled by the quake provided some of the most enduring images of the tragedy and courage, there were no children at the ceremony.

These school collapses posed the greatest challenge to a government obsessed by stability, because many crumbled while buildings around withstood the tremor.

Parents whose children were entombed blamed corruption and greed for the deaths they said were due to shoddy construction and materials, not a natural disaster.

But the government has clamped down on attempts to hold local officials responsible, asking parents to drop their complaints in return for compensation and arresting an activist who had offered to help them.

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)