Rumors are not new to human society. Words of mouth is the traditional way of spreading rumors. But information is likely distorted during the transmission. Messages posted on the bulletin boards and blogs are unverified and, in a sense, rumors. In the era of internet and multifunctional cellular phone, emails and text messaging also make rumors spread at light speed. In fact, we are surrounded by rumors.

Sometimes rumors come from nowhere. However, more commonly they are derived from some vague facts, or originate in ambiguous situations. As a result, rumors cause more confusion among common people, and the government is supposed to reject rumors. However, several recent big rumors in China suggested that government may be partially responsible for these rumors.

For example, during the early stage of SARS epidemic in 2003 when the Chinese government covered up the epidemic, rumors that the new disease was caused by polluted water or air, and vinegar or cucumber could treat the disease were circulating the city of Guangzhou. After the Chinese government acknowledged the SARS epidemic, there were new rumors that some magic treatments had been found somewhere by some traditional doctors, preferably living in remote mountain areas.

Similarly to the SARS epidemic, the pandemic bird flu in Asian countries has also generated many rumors. A recent rumor was that China had covered up 300 human cases. Given the infamous behavior of Chinese government during the SARS epidemic, many foreign people believed that. Sigh.

Another recent example of rumors occurred in the northeastern of China. In November 11, 2005, there was an explosion in a Chemical factory in Jilin province, located in the upstream of Songhua River. Possibly a hundred tons of benzene and its derivatives were accidentally leaked into the river. Needless to say, the factory should hold the accountability for this fault.

The Jilin government officials, for fear of losing their positions and faces, decided to cover it up. They didn’t notify the residents about the severity of the explosion, neither did they inform the cities located in the downstream of the river in time. When the toxic water came down to the city of Harbin, Helongjiang province, rumors finally came out.

Initially, the government officials in Harbin were reluctant to tell the truth about the water pollution occurred in Jilin because the Jilin government fiercely denied the existence of water pollution. On the other hand, the heavily polluted water was not drinkable, and the government didn’t want to jeopardize the health of residents. It seemed to them that a trade-off would be to shut down the water supply for four days without giving meaningful reasons.

This ambiguous government notice sowed the seed of rumors. Within a day, many residents of Harbin believed that there would be an earthquake in the coming days, and some clever people linked the shut down of water supply with the explosion in Jilin, while some were completely clueless and confused. The whole city was in panic. The residents demanded a solid reason for this unexpected notice.

The government felt the pressure. They quickly released another notice explicitly stating that the water in Songhua River was polluted by the explosion in Jilin. This effectively quenched the rumors but exposed the water pollution to the whole world. The central government was shocked. It was another shameful accident for all Chinese.

How could Chinese government improve its management? It may need some fundamental changes in the power structure by significantly reducing the power of the administrative sections. But this is beyond the scope of this essay.