Quake gives China chance to improve army image

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is handing out praise to its soldiers for their quick response to the Sichuan earthquake, seizing on a chance to improve the image of an institution badly tarred by the Tiananmen Square crackdown 19 years ago.

Military officials have emphasises the speed and scale of the army response to the massive quake and their success in rescuing tens of thousands from the rubble of shattered buildings.

"They will come to where they are most needed, they are fighting where things are most dangerous, and they are making every effort to save people under very harsh conditions," said Guo Zengkui of the military's General Political Department.

"Our officers and soldiers fear no challenge, no matter how daunting, and are making every effort courageously to save people," he added.

More than 110,000 soldiers and paramilitary police have been operating in the disaster zone, helping to pull 21,566 people from the rubble and taking more than 200,000 to safety, Defence Ministry spokesman Hu Changming told a news conference.

In fact, China's military has increasingly been involved in disaster relief as part of efforts to change its image since the 1989 army crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square when hundreds, perhaps thousands, were killed.

The military lent a big helping hand to combating devastating floods in 1998, and were praised by state media for forming human walls to hold back the surging waters.

Now they are once again on the frontlines, dealing with a natural calamity which has killed at least 32,500.