China At War With Nature

“The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has ordered its troops to go all out to combat the lingering heavy snow in the southern part of the country,” said the Xinhua Chinese news service.  The news service reported that 158,000 PLA troops and the Chinese People's Armed Police (PAP) and 303,000 paramilitary members had joined the anti-snow campaign.  In addition, Nearly 1 million police were dispatched to keep traffic in order on China's congested highways and bridges since heavy snow hit the country.  China's government allocated 4.6 million yuan ($639,000) to Guizhou, Anhui, Hunan, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Guangdong Provinces to subsidize the police effort.

As efforts continued, reports indicated seven of the eight highways connecting Guangdong and Hunan provinces have been cut off.

Early in the week of January 28th, an estimated 11,000 vehicles were stranded on highways in eastern Anhui Province, where half of the state and provincial highways were crippled by the snow.  More than 8,000 traffic police were dispatched to keep order on the 40-kilometer congested section.

Airports in at least 10 cities, such as Wuhan, Nanjing, Guiyang, and Changzhou, were closed temporarily on January 28th and 96 international flights were canceled or delayed at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport.