Eric's Beijing Diary

This one is almost hilarious. I say almost, because one migrant worker was killed when the building fell. How could thirteen story building fall on its side almost intact? My first response was to see this as one more example of the incestuous relationship between businessmen and corrupt officials. How much money does it take to get the needed chop from a local building inspector (assuming there is a building inspector)?

The truth is at least a little bit more complicated. I heard the other day that often in China, developers will build the foundation, then the superstructure, so that they can generate capital quickly, and then complete the underground part of the building. Apparently, the building fell because of excavation for an underground parking area. Seems strange. If the foundation was secure, it shouldn't matter what kind of work was being done. Surely there is some sort of problem with the way buildings are declared structurally sound. A rigorous building inspection system would surely have prevented this. In some ways, this is a very fortunate accident, because it displays the corruption in a way that is clear for everyone to see.