记者：关永杰    

8月2日，旧金山湾区圣荷塞市政厅（San Jose City Hall）前举行了一场“声援广西，追问洪灾真相”集会。活动由中国民主人权联盟、中国民主党、中国民主教育基金会联合举办。

据中国官方通报，今年7月中旬，受台风“美莎克”带来的强降雨影响，广西横州市云表镇六蓝水库及周边多座水库出现漫顶、溃口险情，其中六蓝水库主坝严重溃坝。官方公布广西全区洪灾共造成39人死亡，其中横州灾区26人死亡、7人失踪。但有体制内人士及海外独立媒体质疑官方数字严重缩水，认为实际伤亡人数可能远高于官方公布的数据。

集会由中国民主人权联盟湾区负责人李海峰主持，中国民主党主席方政及多名党员到场支持。李海峰表示，希望通过公开集会持续追问广西洪灾真相，让更多人关注灾区民众的处境。

集会现场，参与者纷纷发表见解。于晓亮表示，这场溃坝造成下游多个地区遭受严重洪灾，大量民众受灾，事件并未结束，灾情极其惨烈，希望外界不要遗忘灾区民众的遭遇。

李明骏则质疑，当局在灾后首先采取的是封锁现场、限制拍摄，而不是全力救援和公开信息。他指出，官方公布的死亡数字与民间流传的信息差距巨大，令人难以信服，并呼吁外界持续关注事件真相。

多位发言人则将此次灾难与中国历次重大洪灾和溃坝事件联系起来。张勇、邱光辉、惠汝涛、张辉等人都提到1975年板桥水库溃坝，2021年郑州“7·20”洪灾，2023年涿州泄洪等事件，认为类似灾难反复发生，暴露出工程质量、预警机制、信息公开及问责制度等长期存在的问题。他们质疑部分水利工程存在偷工减料、监管缺失及验收流于形式等现象，而灾后官方则更倾向于控制舆论、淡化伤亡数字，导致公众难以获知真实情况。

盛虎认为，此次事故还反映出部分基础设施年久失修、设备维护不足以及应急体系失灵等问题。他表示，只有建立真正独立的监督和问责机制，才能减少类似悲剧再次发生。

李圆伟则呼吁海外华人利用社交媒体向国内亲友传播更多真实信息，打破信息封锁；杨坤结合自身曾因网络言论受到压力的经历，认为海外人士更应发挥言论空间优势，持续关注中国重大公共事件，将真实信息传递给更多国内民众。

陈勇结合自己亲历2008年汶川地震的经验表示，严格执行建筑标准、加强监管以及保障新闻自由和社会监督，是减少灾害损失的重要条件。他认为，灾后重建资金透明度和公众监督同样不可或缺。

何冬玲、国盼、杨宗阔等发言人则分别从信息公开、政府问责、权力监督等角度表达看法，认为灾害发生后应更加重视公开透明、及时救援和责任追究，而不是封锁消息、压制舆论。

活动最后，李海峰感谢参与者在高温天气下前来发声。他表示，希望每一次公开表达都能够通过媒体传播，促使更多人关注灾区及公共安全问题。

集会结束后，参与者继续在现场交流对此次事件的看法。记者认为，当天不少发言都聚焦于灾害本身及官方应对，但另一个更值得关注的问题是，中国大量水库建于被称为“大跃进”的20世纪五六十年代，其中不少采用当时较为落后的施工方式，不少属于土石坝，许多工程已远超设计寿命。随着中国大量基础设施整体进入维护更新阶段，而目前经济下行造成地方财政捉襟见肘，未来不仅是水库，包括桥梁、公路、堤坝等公共设施都可能面临老化风险。如果维护投入不足，类似事故未来仍有可能发生。此次广西洪灾，或许不仅是一场个别事件，也为中国基础设施安全敲响了一次警钟。

编辑：钟然     校对：熊辩 翻译：沈美花

Bay Area Rally Shows Solidarity with Guangxi, Demands Truth Behind Flooding

Reporter: Guan Yongjie

Summary: On August 2, multiple groups in the Bay Area held a rally in front of San Jose City Hall to express solidarity with the victims of the Guangxi floods, question official casualty figures and information blockades, call for an investigation into the truth of the disaster, and raise concerns regarding China’s aging infrastructure and public safety issues.

On August 2, a rally themed “Solidarity with Guangxi, Demanding the Truth Behind the Floods” was held in front of San Jose City Hall in the San Francisco Bay Area. The event was jointly organized by the China Democracy and Human Rights Alliance, the Democratic Party of China, and the Chinese Democracy Education Foundation.

According to official Chinese reports, in mid-July of this year, affected by heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon “Mearsk” (Note: referring to localized typhoon/storm impacts), the Liulan Reservoir in Yunbiao Town, Hengzhou, Guangxi, along with several surrounding reservoirs, experienced overtopping and breach emergencies, with the main dam of the Liulan Reservoir suffering a severe breach. Official statistics stated that the floods across Guangxi caused a total of 39 deaths, including 26 deaths and 7 missing persons in the Hengzhou disaster area. However, system insiders and overseas independent media have questioned whether these official figures are severely downplayed, suggesting that the actual number of casualties could be far higher than what was officially announced.

The rally was hosted by Li Haifeng, head of the Bay Area branch of the China Democracy and Human Rights Alliance, with Democratic Party of China Chairman Fang Zheng and multiple party members present to show their support. Li Haifeng stated that he hopes through this public rally to continuously press for the truth about the Guangxi floods and draw more attention to the plight of the people in the disaster area.

At the rally site, participants shared their perspectives. Yu Xiaoliang stated that this dam breach caused severe flooding in multiple regions downstream, affecting a massive number of residents. The incident is far from over, and the disaster’s severity is tragic; he expressed hope that the outside world will not forget the suffering of the people in the disaster area.

Li Mingjun questioned why the authorities’ immediate response post-disaster was to seal off the site and restrict filming, rather than fully commit to rescue operations and information disclosure. He pointed out that the gap between the official death toll and information circulating among the grassroots is vast and unconvincing, calling on the outside world to continuously monitor the truth behind the incident.

Several speakers connected this disaster to previous major floods and dam-break incidents in China’s history. Zhang Yong, Qiu Guanghui, Hui Rutao, and Zhang Hui all referenced the 1975 Banqiao Reservoir dam collapse, the 2021 Zhengzhou “7·20” floods, and the 2023 Zhuozhou flood releases. They argued that the repeated occurrence of similar disasters exposes long-standing problems in engineering quality, early warning mechanisms, information disclosure, and accountability systems. They questioned whether certain water conservancy projects suffered from shoddy construction, a lack of supervision, and perfunctory inspections, while post-disaster authorities tended to control public opinion and downplay casualty numbers, making it difficult for the public to learn the true facts.Sheng Hu noted that this accident also reflects issues such as the disrepair of certain aging infrastructure, insufficient equipment maintenance, and the failure of emergency response systems. He stated that only by establishing truly independent monitoring and accountability mechanisms can similar tragedies be prevented from recurring.Li Yuanwei urged overseas Chinese to use social media to spread more truthful information to family and friends back home, thereby breaking through the information blockade. Drawing on his own past experiences of facing pressure over online speech, Yang Kun argued that overseas individuals should better leverage their advantages in freedom of speech, continuously monitor major public events in China, and pass authentic information on to more domestic citizens.

Drawing on his personal experience surviving the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, Chen Yong stated that strictly enforcing building standards, strengthening supervision, and guaranteeing freedom of the press and social oversight are vital conditions for reducing disaster losses. He believes that transparency in post-disaster reconstruction funds and public oversight are equally indispensable.

Speakers including He Donging, Guo Pan, and Yang Zongkuo expressed their views from angles such as information disclosure, government accountability, and power oversight. They argued that after a disaster occurs, greater emphasis should be placed on transparency, timely rescue, and holding people accountable, rather than sealing off news and suppressing public opinion.

At the conclusion of the event, Li Haifeng thanked participants for coming out to speak in the hot weather. He expressed his hope that every public expression can be disseminated through the media, prompting more people to pay attention to the disaster area and public safety issues.

After the rally concluded, participants continued to exchange views on-site regarding the incident. The reporter noted that while many speeches that day focused on the disaster itself and the official response, another issue worthy of deeper attention is that a massive number of reservoirs in China were built during the 1950s and 1960s—a period known as the “Great Leap Forward.” Many of these relied on construction methods that were relatively backward at the time, frequently utilizing earth-fill dams, and many projects have long exceeded their design lifespans. As a massive portion of China’s infrastructure enters a phase of overall maintenance and renewal, current economic downturns have left local government finances strained. In the future, not only reservoirs, but public facilities such as bridges, highways, and embankments may face aging risks. If maintenance investments remain insufficient, similar accidents could still occur in the future. This Guangxi flood may not only be an isolated incident, but also serves as a warning bell for China’s infrastructure safety.

Editor: Zhong Ran

Proofreader: Xiong Bian

Translator: Shen Meihua