By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday - Chinese President Xi Jinping's government is facing the greatest challenge ever since Xi came to power in 2013 due to a series of tragic events that took place recently. Depending on the cases, China should freshen up the atmosphere through some large personnel shifts of its top authorities, which is rarely seen in China.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is responding to questions related to Tianjin blasts to the Hong Kong journalists on August 16./ Source from online portal Sina.com

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This assertion comes from public anger that has been growing after a series of recent tragedies, which were not sort of irresistible natural disasters. Anger has intensified over Chinese authorities who have failed to control insensitivity towards safety that is prevalent in Chinese society. This is clearly seen considering the massive explosions at RuiHai Logistics' warehouse filled with deadly chemicals in Tianjin on August 12. The tragedy wouldn't have happened if there was a proper control and crackdown on illegal activities by the Chinese authorities to ensure safety.

Unfortunately, this is not the first event that has shocked the nation and intensified public anger over insufficient enforcement of safety supervision. There was a major landslide at a vanadium mine in Shanyang County in Shaanxi Province last week. The man-made disaster that killed about 60 people was also caused by the authorities' careless safety supervision. The Yangtze ferry disaster that occurred back in June is not so much different. The government's lapse in supervision contributed to China's worst shipping disaster in almost 70 years that killed nearly 400 people. It's an obvious thing that public anger mounted over the series of disasters.

The more critical thing is Chinese authorities' inadequate response whenever major accidents happen in China. Authorities control media reports as well as information about what happened and even control actions of families of victims, raising public frustration.

It can be clearly seen in some of the government's follow-up actions related to the Tianjin incident. While it was found that the son of a former police bureau chief in Chinese port city of Tianjin was revealed to be a shareholder of RuiHai Logistics, Chinese authorities were busy trying to control the fact. Besides, they immediately shut down nearly 50 websites that provided information about the incident. Professor K, who anonymously said, "The world has changed from analog to digital. So should the government. But it remains unchanged," claiming that public would be alienated from the government if authorities remain unchanged. It means that it's important for Chinese government to read public sentiment.