:: That’s like us losing 26 million out of 328 million. ::
The difference being that Americans have a nationalist sense within the citizenry. It is a national tragedy when 3000 die in a terrorist attack. The Republic grieves together.
In China, the government announces the damage and then says, “Meh. Lives were lost. The mighty Chinese Government will rebuild the dam. Get back to work, serfs.”
More likely:
“A mighty dam was lost. This is a tragic setbackbut the Chinese Government will divert resources to rebuild the dam in even less time and restore national pride. As a side-benefit, rice and pork allocations will be redirected to those not involved in mass ancestral reunion”.