A good Wall Street Journal article on how the vigorous response to the quake has helped China to improve its image:

Natural disasters sometimes leave damaged governments among the rubble in their wake. But more than a week after a giant earthquake shook southwestern China, it is increasingly clear that the catastrophe has actually strengthened the leadership in Beijing.

The rapid reaction by China's government to the earthquake, along with media -- much of it state-run -- that has spotlighted the best aspects of that response to a newly unified public, have helped enhance Beijing's image as responsive and effective. The strong world-wide expression of sympathy, meanwhile, has quieted -- at least for now -- criticism of Beijing's policies in Tibet and elsewhere that had threatened to overshadow its hosting of the Summer Olympics in August.

While Chinese leaders clearly would have preferred to avoid such devastation and loss of life, the disaster has presented a political opening for the Chinese government, says Jing Huang, an expert on Chinese politics at Singapore's East Asian Institute. "It provided them with the opportunity to show that they can care for the Chinese people and can handle this kind of crisis."

It's a comprehensive article and it recaps a few key outcomes from the quake, some of which have been discussed here:

• The central government has emerged from the quake looking good and with widespread support, so far. (Although as the AP points out, the political ramifications are only just beginning to emerge.)
  
• Wen Jiabao in particular made a very powerful and positive impression with his quick and sympathetic tour of the disaster area.
  
• Local and provincial governments are not looking as good.
• The opening of the quake zone to widespread reporting by domestic and international media has been a net positive, allowing people to see relief efforts and empathize with victims. It is worth noting that the initial openness may have been unintentional, but the result is the same.
  
• The quake has effectively neutralized the Tibet and Xinjiang activism campaigns for the moment.
  
• That honeymoon may prove temporary.

It's worth emphasizing in particular the benefits of the relatively unfettered reporting of the aftermath of the quake. This is a tragedy that no one would have ever wished for, and China will struggle with the consequences for years. But it gave Western audiences a rare chance to see the Chinese central government at its best and to see the Chinese people portrayed in human and sympathetic terms rather than as the stereotypical "oppressed masses". Considering the events of the past few months, that's a good thing. It is a shame, however, that it had to come at such a terrible cost.

Previously:

The quake changes the game for the Olympics