Quakes build better ties between China and Japan
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Tokyo,
Kanto,
Japan
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Japan is up there along with the US and Taiwan as a sometime enemy of mainland China.
There was much song and dance when Japan sent a special earthquake relief team to the Sichuan quake, and also stories that they weren't allowed to carry out their work, and that the Chinese government didn't want the Japs to help a hand and show up how the local response was inadequate. An offer of military aid was refused.
So it was strange to read that Liu Junhong, a researcher with China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said it was time for Asian countries to fight back against distasters. I hate the language that sees Mother Nature as the enemy.
Time for Asian system to fight back disasters
By Liu Junhong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-04 07:57
The Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan province caused tremendous losses to China and drew widespread concern from nations not just in Asia but other parts of the world as well. Several countries, including Japan and Russia, sent emergency rescue and medical teams to the disaster area while the international community provided relief materials as well as cash donations.
Disaster relief has become a common humanitarian cause of the whole world as the era of increasing interdependency calls for an international disaster relief and reduction system that covers the whole of Asia.
As natural distasters occur across borders and manmade lines, the author seems to suggest that Asian co-operation is better than global response.
Here's what he has to say:
From a regional point of view, Asia is one of the regions in the world hit most frequently by natural disasters due to its vast area and long coastlines with a wide range of climatic as well as geographical features. In the past decade or so in particular, the region's tectonic plates have shown heightened activities with the number of earthquakes and tsunamis on the rise; while extreme weather conditions such as floods, droughts and blizzards often caught people by surprise. Accompanied by epidemic and communal diseases and even the plague, natural disasters have become a new threat to Asia's prosperity. The construction of a regional cooperative system of disaster prevention and reduction is now more urgent than ever.
In the Asian region Japan is a country that faces frequent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and typhoons. It is also one of the few developed nations in the region with a rich experience and knowledge in dealing with natural calamities through decades of practice, which forms an important part of the common know-how on disaster prevention and reduction for the region.
Following the massive earthquake that struck Wenchuan in Sichuan province on May 22, Japan's seismic department immediately provided relevant data to China to confirm the accuracy of the latter's own, while the Japanese government took the lead in sending professional rescue and medical teams to the disaster area in Sichuan. Other Asian countries soon offered their support in a deluge of humanitarian gestures. This shows there is real possibility that Asia can build up a region-wide disaster prevention and reduction system based on mutual support and cooperation.
[end of quote]
I wonder if an earthquake occured in Japan, if China would offer assistance?
