Being a Good Neighbor

By YU YAN

Being a Good Neighbor

By YU YAN

China and other countries move rapidly to help earthquake-stricken Japan

China responded quickly to the earthquake disaster in Japan, sending relief materials and an international rescue team, which arrived only two days after the quake.

Chinese leaders also expressed their concern after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit northeast Japan on March 11. The earthquake—the most powerful in Japan’s recorded history—and the tsunami it triggered have caused thousands of deaths and injuries in Japan as well as massive destruction.

In a message to Japanese Emperor Akihito on March 14, Chinese President Hu Jintao said he hoped the Japanese people would overcome their dif fi culties and rebuild their homes as soon as possible. The Chinese Government and people were ready to offer necessary help, he added.

“China is also an earthquake-prone country, so we understand the hardship that Japan is experiencing now,” said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a press conference the same day. Japan sent a rescue team and relief materials to China after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

Relief aid

The Chinese Government has pledged to provide Japan with emergency humanitarian assistance worth 30 million yuan($4.57 million). It has also decided to offer 20,000 tons of fuel to its earthquakeravaged neighbor.

China’s first load of relief goods was delivered to Japan by a charter flight from Shanghai on March 14. The relief materials,worth 7.2 million yuan ($1.1 million), comprised 2,000 blankets, 900 cotton tents and 200 emergency lights.

The Chinese military was responsible for collecting the fi rst shipment of relief materials and the mission was accomplished very quickly, said China’s Ministry of National Defense.

In addition to the Central Government,local governments in China, such as the government of Changchun, have announced separate donations to aid Japan’s quake relief operations. Changchun, capital of northeast China’s Jilin Province, is a sister city of earthquake-hit Sendai, capital city of Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture.

As of March 16, the Red Cross Society of China had donated 6 million yuan($913,000) in emergency aid to its Japanese counterpart.

Rescue operations

China sent a 15-member rescue team to Japan on March 13 to help with search and rescue work. The team arrived in Ofunato,a heavily damaged city in northeast Japan’s Iwate Prefecture, that night. Early the next morning, team members started work along with Japanese rescuers.

The team consists of seven search and rescue personnel, seven earthquake experts and a doctor.

All team members are experienced, and have participated in earthquake relief activities at home and abroad, Yin Guanghui, head of the team, told the Xinhua News Agency.

Yin said the team’s main task was to search for survivors trapped in the ruins.The team brought four tons of materials and equipment for search and rescue and medical treatment.

Ofunato is a coastal city of about 40,000 people near the epicenter of the earthquake.Numerous buildings in the city were destroyed by the quake and tsunami.

Peng Bibo, the only medical worker on the team, said the dif fi culty in mounting rescue operations lies in the complex secondary disasters caused by the earthquake, including the tsunami, fi res, landslides and nuclear radiation. This is a typical example of an earthquake in a highly developed industrial country, said Peng.

Due to radiation leakage at the disabled Fukushima nuclear power plant 250 km north of Tokyo, the Chinese rescuers had to bring a nuclear radiation detection device with them.

Global support

Many countries, including the United States, Britain and South Korea, have also sent rescue teams to Japan.

A 102-member South Korean rescue team arrived in Sendai on March 14 to join an advance team of fi ve rescue workers and two search dogs, who had arrived earlier.

The British search and rescue team consisted of 63 search and rescue specialists,two rescue dogs and a medical support team,said the British Foreign Of fi ce.

Two U.S. urban search and rescue teams,comprising 144 personnel and 12 dogs, also began work on March 14 looking for people trapped in the rubble of buildings.

“We have offered our Japanese friends whatever assistance is needed as America will stand with Japan as they recover and rebuild,” said U.S. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney in a statement posted on the White House website.