Over 50,000 dead or missing in China
　

FULL HORROR EMERGES: Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake has left almost 15,000 people dead, while nearly 26,000 are buried in rubble and another 15,000 missing

AFP, DUJIANGYAN, CHINA
Thursday, May 15, 2008, Page 1

"Some towns basically have no houses left. They have all been razed to the ground."— Wang Yi, head of a police unit sent into the epicenter zone

More than 50,000 people are dead, missing or buried under rubble after China's devastating earthquake, officials said yesterday as the full horror of the disaster began to emerge.

Rescue teams who punched into the quake’s stricken epicenter reported whole towns all but wiped off the map, spurring frantic efforts to bring emergency relief to the survivors.

Planes and helicopters air-dropped supplies, 100 troops parachuted into a county that had been cut off and rescuers in cities and towns across Sichuan Province fought to pull the living and the dead from the debris.

But the overwhelming message that came back from Sichuan Province was that only now was a picture slowly beginning to form of the epic scale of Monday’s 7.9-magnitude quake.

State media quoted Sichuan Vice Governor Li Chengyun (李成雲) as saying that based on “incomplete” figures, 14,463 people were confirmed dead in the province as of mid-afternoon yesterday.

Nearly 26,000 were buried in rubble and nearly 15,000 missing, he said.

But far beyond the numbers is the human tragedy behind China’s worst quake in a generation as rescue teams claw through twisted metal and concrete.

They were looking for people like He Xinghao, 15, whose lifeless body was eventually pulled from the debris of a school close to the epicenter.

Like many other Chinese of his age, strict population policies had made him an only child, and he was showered with affection by his family.

“He was such a good and well-behaved boy. He always did his homework,” said his aunt, Ge Mi, as fresh tears flowed from her reddened eyes.

It was a scene repeated across Sichuan — a province often better known to foreigners for its endangered giant pandas.

The destruction around the epicenter in remote Wenchuan County is massive, with whole mountainsides sheared off, highways ripped apart and building after building leveled.

Cries for help were heard from a flattened school in Yingxiu, where people tried to dig out survivors with their bare hands, state media said.

“The losses have been severe,” Wang Yi, who heads an armed police unit sent into the epicenter zone, was quoted as saying by the Sichuan Online news site. “Some towns basically have no houses left. They have all been razed to the ground.”

At least 7,700 people died in Yingxiu alone, Xinhua quoted a local official as saying, with only 2,300 surviving.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) said 100,000 military personnel and police had been mobilized.

“Time is life,” he told rescuers.

The air drop started with planes and helicopters flying dozens of sorties, dropping tonnes of food and relief aid into the worst-hit zone, most of it cut off from the outside world by landslides and road closures.

As well as Yingxiu, CCTV television said air drops were also made in nearby Mianyang, Mianzhu and Pengzhou, while helicopters flew to Wenchuan with food, drinks, tents, communications equipment and other supplies.

The rescue effort has been badly disrupted since Monday by heavy rain, and the Meteorological Authority forecast more later in the week, raising the risk of fresh landslides.

World powers including the US, the EU and the UN have offered money and expertise, and Pope Benedict XVI called for prayers to be said. However China rebuffed offers to deploy foreign search and rescue experts, saying conditions were “not yet ripe.”

A Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of emergency aid said Tokyo offered rescue teams with sniffer dogs, but China had made no request.

Australian and South Korean expertise was also politely declined, although China did accept US$1 million in aid from Seoul.

“We were told that China cannot receive rescuers now due to poor condition of transportation systems,” a Japanese foreign ministry official said.

Taiwan gives with an open heart

Thursday, May 15, 2008, Page 8

Our prayers are with the victims and families hit by the powerful earthquake in China's Sichuan Province, where the death toll continues to rise and thousands remain buried under the rubble, awaiting rescue.

In the spirit of humanitarianism, the government has expressed its condolences and offered assistance, with Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) on Tuesday announcing that Taipei would “provide all necessary resources” to help the Chinese government with relief work, which could include rescue teams, medical assistance and donations for reconstruction.

The same day, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) called on the public to give generously and contribute to relief and reconstruction efforts.

The government announced yesterday a cash donation of NT$700 million (US$22.6 million) and NT$100 million in rice, adding it would seek to collect NT$1.2 billion in donations from the private sector.

Taipei’s generosity should be acknowledged as it appears to be free of the politicization that characterized Beijing’s “help” when it sent token aid to Taiwan after the catastrophic 921 Earthquake nine years ago.

For many Taiwanese, the earthquake — with its more than 2,400 fatalities and tens of thousands of people left homeless — is still a vivid nightmare and one that is sure to be brought to the surface as images of the devastation in China begin to reach us via newspapers, TV and the Internet.

As humanitarian aid and rescue teams started arriving in Taiwan, Beijing exploited the disaster to score a few political points, requiring that all international relief including donations, food and rescue teams be channeled through China.

As the result of Beijing’s interference, timely rescue efforts were delayed, such as when a Russian rescue team could not land and refuel in China and had to take a longer route through Japan.

Not only did Beijing’s actions belie a lack of compassion for Taiwanese, it also created a number of logistical and quite unnecessary problems during the critical rescue window following the catastrophe.

Some could argue that Taiwanese should not bother sending aid to China because of Beijing’s incessant bullying and threats directed at Taiwan.

But harboring an eye-for-an-eye mentality and failing to meet obligations as human beings would lower this administration to the level of China — or perhaps even Myanmar — which is not what Taiwan is all about.

Of course, there is no guarantee that all of the generous aid and donations will reach those who really need help rather than end up in the bank accounts of corrupt officials.

For this reason, every effort should be made in the days and weeks ahead to ensure that the donations reach their intended recipients.

Taiwanese care about WHO

Thursday, May 15, 2008, Page 8

I read with great interest the article on the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) plans for the World Health Assembly (WHA) (“DPP members aim to take poll results to WHA,” May 10, page 3). Every year around this time, a group of Taiwanese gathers in Geneva to protest against the unfair exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO.

Not only does the WHO actively exclude Taiwan, but it also degrades its status to that of a “province of China.” On the WHO Web site, Taiwan is deliberately and incorrectly referred to as “Taiwan province.”

This policy excludes Taiwan from participating as an observer or member in the organization but has also led many to wonder if it might not be an agent of Beijing. Its defenders, of course, would argue that this isn’t the case, but is it?

For sure, this demonstrates a lack of professionalism at the WHO and goes against the constitution of the organization. This mislabeling is misleading to health professionals and academics who rely on the information provided in its Web site and other WHO publications.

In reality, there is no direct contact between China and the Department of Health in Taiwan. The healthcare system in Taiwan is much more advanced than China’s and decisions that affect the welfare of its people are for Taipei to make.

After pledging to “care” about Taiwan’s health at the WHA in 2003, Beijing was caught by the media saying: “Who gives a damn about [Taiwan]?” a sure sign, if ever there was one, of Beijing’s hypocrisy.

The health of Taiwanese should be determined by the 23 million Taiwanese, not China.

Lily Wang
Sydney, Australia