In Departure, China Invites Outside Help
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/world/asia/16china.html?_r=3D1&th&emc=3Dth=
&oref=3Dslogin
By HOWARD W. FRENCH and EDWARD WONG
Published: May 16, 2008
MIANYANG, China =97 With the death toll from this week=92s earthquake
rising rapidly, China has departed from past diplomatic practice,
seeking disaster relief experts and heavy equipment needed for rescue
operations from neighbors it has long shunned as rivals or renegades.
EarthquakeOfficials on Thursday asked a longtime rival, Japan, to send
60 earthquake rescue experts, the first such team China has accepted
from a foreign country during the current crisis and one of the few
official relief missions China has ever accepted from abroad. This
week it also accepted help from at least three private relief teams
from Taiwan, the self-governing island with which China has long had
tense relations.
On Friday, access was extended to teams from Russia, South Korea and
Singa****e.
The decision to seek outside help reflects the fact that the search
for survivors of Monday=92s massive earthquake and the struggle to
accommodate hundreds of thousands of displaced people from the
mountainous region around the epicenter of the quake are too much for
China to handle all alone, even after it mobilized 130,000 army
soldiers, security forces and medics for relief work.
But the selective invitations to Japan and Taiwan =97 some foreign
nations that have offered aid have so far been told that their
services are not needed =97 may also show that China sees disaster
relief as a tactical tool to improve ties with neighbors and soften
its international image ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing in
August.
China is struggling to provide humanitarian aid to the hundreds of
thousands left homeless even as it tries to increase search-and-rescue
efforts for 40,000 buried or missing people scattered across remote
villages in the serpentine valleys of Sichuan Province.
The death toll has exceeded 21,500 while 14,000 others remain buried,
the Sichuan provincial government said on Friday afternoon. Doctors
say those who are alive but buried are running out of time.
In his first visit since the disaster, President Hu Jintao flew into
Sichuan on Friday. He called for relief efforts to be stepped up and
said rescue work had entered its =93most crucial phase,=94 the official
Xinhua News Agency re****ted.
Many of the troops involved in rescue efforts appear to have little
training in disaster relief and lack proper tools and equipment. On
Thursday, in the devastated county seat of Beichuan, thousands of
People=92s Liberation Army soldiers stood around with little to do. Some
languidly picked at the rubble with their hands, unequipped with power
tools to drill or saw through debris.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who is being ****trayed in the Chinese media
as exercising minute-to-minute supervision of the effort, sent 100
more helicopters to ferry supplies and workers into areas inaccessible
by road.
The government also issued a detailed request for equipment needed to
clear mountain roads. The list included thousands of pieces of earth-
moving equipment, mechanized hammers, shovels and cranes, as well as
satellite communications technology.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday that China so far had
received pledges of $100 million in international disaster aid and $10
million in relief materials.
The three Taiwanese groups invited to participate in relief operations
are the Red Cross and two Buddhist organizations without government
ties. One of the Buddhist groups, Tzu Chi, had been granted permission
a while ago to do charity work on the mainland. Charter planes
carrying relief supplies from Taiwan have also been allowed to fly
directly to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. Because of their long
history of political rivalry and tension, China and Taiwan do not have
regular direct flights.
One Chinese relief official called the invitations to a relatively
small number of overseas teams =93rescue diplomacy.=94 China has been
eager to secure international good will in what has so far been a
trying diplomatic year for the country, with crises involving Tibet,
human rights and pressure to reduce sup****t for the Sudanese
government.
Both Japan and Taiwan have extensive experience with earthquakes.
Japan in particular lies along an active fault and suffered a major
quake in Kobe in 1995.
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Howard French re****ted from Beijing, and Edward Wong from Mianyang.
Re****ting was contributed by Jake Hooker and Jim Yardley from Chengdu,
Gongxing and Wandeng, China; Andrew Jacobs from Beijing; and Alan Chin
from Beichuan.
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