China Perspective

Comment: We are with you, Haiti

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-16 07:52

The unimaginable devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti has shocked the world and drawn sympathy and condolences from all its corners. Thanks to modern communications technology the world has seen the scale of destruction unleashed by the 7.0-magnitude quake. Images on TV and the Internet show the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince has been reduced to rubble and helpless survivors waiting for relief.

So far, at least 50,000 people are feared dead, and tens of thousands left injured or homeless in one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. The number of dead is bound to rise with each passing hour for a few days. Considering Haiti's total population is only about 8.5 million, the extent of damage will percolate to every layer of the country's social fabric, making full recovery a long-time affair.

The international community's response to the natural catastrophe has been immediate and generous. Rescuers from countries such as China, the United States, France and the Dominican Republic have already reached Haiti, carrying essentials like food and medicines, sniffer dogs, life-detecting devices and other rescue equipment. Politicians, NGO workers and Hollywood actors have opened their wallets and called for donations to help disaster relief.

The message is clear: The Haitians have not been forsaken. The whole world is ready to help them. The world is a village today where no one can remain indifferent when a neighbor falls prey to nature's fury.

The suffering of people anywhere in the world strikes a chord in the hearts of Chinese people. The death of four Chinese peacekeepers in Haiti has little to do with it. Chinese people feel a special sympathy for Haitians because just less than 20 months ago they were struggling to rise from the debris of one of the biggest quakes in human history. The Sichuan quake remains a painful reminder of the fragility of life, and its victims know that and donated voluntarily to the Haitians to share their woes.

Though Beijing and Port-au-Prince have no diplomatic relations, China was among the first nations to send a rescue team and to announce a donation. In the face of natural disasters, respect for human lives transcends diplomacy and national boundaries. We share the pain of the Haitian people, and we believe China's experience in rescue and relief operations and reconstruction will help alleviate that pain.

The most pressing task after a quake is the golden-hour rescue operation. Many Haitians are still buried under rubble, and relentless efforts must be made to save as many of them as possible.

Yet there remains a question mark on how effectively the flows of aid from around the world will be managed. It is here that the UN can play the leading role, for it should be responsible for coordinating humanitarian efforts from across the globe to reach the benefits to the maximum number of people.

After the 2004 tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in Asia, some experts said the UN needed to build a well-equipped and trained force of disaster rescue specialists and keep it on standby to help people after natural disasters such as the Haiti quake. It is time the UN gave the idea a serious thought, for a life-saving force could play as significant a role as its peacekeeping soldiers.

(China Daily 01/16/2010 page5)