Although I wasn't living in Taiwan during the September 21st earthquake that struck here in 1999, the China Post's recollection on Wednesday seemed at odds with what I had read about events following the disaster:
We also remember that in 1999, mainland China generously donated about US$3 million through its Red Cross organization to our own Red Cross.
$3 whole million? Gee, divided by 1.3 BILLION people living in the People's Republic of China, and that works out to . . . $0.002 per person. Whoa, were the big spenders in Beijing able to fork it all out at once, or did they have to pay on an installment plan?
Fortunately, the Taipei Times recapped the REAL story on Thursday:
For many Taiwanese, the [1999 Taiwan] 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.
The Times also gave us a glimpse at what generosity really looks like:
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.
In other words, the Taiwanese government contribution alone totals about $1.00 U.S. PER PERSON living in this country. (Which is 500 times what the Chinese government "generously" donated 9 years ago.) An editorial cartoon from the Taipei Times sums up the situation rather well, I think.
Thanks for posting this. This point is lost in the international media.
Posted by: Richard | May 21, 2008 at 05:03 PM