Op-Ed Contributors

Sustain global aid for Yushu

By Manzie Aki Fiona and Jolly Amber (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-31 07:50

People in the affected area need food, clothing, constant medical care, as well as emotional and psychological counseling. These can only be sustained through a joint effort by the international community and the Chinese government.

This is also the best time for foreign organizations, which are contemplating cooperation with China, to express their intentions clearly and give necessary aid.

On January 12 this year when a catastrophic earthquake rocked Haiti, China rushed relief supplies and aid workers to the quake-stricken country despite no diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The lack of formal ties between Beijing and Port-au-Prince did not stand in the way of Chinese efforts to help quake-ravaged Haiti.

China's actions in Haiti amply demonstrated that when disaster strikes everyone should feel the pain even if that pain does not directly affect them.

The Chinese government's gesture is a lesson that no nation is an island and that diplomatic and natural barriers do not apply while facing such tragedies.

The foresight shown by the Chinese government greatly helped, as barely three months later, Yushu was hit by an earthquake.

The international community should unite and sustain its aid to the people of Qinghai province. The people there badly need it.

The authors are students of Global Business Journalism at Tsinghua University.

(China Daily 05/31/2010 page8)