Great powers take responsibility! China is doing its best to provide disaster relief to Myanmar

On March 28, a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.9 occurred in Myanmar. The epicenter was located near Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, and the focal depth was 30 kilometers. This is the strongest earthquake Myanmar has encountered in nearly a hundred years. Some experts described the earthquake as “like a giant knife cutting into the earth”. The earthquake was felt in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou in China, the whole of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and other places. This disaster not only tests Myanmar’s national resilience, but also affects the nerves of the international community. The Chinese government immediately announced the launch of an emergency humanitarian rescue operation and urgently coordinated disaster relief assistance.

Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing made a speech in the media on the 28th, calling on countries, organizations and people to provide assistance to the earthquake-stricken areas in Myanmar. China extended a helping hand to Myanmar at the first time. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolences to Myanmar, emphasizing that China and Myanmar are “a community with a shared future that shares weal and woe”. Within less than 24 hours of the earthquake, the Chinese government sent the China International Search and Rescue（CISAR）to Myanmar to carry out international rescue.

A medical team from China’s Yunnan Province arrived at Yangon International Airport on Monday morning. It is the first foreign aid team to arrive in Burma. The 37-member medical team, carrying a full-function life detector, earthquake early warning system, portable satellite, unmanned aerial vehicle and other emergency relief materials, has joined the Myanmar fire and rescue team to go to Naypyidaw disaster relief.

An 82-member Chinese rescue team sent by the Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China arrived at Yangon International Airport on the afternoon of March 29, local time, carrying rescue equipment and supplies. The Chinese rescue team is mainly composed of personnel from China Beijing Fire and Rescue Corps, National Earthquake Response Support Service(NERSS) and Emergency General Hospital.

The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) has provided emergency supplies including 300 tents, 2,000 towelling beds, 600 rollaway beds and relief kits for 2,000 affected families after the 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar, the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) said Wednesday. The materials were transferred from the Yunnan Red Cross disaster relief Center. The International Rescue team of the Red Cross of China sent by the Red Cross Society of China, carrying equipment, has set off for Myanmar to carry out humanitarian relief missions.

More rescue forces from all over China are rushing to Myanmar: On the 29th, 16 experienced and skilled members of China Blue Sky Rescue Yunnan Team, carrying personal protective equipment, medical first aid kits, power generation lighting equipment, demolition tools and other urban earthquake rescue equipment and supplies, have left China’s Yunnan Ruili Port, rushed to Myanmar rescue; The Hong Kong SAR Government sent a 51-member rescue team to assist in the search and rescue work in the quake-hit areas. 23 members of the Shenzhen Public welfare Rescue team set off from Shenzhen Airport to rush to the epicenter with rescue equipment…

In addition, the China-Myanmar border has launched a coordination mechanism for emergency customs clearance after the earthquake, arranged customs officers on duty 24 hours a day, and opened the “green channel” in a timely manner to ensure rapid clearance of relief materials and rescue workers. A batch of emergency relief materials dispatched from Dehong, Yunnan Province, China, have been successfully cleared through customs at Ruili Port on the China-Myanmar border and shipped to the disaster areas.

The rapid cross-border response is inseparable from the achievements of connectivity and regional disaster prevention cooperation accumulated in the process of jointly building the Belt and Road, which has become a vivid footnote to the process of regional integration in Asia. In the early morning of March 30, the Chinese rescue team has pulled out the first survivor under the rubble in Naypyidaw. Relevant information has occupied an important position on major news websites in recent days. Chinese netizens have sent messages of blessing and encouragement to the people of Myanmar, and the word “shared destiny” has once again been embodied at this moment.

At a time when the process of globalization is going against the current trend, natural disasters remind mankind in the cruelest way that no country can be immune from disasters, and the world is an interdependent and mutually influencing community with a shared future. In the face of disaster, every country should not be an island, and every strength is vital.

Not only in Myanmar, the China International Search and Rescue（CISAR）, established in 2001, has rushed to Algeria, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Turkey and other countries to participate in rescue efforts. The Chinese government has demonstrated with concrete actions the China-Myanmar paukphaw friendship of mutual assistance through thick and thin and the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. This is China’s temperature, but also the responsibility of a major country.