OPINION> Commentary
Love and help across borders
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-19 07:29

The international rescue teams would be a significant aid for our ongoing relief work, says an article in Beijing News. The following is an excerpt:

A professional rescue team from Japan arrived at Qingchuan county, one of the worst-hit counties in the quake-struck Sichuan province, on Friday morning. They were the first batch of foreign aid personnel to enter China since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake took place on Monday afternoon.

Professional rescuers from Russia, the Republic of Korea and Singapore have also reached the affected areas later Friday.

Besides expressing gratitude to the rescuers and for the offers of help from all countries, Qin Gang, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on early Friday morning that officials were considering the offers in accordance with the situation in the quake-hit areas.

The openness displayed by our government should be applauded, indeed. It is a proof that our decision-makers put saving people's lives as the top priority.

In the face of sudden disasters, the relief operations often cut across borders. And China has taken an active part in dispatching rescuers overseas to help disaster-hit regions in other countries.

It is an international practice to send rescuers to other countries in case of huge disasters. And actually, these rescue efforts are out of love among all human beings, regardless of their color, nationality, language or politics.

China's Taiwan and our close neighbor Japan are both located in regions frequently hit by earthquakes, so the professionals there have rich experiences in rescue work. Several developed countries have advanced technologies and equipment as well as well-trained sniffer dogs, which could be the most helpful to save those still buried deep in the rubble.

With the strong assistance of the international rescuers, the troops, the medical teams and others working on the site would definitely have a higher efficiency in their efforts.

(China Daily 05/19/2008 page9)