In mid-2008, the world came to the rescue during Sichuan, China’s catastrophic earthquake aftermath. Individuals, organizations and governments sent aid in the form of equipment, food, volunteers and monetary donations. The first foreign search-and-rescue team to arrive on the scene was sent by Japan.
Now eastern Japan stands in the wake of a massive earthquake and destructive tsunami that swept through on 11 March. This time, a rescue team from China was one of the first to arrive in Japan, pledging to help evacuate citizens from areas near damaged nuclear reactors.
China and Japan have been political, cultural and economic rivals – and bitterly so – for the better part of a century. Reports of one another usually entail disputes over sea borders, historical records and trade imbalance. As in 2008, it again took a natural disaster for these two nations to put differences aside and work together to rebuild.
The truth is, China and Japan are inextricably linked to one another through an extensive history, evolution of culture and (more recently) economic growth. Any great blow to one ripples across the sea, quickly striking the other.
It is and continues to be in the nations’ best interests to work together – towards rescue and rebuilding efforts as much as peacekeeping and industrialization.
In June 2008 we urged you, the reader, to contribute traditional and in-kind donations to the Sichuan relief effort. We again request that you and your organization assist in the recovery of our partners to the east. Please contact the Red Cross (www.redcross.org.cn) to see where help is needed most.
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