Editorial: True colors

Amid the tragedy and destruction of Tuesday's earthquake, certain truths have manifested themselves.

Nature has wrought terrible damage to this country, but by and large human response to it has been noble, even heroic. One thinks of tales of parents sacrificing their lives for their children, or of rescue workers from around the world rushing to Taiwan's aid, or of so much blood donated that there is no place to store it.

Naturally, some human factors also contributed to the damage. One thinks in particular of construction companies and real estate developers whose shady business practices greatly increased the loss of life, or of the lack of coordination among government agencies.

But the most appalling human contribution to the suffering since the quake struck has certainly been put on display by our so-called neighbors -- the word "brothers" or "cousins" sticks in the throat, even in irony -- on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. Bei-jing's grotesque attempts to gain political capital out of the suffering of Taiwanese are an outrage that will not easily be forgotten or forgiven.

First, the statements that China has made, from the beginning, have only served to pour salt in Taiwan's wounds. Jiang Zemin (江澤民) and his spokesmen have taken advantage of every comment about the disaster to reiterate their claim to Taiwan, and even to denounce President Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) "two states" formula. All the Chinese media, apparently including the South China Morning Post, were ordered to write commentaries emphasizing the "common bond" of the peoples of "one nation," who will now be "calmer and happier" because the tragedy has brought them together. Perhaps what stung the most was when Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇), speaking at the UN, presumed to thank the international community for its assistance.

Such political point-scoring in a time of tragedy is completely inexcusable. We can only hope that the world sees it for what it is: the flailings of a frustrated autocracy and an insecure bully, incapable of generosity or sincerity, even under the worst circumstances. That the paranoid need to repeat, "Taiwan is a part of China," should be the clearest demonstration of the fact that nobody anywhere believes this to be a fact.

Beijing has sent sticks and stones for good mea-sure. First, they offered a measly package of financial and medical assistance. The Taiwan government is right to refuse aid workers, whose tardy presence would have caused more problems than it solved. As for the financial assistance, it should have come from Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs), like the Taiwanese ones who sent much larger donations to China's disaster victims in years past.

Unfortunately, the idea of NGOs has not even begun to be accepted in China. Even the Red Cross, the oldest international NGO, particularly distinguished for its political neutrality, is just a tool in the hands of the Communist Party. We are stunned that China has applied pressure on the International Federation of the Red Cross, insisting that any aid to Taiwan must be approved by Bejing. When they are willing to manipulate even the Red Cross, we are not surprised to see what they have done to the UN.

All this is certainly revolting, but not in itself physically hurtful. The same cannot be said of the refusal to allow the plane carrying the Russian rescue team to fly through Chinese airspace, delaying its arrival by 12 hours. Since the Russians have done excellent work from the minute they landed, it is entirely possible that this decision by Beijing has caused needless Taiwanese deaths.