On Feb. 24, a powerful earthquake struck China's Xinjiang Province. More than 2000 people were reported killed or injured. Apart from expressing condolences, the government should look into the possibility of donating funds or sending rescue teams to the area.
Nothing is more valuable than human life. At present, humanitarianism is a basic principle of international behavior. In light of the principle that humanitarian concern knows no boundaries, the provision of assistance by Taiwan would be noble behavior in accord with international mores, although the country has not been affected in any tangible way by the disaster in Xinjiang and in all likelihood there were no Taiwanese among the victims.
Furthermore, even Greece has expressed a willingness to donate 250,000 euros. At the very least, China is an important trade partner of this coutnry, so there would be nothing untoward about providing aid.
Although the authorities in Beijing have already stated that they will do their utmost to provide relief to the disaster victims, the more aid those mainly poor victims receive, the better.
Taiwan provided significant assistance after the earthquake in Turkey and the war in Afghanistan, and the US later publicly expressed gratitude. So such action was beneficial to the country's international image.
Some may feel that given China's undiminished threat to use military force against Taiwan and the continuing sluggishness of our economy, there is no need to get involved in the affairs of others. I believe, however, that even if war were to break out, it would still be necessary to treat ordinary people in a humane way.
Two years ago, the US launched military attacks on Afghanistan, but at the same time it also provided large amounts of material aid to the Afghan people. There is no contradiction here. In fact, the US military's humanitarian aid was extremely helpful to winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.
In any case, granting financial aid won't improve China's ability to attack Taiwan. As for this country's economic problems, it is estimated that this year's economic growth rate will exceed 3 percent. This is already an impressive record for an industrialized country.
To believe that providing aid will harm the economy is simply to be too pessimistic. In 1999, Russia's economy was experiencing negative growth, but after the 921 earthquake, Russia rapidly sent us rescue teams.
Taiwan is situated in the circum-Pacific seismic belt -- the "Ring of Fire" -- so it is possible that we will experience more earthquakes like the one that struck on Sept. 21, 1999. Once disaster does strike, the experience and skills of rescue personnel are key to reducing the number of casualties. In that light, sending rescue teams to Xinjiang now would give them an excellent opportunity to train under real conditions and gain experience. One could say that both sides would benefit.
At the same time, aiding Xinjiang's earthquake victims would provide an opportunity for the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to develop a healthy mode of interaction. Anyone who interferes for political reasons is inviting abuse.
On grounds of humanitarianism and possible enlightened self-interest we should still help. Beijing belittles Taiwan, but Taipei cannot and need not rebut negative statements from Beijing since both sides understand the limited effect of such statements abroad. China has nothing to gain, moreover, from clinging to ideological baggage in the context of humanitarian work.
There should be no question about it: Taiwan must assist the earthquake victims of Xinjiang.
Chang Kuo-cheng is a former deputy director of the DPP's China affairs office.
Translated by Ethan Harkness
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