China has asked Japan to send military assistance after a devastating earthquake this month that killed more than 67,000 people, Japan's foreign ministry said yesterday.
Tokyo is considering its response to the request, the top government spokesman said, adding that he did not believe such a mission would involve Japanese troops operating on the ground.
Japan’s military has not been deployed in China since the end of World War II.
PHOTO: AFP/NSPO
“There was a request from the Chinese side to our embassy in Beijing yesterday. It asked for relief materials and transport, including from the Self-Defense Forces [SDF],” Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference on Tuesday.
“It is not entirely clear, but I think they want SDF tents and blankets to be transported to a Chinese airport by SDF planes,” Machimura said.
He said he had heard requests had been made to other countries.
Shortly after the May 12 quake, Japan sent rescue teams and a medical team to Sichuan Province.
Nearly 160,000 people were evacuated downstream from an unstable earthquake-created lake in Sichuan, while the government warned that rebuilding after the disaster would be “arduous.”
Some 158,000 people have been evacuated and dozens of villages emptied in case the newly formed Tangjiashan lake bursts before soldiers and engineers can drain it, the official China Daily said yesterday.
Troops used explosives to clear debris and helicopters to airlift heavy moving equipment to dig drainage channels from the lake, located about 3.2km above the devastated town of Beichuan.
Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) told a meeting of the State Council that handling the danger from the swelling lakes was the “most pressing task” in the disaster recovery effort, the newspaper said.
The government has allocated 200 million yuan (US$28.6 million) to deal with the swelling lakes, the Xinhua news agency said. Of 34 lakes created by the earthquake in the mountainous province, 28 were at risk of bursting, the agency said.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed deaths from the quake climbed toward an expected toll of more than 80,000. The Cabinet said yesterday that 68,109 people were killed, with 19,851 still missing.
The National Development and Reform Commission warned that rebuilding after the quake would be difficult.
“Due to the immense magnitude of loss resulted from the quake, production recovery and reconstruction of the quake-hit region wilommission said in a statement, adding that major infrastructure had been “severely damaged.”
In other developments, torrential rains that killed 28 people in Guizhou Province were forecast to continue for the next three days.
Eighteen people have died in flooding since Sunday, Xinhua reported late on Tuesday. Twelve were missing.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Two people died and 19 others were injured after a Mexican Navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday. The ship snapped all three of its masts as it collided with the New York City landmark late on Saturday, while onlookers enjoying the balmy spring evening watched in horror. “At this time, of the 277 on board, 19 sustained injuries, 2 of which remain in critical condition, and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries,” Adams posted on X. Footage shared online showed the Mexican Navy ship Cuauhtemoc, its sails furled