China has declined Australia's offer to provide an expert search and rescue team to help find survivors of a massive earthquake, citing logistical problems. Similar offers of help from Japan and South Korea have also been politely turned down. "We were told that China cannot receive rescuers now due to poor condition of transportation systems," said a Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of emergency aid. Beijing's response came a day after rescue workers made it on foot to the epicentre of Monday's earthquake to find some towns and cities "razed to the ground". More than 20,000 people are believed to have died in the quake, but tens of thousands of people are understood to be buried in the rubble of their homes, schools and workplaces in the quake zone. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offered Australian aid to the Chinese after the 7.9- magnitude quake rocked Sichuan province. "China responded today thanking Australia for the offer," a spokesman for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. "The extreme challenges of transport and communication in the earthquake region mean that at this point the aid cannot be received." Mr Rudd, who speaks fluent Mandarin and who once worked as a diplomat in Beijing, said that he had offered assistance, including search and rescue capability, to Premier Wen Jiabao. The Government's disaster coordination body Emergency Management Australia had been on standby to send search and rescue personnel on a commercial flight to the area worst-affected by the quake in the country's south-west. While it has kept the door open to foreign offers of help, China says that conditions are "not yet ripe" for international rescue workers to enter the country, citing damage to transport links in affected areas. "Razed to the ground" Rescue workers who reached Wenchuan County, the epicentre of the devastating earthquake , say some towns were "razed to the ground", with not a single house left standing. Several thousand army troops and medical workers walked into the area late on Tuesday, after damaged roads and bad weather made it impossible to drive or fly in. China has now mobilised 100,000 military and police, with troops parachuting and speed boating into cut-off areas while planes and helicopters air-dropped emergency supplies. "The losses have been severe. Some towns basically have no houses left. They have all been razed to the ground," Wang Yi, head of an armed police unit sent into the disaster zone, was quoted as saying by Sichuan Online news site. He did not say how many of Wenchuan's eight main towns had suffered such a high level of damage, but said they included the towns of Yingxiu, Xuankou, and Wolong. "Mountain villages in the surrounding area have also been basically razed to the ground," he added. Earlier reports said that in the city of Mianyang alone, nearly 20,000 people were believed to be buried, while elsewhere in Beichuan County, photos showed only around a fifth of buildings were still standing. Online Press.
Thats crazy, with two MAJOR earthquakes hitting the same area you would think they would accept aid from wherever they could get it... thats just crazy
i just don't understand why some of these countries don't want assistance from the world. come on, we are talking about HUMANS here.
I believe that China thinks that they will take a stand by their own methods but they are not getting this point that if they will take help from other countries then that is just gonna save some lives.... They should not make it as a prestige issue..
I would think what they had said is quite true, logistics and transportation problems, if you can't send the experts to the devastated areas, whats the use of having the experts in the first place? If you followed the events, it took China many days before being able to reach some of the areas themselves and that is having mobilizing more than 100 000 troops.
It could be that there are logistic issues. I know that Singapore just sent their rescue team to China http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/RMOI-7EQKY9?OpenDocument Japan, Korea and Russia also have their rescue team in there http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/KKAA-7ER4B7?OpenDocument&rc=3
Yeap I believe so too. For rescue efforts, there is a limit of how many can be working at one time. I am sure the Chinese is willing to mobilize 1 million troops if needed but it is not logistically feasible and too many hands can actually hinder rather than help. Glad that Singapore had send their rescue team, Japan also arrived with the specialized team of sniffer dogs.
I think China herself is already capable of handling the situation since they already have the wealth and manpower to do so on their own.
Yeap thats what I think so too. They have the largest foreign exchange surplus and a standing army of 2.3 million. Seriously doubt they would need help in any areas except specialized rescue methods or mechanism.
Yes it affects their pride,if they ask help from other countries. But Google has already sent 3 million USD to CHina for relief works.
i am welf li live in chengdu work in wenjiang where is about 70KM to earthquake (wenchuan) almost of you didnot know chinese as chinese,they want to show off themself .that is why China declines foreign quake assistance. finally .they accpet it . about 30 000 person was killed it is said that 50 0000 person didnot know where are there. i didnot think that data is right . i do think that data will more than 100 000.
From what I read quite a few countries are allowed in to help out. But this being the 6th or 7th day, it is really slim chance for survivors
With the second earthquake, it must be an awful mess over there, such tradegy. I really do feel for them. I know it has been said that transporation is a problem, but wasn't Australia offering to fly people in (aka paras) which would get around the road issues and enable rescue services to access the very remote areas?