Disasters in China, Myanmar reveal leadership differences

Despite its status as a world economic power, China remains, in many ways, a closed society — a reminder that it still is a Communist country. And yet, the response from the rulers in Beijing to Monday’s devastating earthquake has been uncharacteristically honest and forthright.

It may well be that the government knows that how it deals with this natural disaster — it already had claimed more than 19,000 lives by Thursday — will be viewed through the prism of this summer’s Olympic Games.

China is hoping to use the Games to showcase the great strides that have been made on the economic and social fronts. It also wants to let the western world know that dark days of political dictatorship have been relegated to the history books.

The government’s appeal for rescue equipment, its acknowledgment that the death toll could surpass 50,000 and its acceptance, albeit grudgingly, of foreign relief workers point to a change in attitude that can only benefit the 10 million Chinese directly affected by the earthquake that had a magnitude of 7.8.

Contrast this willingness to tell the truth and seek outside help with the attitude of the ruling junta in Myanmar, which was struck by a cyclone May 2-3. Not only has the military government refused to allow most foreign experts into the hard hit Irrawaddy delta and failed to urgently respond to the spiraling humanitarian crisis, but it won’t even admit to the number of dead and missing.

The rulers say that 38,491 people were killed and about 30,000 are missing. However, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimate that between 68,833 and 127,000 were killed. The United Nations has pegged the death toll at 100,000.

Pressure government

In commenting about the natural disaster that had been visited upon a people who had so little to begin with, we urged the United Nations and western countries to pressure the Myanmar government to not only accept supplies of food, fresh water, medicine and other necessities, but to allow relief agencies to send their own people into the areas hardest hit. This would enable the distribution of supplies and the building of shelters to proceed without interference from low-level bureaucrats, or greedy high-ranking government officials.

But the junta has continued to block the unrestricted flow of aid workers, supplies and equipment into their impoverished nation.

The result of this heavy-handed approach was easy to predict: Chaos has not become the order of the daily.

Indeed, the military leaders in the Southeast Asian country are being viewed with suspicion as stories mount over the misappropriation of international aid that is finally beginning to flow into the country — after weeks of the government refusing to even let relief planes land.

Amid such criticism from relief workers, the junta warned Thursday that legal action would be taken against people who trade or hoard international aid.

Relief workers have also reported some storm survivors are being given rancid or poor quality food rather than nutrition-rich biscuits sent by international donors.

In a clear illustration of how the junta’s suspicion of foreign governments and foreign aid workers has undermined the push to bring relief to millions, it has been reported that people are so thirsty they’re drinking water from ponds that have dead bodies floating in them.

The public health repercussions are obvious.

It is to be hoped that the military rulers in Myanmar will take a lesson from the Chinese government and accept foreign aid and foreign aid workers with humility and grace.

We aren’t holding our breath.