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In September, China said it would give a $1.5 million cash grant to Pakistan, its close friend, after an earthquake killed an estimated 500 people in the province of Baluchistan.

After a tropical storm hit the Philippines in 2011, China pledged $1 million in humanitarian aid. That was before relations between the two countries soured over disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

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China has gradually increased its international humanitarian assistance since early 2005, when a cargo plane loaded with medicine, food, electrical generators and a 35-member Chinese medical team were dispatched to the Indonesian province of Aceh after it was devastated in the Indian Ocean tsunami.

It was the first visible effort by China at a foreign disaster scene, an effort that, while small compared to other countries’, stood out for the youthfulness of the doctors and their bright red medical tents.

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tihik

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China's meager aid to the Philippines could dent its image
By Megha Rajagopalan 19 hours ago


BEIJING (Reuters) - China may have wasted the chance to build goodwill in Southeast Asia with its relatively paltry donation to the Philippines in the wake of a devastating typhoon, especially with the United States sending an aircraft carrier and Japan ramping up aid.

The world's second-largest economy is a growing investor in Southeast Asia, where it is vying with the United States and Japan for influence. But China's assertiveness in pressing its claim to the disputed South China Sea has strained ties with several regional countries, most notably the Philippines.

China's government has promised $100,000 in aid to Manila, along with another $100,000 through the Chinese Red Cross - far less than pledged by other economic heavyweights.

Japan has offered $10 million in aid and is sending in an emergency relief team, for instance, while Australia has donated $9.6 million.

"The Chinese leadership has missed an opportunity to show its magnanimity," said Joseph Cheng, a political science professor at the City University of Hong Kong who focuses on China's ties with Southeast Asia.

"While still offering aid to the typhoon victims, it certainly reflects the unsatisfactory state of relations (with Manila)."

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Super Typhoon Haiyan tore through the central Philippines on Friday and flattened the city of Tacloban, where officials fear 10,000 people died. Officials fear the toll could rise sharply as rescuers reach more isolated towns.

Overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, the Philippines has sought international assistance.

The U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington, carrying about 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft, will arrive this week after setting sail from Hong Kong on Tuesday. It has been joined by four other U.S. Navy ships.

The United States is also providing $20 million in immediate aid. Japan said it will give $10 million and send a small number of soldiers and medical personnel.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China would consider more aid as the situation developed, but did not say why Beijing had offered less than other countries.

"China has also suffered from the disaster, so we very much understand and sympathize with the current hardships that the Philippine people are facing," Qin told a regular briefing, referring to the deaths of at least seven people and $734 million in economic losses when the much-weakened storm swiped China's southern provinces.

"We are willing to consider providing more support and aid within our capacity as it goes."

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