China's response to the Philippine's typhoon disaster has been described as "tepid" and amounts to no more than $100,000 with a further like amount donated to the Red Cross. It could have deployed "Daishandao" - better known by its peacetime name of "HS Peace Ark" - one of China's state of the art hospital ships: It is equipped with 300 hospital beds, eight operating theatres, 20 ICUs and more than 100 medical staff; its own helicopter can transport 27 passengers or 15 stretchers. But China hasn't, the ship remains at its berth in Shanghai's naval dockyard. On 12th November, Chinese and American troops cooperated on a humanitarian aid and disaster relief training exercise in Hawaii which focused on providing emergency aid in a third country hit by a devastating earthquake. The concept of using military forces to deliver humanitarian aid is one that is recognised by Beijing. However China's state-run media is concerned about the presence of the George Washington Battle Group in Philippine waters and the growing numbers of US and Japanese military personnel arriving in the Philippines for humanitarian purposes. In an editorial. the English language Global Times has suggested that China needs to redress the balance and dispatch its own naval force to the Philippines which could include the Peach Ark - "If Manila refuses the motion, that will only underscore its narrow mind and will be of no loss to China". Do read the comments at the foot of the article.
China Increases Typhoon Aid to Philippines ....to 1.6 million USD http://www.voanews.com/content/china-increases-typhoon-aid-to-philippines/1790035.html
I don't blame China. How much aid did the Philippines send to China after the 2008 earthquake? That killed almost 100,000 people.
There are outstanding diplomatic issues over compensation and apology for the hong kong tourist deaths and the sovrienty over territory so unlikely to be easy
