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Talk about more heartbreak in the aftermath of a horrific catastrophe in the poorest, most impoverished "basket case" country in the Western hemisphere.
More than a week after the giant tremors demolished the capital of Haiti, Port Au Prince, and brought deaths to over 200,000 Haitians, 3 million displaced and rendered homeless, in a country with a national population of 9 million, Haiti remains at the crosshairs of geopolitical rivalry, back-biting, fights, incompetence, corruption, opportunism, fear, reprisals.... and all the nasty things about human society.
I am not trying to take away the selfless, heroic, magninimous giving and sacrifices rendered by aid workers on individual personal levels, from doctors to nurses, social workers to ordinary blokes from the streets.
But there is no question that Haiti and the aftermath of the earthquake rescue and relief efforts have been disastrous and speaks to the corrosion of government as we know it, as a safety net. Instead, what the world saw was not Sichuan but headless chickens running around with their wings flapping, with little coordination and organization in Haiti.
Across the board, the chaos, the anarchy, the infighting, posturing, leveraging has made ordinary Haitians the "Sad Sack" stories of today's uglier, unkind, brutal world.
Aside from the gross incompetence and chaos shown by American troops who poured in with assault weapons, lots of military equipment, but not enough medical supplies, make-shift hospitals for emergency care, tents for temporary housing, heavy equipment to dig through the rubble.......
Consider that the rivalry across the Taiwan Straits has now also resulted in a tussle in Haiti between Beijing and Taipei. Beijing and Taipei officials can do better.
The spirit of Sichuan, demonstrated under the leadership of Uncle Wen Jiabao was absent in Haiti. Why ? Where's the age-old Chinese humanity and civilizational trait of altruism without politics and the spirit of "Datong" ?
Is it once again "checkbook diplomacy" ? Or should this be one where across the Taiwan Straits, all Chinese must cut the b.s. over whether Haiti should have diplomatic relations with Beijing or with Taipei.
As an ethnic Chinese, I am angry and aggrieved by this nonsense in the face of a calamity which has brought about such disastrous consequences upon a country and a people in the Caribbean, without a functoning government, if at all, living in utter despair and desperation.
Cut that out..... please. The officials in charge of relief work from Beijing and Taipei must stop "politicking" and stick to doing the right thing. Plain and simple. Read the following Al Jazeera story:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/01/2010122691841411.html
