China donates $100,000 to Philippines

[Swannie]

Europeans care about people in general. Chinese care only about people they know and like (or at a pinch are at least the same race as them).

Oh brother the things one has to read on these forums...

Just a few words that might jog the memory. Apartheid, slavery, holocaust, inquisition, pogroms, IRA, Yugoslavia...

[East_coast]

It's not "closed off". It's impossible to get to! The roads are broken, the bridges are down, many airports are damaged. Difference.

Not to quibble but a quote from a foreign aid worker in Sichaun.

"Additionally, the movement of people was strictly regulated in the affected areas. For months, police and military roadblocks prevented non-essential personnel from entering the disaster zone (personnel also sprayed traffic passing through with disinfectant in the belief that this would reduce the risk of disease). These authoritarian measures largely succeeded in saving lives and reducing the secondary disasters of disease, flooding and damage from strong aftershocks; however, these results came at the expense of personal liberties"

Weren't there quite a few stories at the time of aid workers not being able to gain access to the area. Also the terrible tragedy in Sichaun was just days after the Burma flooding and China does have the ability to mount a massive response itself.

Hopefully the Philippines will take all the short term and also importantly the long term aid that is offered no matter how small and how it is administered.

[rakedavids]

Forget about the hostage situation for now.
The country needs to concentrate on efforts for the typhoon victims.

HK government should just pay the hostage victims families the compensation they are claiming and donate dollar for dollar what is raised on any weekend for the Philippines typhoon tragedy.
There is a bigger picture we have to look at here as human beings. Start to discuss about apologies from the new year and forget compensation. Every dollar we take out of the Philippine govt hands for the hostage victims is money that could have gone to the victims of the typhoon.
HK can afford it - its not about being the bigger person - its about doing the right thing - the human thing.

[closedcasket]

Oh brother the things one has to read on these forums...

Just a few words that might jog the memory. Apartheid, slavery, holocaust, inquisition, pogroms, IRA, Yugoslavia...

While I don't think Moving worded it very well...I think you are jumping to extremes.

I understood her point. The point being this..The Chinese have inner and outer circles:

The rules of behavior set forth by Confucius apply to one's inner circle... family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. They do not, as a rule, apply to people outside the circle.... strangers. It is not considered rude to bump into someone without offering an apology.

The western concept of being kind to strangers is foreign to the Chinese and thus not a strong sense of philantrophy.

[Swannie]

The equivalent would be to say that westerners don't care about their families as much as the chinese...

[MovingIn07]

While I don't think Moving worded it very well...I think you are jumping to extremes.

I understood her point. The point being this..The Chinese have inner and outer circles:

The rules of behavior set forth by Confucius apply to one's inner circle... family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. They do not, as a rule, apply to people outside the circle.... strangers. It is not considered rude to bump into someone without offering an apology.

The western concept of being kind to strangers is foreign to the Chinese and thus not a strong sense of philantrophy.

Thanks, nicely put.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using GeoClicks mobile app

[methosb]

Do people really think China donated a meager 100k out of kindness? The world's richest country donating far less than countries with broke economies is a purposeful slap in the face. Like a king flicking a 5c coin at a peasant as he walks past.

[Dankleness]

Good reading this thread, one thing I like about this site is seeing all the different ways people can look at things. Hope everyone over there makes the best use of whatever they get.

[East_coast]

While I don't think Moving worded it very well...I think you are jumping to extremes.

I understood her point. The point being this..The Chinese have inner and outer circles:

The rules of behavior set forth by Confucius apply to one's inner circle... family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. They do not, as a rule, apply to people outside the circle.... strangers. It is not considered rude to bump into someone without offering an apology.

The western concept of being kind to strangers is foreign to the Chinese and thus not a strong sense of philantrophy.

Are you suggesting that the Phillipines (who's 3rd largest trading partner is China) are now strangers? The Communist Party gave more aid for the last much less severe typhoon that hit this country. It looks alike an immature diplomatic response that has and will continue to backfire.

[INXS]

The equivalent would be to say that westerners don't care about their families as much as the chinese...

As a generalisation it sounds fair...