This video screenshot taken on March 30, 2025 shows rescue operations underway in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. A rescue team of China's Yunnan Province, joined by Myanmar's rescue forces, retrieved an elderly man in earthquake-hit Myanmar capital Nay Pyi Taw at 05:00 local time on Sunday. (Wang Hao/Yunnan Media Group/Handout via Xinhua)
A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday, with its epicenter near Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, at a depth of 30 kilometers. This is the strongest earthquake Myanmar has experienced in nearly a century. Experts described the quake as "a great knife cut into the Earth." Tremors were felt in China's Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou, as well as across Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and other neighboring regions. As of noon on Sunday, Myanmar reported about 1,700 people were confirmed dead, about 3,400 injured and around 300 missing. This disaster has not only tested Myanmar's national resilience but also attracted the attention of the international community.
Nonetheless, local rescue efforts remain challenging. The earthquake has severely damaged roads, bridges, airports, and communication infrastructure, while hospitals and other medical facilities have suffered extensive destruction, leading to severe shortages of medical supplies. Heart-wrenching images from the disaster region reveal that many victims are still trapped under the rubble. Due to a lack of heavy machinery, rescuers are manually lifting steel and concrete to save lives. As disaster relief efforts enter the final hours of the "72-hour golden rescue period," international emergency humanitarian assistance is racing against time.
Myanmar's call for international aid has received a response from multiple parties. The United Nations has pledged $5 million in emergency relief funds, while the World Health Organization is preparing to provide medical supplies. China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, India, and other countries have swiftly dispatched rescue teams and aid materials, while the European Union, Ireland, South Korea, and New Zealand have also announced assistance. The US has expressed willingness to provide aid as well. However, given the severity of the disaster and Myanmar's fragile infrastructure, the current rescue capacity still falls short of the urgent needs on the ground. Saving lives is the top priority.
In the wake of the disaster, China was among the first to extend a helping hand to Myanmar. President Xi Jinping extended condolences to Myanmar, emphasizing that China and Myanmar are "a community of shared future sharing weal and woe." Within less than 24 hours of the earthquake, China had dispatched several rescue teams to Myanmar and announced the provision of emergency humanitarian aid. Several domestically developed commercial satellites captured real-time images of the disaster area, utilizing remote sensing technology to support earthquake relief efforts. At border checkpoints between China and Myanmar, post-earthquake emergency clearance mechanisms were swiftly activated, ensuring 24-hour operations and opening "green channels" for relief supplies. The rapid cross-border response is inseparable from the connectivity achievements and regional disaster prevention cooperation accumulated during the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), serving as a vivid testament to the process of regional integration in Asia. By the morning of Sunday, Chinese rescue teams had already retrieved the first survivor from the rubble in Nay Pyi Taw.
The Chinese public deeply empathizes with the suffering in Myanmar, with disaster-related news dominating major media platforms in recent days. Messages of encouragement and well wishes from Chinese netizens have flooded the comment sections. At this moment, the phrase "a shared future" takes on a tangible meaning once again.
A few dissenting voices internationally, under the guise of "attention on disaster relief," are stirring up geopolitical waters. Certain opinions, when discussing international aid to Myanmar, have distorted the aid into an "opportunity to expand influence." This misplaced focus on relief efforts actually represents a politicized and ideologically skewed distortion of another nations' humanitarian gestures. These voices not only ignore the urgent needs of the Myanmar people, but also run counter to the mainstream call of the international community. China remains steadfast in its commitment to developing friendship and partnership with its neighbors - a bond that has been repeatedly proven during turbulent times, relying on the interconnectedness of a shared future.
At a time when globalization is facing several challenges, natural disasters are a brutal reminder to humanity that no country can remain unaffected when calamity strikes. The world is an interconnected community with a shared future. A massive disaster like the earthquake in Myanmar not only tests the nation's emergency response capabilities but also the unity and cooperative spirit of the entire international community. In the face of disaster, no country should stand in isolation, and every bit of support is vital. Only through close cooperation against risks can we effectively mitigate the impact of disasters and safeguard our common home, the Earth.
The earthquake has caused severe damage to Myanmar, and the reconstruction efforts in the future will be a long and arduous task. China has expressed its commitment to strengthening communication and coordination with agencies such as the World Health Organization, World Food Programme, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to leverage complementary strengths, carry out humanitarian aid, and support post-disaster reconstruction.
The goal is to help the people in Myanmar's disaster-stricken areas overcome this calamity and rebuild their homes as swiftly as possible. While a powerful earthquake can reshape the landscape, it cannot extinguish humanity's belief in mutual support. We call on relevant countries to transcend political differences and discard prejudices by further increasing aid to the disaster area, ensuring that this cross-border "relay of life" continues. Together with the international community, we remain steadfast in supporting Myanmar as it emerges from the shadow of the disaster.
