China says it is willing to provide Japan with whatever help is necessary as Tokyo deals with massive disruption caused by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that battered the country's northeast coast yesterday.
Premier Wen Jiabao phoned Japan's prime minister, Naoto Kan, to offer his condolences, and the China Earthquake Administration said it had put personnel and medical supplies on standby, 'ready to go in a minute' pending a request from Japan.
Xinhua said the Chinese state rescue team was among 18 international rescue teams outfits that had been placed on high alert through the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Qiu Lili, team leader of the Beijing Red Cross Blue Sky Rescue Team, told Xinhua that they had also contacted the Japanese Embassy within two hours of the quake to let them know they were on standby if called.
A 31-member Japanese rescue team was the first international rescue team to arrive in Sichuan in the wake of the Wenchuan earthquake in May 2008, and its expertise and state-of-the-art equipment impressed many.
However, Sino-Japanese ties have since been strained, with Japan detaining a Chinese trawler captain and his crew near the Diaoyu Islands in September after their vessel collided with two Japanese coastguard ships. Talks on the joint exploration of energy resources in the East China Sea, another issue of contention in bilateral relations, have since been frozen.
Professor Liu Jiangyong , from Tsinghua University's Institute of International Studies, said Wen's overture should improve relations. 'Even though there are some bilateral issues including territorial disputes and historic issues which we might not be able to resolve immediately, the two sides could still manage to reach a win-win solution via frank and effective communication.'
