Time for Asian system to fight back disasters

Earthquake of Wenchuan in Sichuan province has caused enormous losses in China and drew widespread concern of nations, not only in Asia but in other parts of the world. Several countries, including Japan and Russia, has sent relief and medical teams to affected areas, while the international community delivered relief supplies and cash donations.
Emergency disaster has become a common humanitarian cause of the world as the era of increasing interdependence demands an international relief and reduction system that covers all of Asia.

Natural disasters never respect national borders, or they observe social systems, nationalities, religions or ideologies. For a fairly long period after the Second World War, but international cooperation in disaster relief largely in the form of bilateral aid. Although international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), UNESCO and institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have played an important role in the organization, coordination and participate directly in efforts international relief in many recent decades a vast system of international disaster relief is not found until the mid-1990s, when international cooperation for disaster relief headed by the UN is finally going to build such a system.
In 1994 the first World Conference on Disaster Reduction, organized by the United Nations, held in Yokohama, Japan, and suggested a "Yokohama Strategy" aimed at disaster prevention and building a Strong thereafter. The concept symbolized international efforts in disaster prevention and relief began to move towards systematization.

On January 18, 2005, the Second World Conference on Disaster Reduction begins in Kobe, Japan, as rescue were in full swing for tsunami-hit countries like Indonesia and the host country, Japan was the 10th anniversary of the earthquake of Hanshin. Nearly 4,000 representatives from 168 countries and regions attended the meeting.

The conference proposed the Hyogo Declaration, which embodies the philosophy of prevention of disasters and global plan of action worked Hyogo - A 10-year plan for international cooperation in disaster relief. It should be noted that the Japanese government and the UN have jointly requested the establishment of an international disaster reduction based aid long-term reconstruction after the disaster. He would join the WHO center in Kobe, who was born in response to the earthquake of Hanshin as a basis for international cooperation in disaster prevention.

The new international institution for Disaster Reduction is responsible for formulating effective long-term disaster prevention and reduction of international measures. It was also the intellectual support to the construction of a global disaster prevention and reduction system by hiring experts from around the world to gather useful data on the screens of disasters and site of scientific research.

In fact, China has also played an active role in lobbying for an international disaster prevention and reduction. In August 2007, the Third World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province in northern China. It was organized jointly by the Ministry of Water Resources and UNESCO. An international exhibition of rescue equipment and technology took place on the side of the conference and served as a place of international exchange on disaster prevention and reduction of cooperation. The conference was the philosophy of international cooperation in disaster reduction at another level, carried out the strategy for disaster reduction adopted at the Kobe Conference in 2005 and advanced the construction of international cooperation based on the system of disaster prevention.

In light of international aid to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar last month, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an emergency meeting of foreign ministers "last month with the idea of forming a system of disaster relief in the ASEAN with the conditional opening. It was seen as a means of preventing a regional disaster reduction and building.

In a regional perspective, Asia is one of the world most affected by natural disasters because of the vast and long coastline with a wide range of climatic and geographical characteristics. Over the last decade in particular, the tectonic plates in the region have shown increased activity with the number of earthquakes and tsunamis in the elevator, while extreme weather events like floods, droughts and storms snow often took people by surprise. Accompanied by municipal governments and epidemic diseases and even the plague, natural disasters have become a new threat to prosperity in Asia. The construction of a system of regional cooperation for disaster prevention and reduction is more urgent than ever.

In Asia, Japan is a country with frequent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and hurricanes faces. It is also one of the few developed countries in the region with a rich experience and knowledge to cope with natural disasters through decades of practice, which is an important part of the joint expertise in the prevention and reduction of natural disasters make the region.
After the earthquake that struck Wenchuan in Sichuan province Day May 22 earthquake in Japan department immediately provided relevant data to China to confirm the correctness of his own, while the Japanese government has taken the lead in sending professional rescue and medical teams to the disaster area of Sichuan. Other Asian countries quickly offered their support in a flow of humanitarian gestures. This indicates that there is real possibility that Asia may construct an area of disaster prevention and system wide reduction based on mutual support and cooperation.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suggested that the Japanese government to the high-level meeting on aid operations for victims of the tsunami in Indonesia in early 2005 that China and Japan should strengthen cooperation in disaster prevention and reducing the region. When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed his support for the proposal of Mr. Wen.
Today is the strategic relationship of mutual benefit is the dominant theme of the China-Japan, it will undoubtedly contribute to the common interest of the entire Asian region to build a regional disaster monitoring and Information based on economic and ecological.