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Editor's note: CGTN's First Voice provides instant commentary on breaking stories. The column clarifies emerging issues and better defines the news agenda, offering a Chinese perspective on the latest global events.
Countries across the world are racing to help after a devastating 7.8-magnitude rocked Türkiye and Syria on Monday that has already resulted in more than 8,300 deaths. Natural disasters call for global solidarity. Against the backdrop of intensifying economic competitions and geopolitical confrontations, the united support to the Middle East is encouraging.
With the death toll still climbing, the first Chinese civilian rescue team is rushing to Türkiye, and the Chinese government on Tuesday announced its first batch of 40 million yuan ($5.9 million) of humanitarian aid to Türkiye. U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to deliver "any and all" aid needed to help recovery efforts. Russian assistance forces are heading toward the rocked regions to help victims. The EU has mobilized rescue teams with crews from at least 13 member states to the epicenter – including Sweden that is known as an "old enemy" of Damascus and has recently witnessed tense ties with Ankara.
With vital military importance throughout history, Türkiye and Syria have become hot spots of conflicts in recent years, with the latter being known as the powder keg in the Middle East. Geopolitical games among major powers have turned Syria into a war-torn country – leaving 2.9 million people displaced, according to the UN. The earthquake has intensified the pain. In this context, the willingness among countries – sometimes rivals in geopolitical confrontation in the region – to shelve the political differences and join disaster relief efforts is welcomed and required in overcoming the disaster.
People gather around the rubble of a building destroyed in a powerful earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Türkiye, on February 7, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]
In the era of global integration, common challenges including climate change, pandemic, and natural disasters call for solidarity and coordination. However, the reality bites. The rising trade protectionist and populist sentiments, as well as the thirst to win in geopolitical games, are dividing the world, with the entire human society paying a heavy price. The earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria have created a sense of shared future and thus are a chance to re-unite the world.
Nonetheless, how long such solidarity could last is hard to say. While the U.S. has deployed teams to aid rescue efforts and address the needs of those displaced in the region, it has ruled out the possibility of engaging with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – the main executor of rescue and reconstruction work. Despite the fact that American allies are fixing ties with Damascus in recent years, the U.S. government insists its position on the Syrian government.
The earthquake has not softened Washington's stance on sanctions. "Lifting of the sanctions will open the doors for additional and supplemental aid that will provide immediate relief to those in need," executive director of American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Abed Ayoub said in a statement. However, the U.S. government, when time is of the essence to rescue those buried in the rubble, is firm on its policy of not contacting with the Syrian government.
In the face of the devastating earthquake, it is encouraging that countries across the globe are rushing to offer aid. But for some players in the region, geopolitical obsessions are hard to give up – creating barriers in building a community of a shared future. Humans are on the same boat and solidarity is the way out from the storms – the world needs to learn this before it is too late.
