The most ubiquitous among them have been Chinese relief workers, whose blue and orange uniforms appear across videos circulating on social media.
The posts are often accompanied with expressions of gratitude toward Beijing, whose first responders – as well as their Indian and Russian colleagues – have pulled dazed survivors and bodies out from the rubble of hotels, schools, and monasteries.
America’s chief geopolitical rival has so far pledged to deliver 100 million yuan worth of supplies.
The first batch of aid, including tents, blankets and first aid kits arrived in Yangon on Monday, Beijing has said.
The United States, which was until recently the world’s top humanitarian donor, has offered a relatively modest US$2 million.
Washington also said it would send a three-member assessment team, though their arrival has been delayed by problems obtaining visas from the military regime.
In past years, when tsunamis, earthquakes and other disasters struck around the world, the United States had regularly and rapidly deployed skilled rescue workers to save lives.
The American absence shows how President Donald Trump’s moves to slash the size of the US government has hobbled its ability to act during disasters, three current and former US officials said.
With Trump’s blessings, billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has enacted huge funding cuts and contractor terminations across the federal bureaucracy in the name of targeting wasteful spending.
Trump has also moved to fire nearly all US Agency for International Development staff, who oversee Washington’s disaster response efforts overseas.
A functional USAID would have activated urban search-and-rescue teams that were capable of being deployed to Myanmar in 48 hours, said Marcia Wong, formerly a top humanitarian official at USAID.
But most of the people who would have coordinated the response have been let go, while third-party partners have lost contracts, she said.
Former US ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel said that while it was unlikely the junta would have allowed big US military teams to enter, Washington could still have “responded more quickly and robustly” were it not for the cuts. (Reuters)
