Since 14 January, there have been several eruptions of the Hon Aha Apay Island volcano in the South Pacific island nation of Tonga, and eruptions can also be heard in Tonga and other countries, such as Fiji and as far away as New Zealand and Australia. In addition, the volcanic eruption also caused a strong tsunami, and the tsunami shock wave even spread to Japan 8,000 kilometers away, which shows its power.
(Great eruption of a volcano in Tonga)
Since the whole territory of Tonga is covered with volcanic ash, Tonga's communication network with the outside world was interrupted for 2 days, and during the period when Tonga was "out of touch with the outside world", a number of Chinese netizens asked for help through social media, saying that some friends and relatives had lost contact in Tonga, including a Guangdong man Zhu Jianxiong, whose wife said that "her husband has been in a state of disappearance for 2 days after the eruption of The Tonga Volcano.".
In this regard, the Chinese Embassy in Tonga quickly dispatched, and through some twists and turns, finally confirmed that Zhu Jianxiong was safe and sound, and specially transmitted this good news back to China to inform his wife to reassure him. In addition, shandong Liaocheng University also has 3 teachers missing in Tonga, the embassy after confirming that they are safe, specially use a satellite phone directly to Liaocheng University to inform the news.
(After the eruption of the Tonga volcano, the main island of the eruption disappeared directly, which shows its power)
At present, China is very concerned about the disaster caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga, and has provided emergency humanitarian assistance of US$100,000 in cash to tonga through the Red Cross Society of China, and will provide additional follow-up funds and other assistance within its capabilities according to the needs of the disaster situation and Tonga.
Chinese footsteps all over the world, it can be said that almost any country has a Chinese figure, even Tonga, which has a population of only 100,000, once had more than 2,000 Chinese, but due to the impact of the epidemic, the employees and international students of Chinese-funded enterprises have gone halfway, and there are still more than 1,000 Chinese left in Tonga. But even if there is a natural disaster, our country will never give up on any Chinese citizen, even if it is far away from thousands of mountains and rivers, we must ensure the safety of everyone. It should be noted that the runway of Tonga Airport is covered with a large amount of volcanic ash, which hinders international rescue efforts and the feasibility of evacuating overseas Chinese in the first place is not high. In addition, at present, the volcanic eruption has passed, the possibility of subsequent eruptions of secondary disasters is not high, and the situation has been temporarily stabilized.
(China is willing to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Tonga)
In the past, the mainland's strength was weak and weak, and its ability to evacuate overseas Chinese in the event of unexpected events (including natural disasters and man-made disasters) was very limited, but after entering the 21 st century, the mainland's evacuation operations have been done better and better each time, and the response has been more rapid than ever. Although the eruption of the Tonga volcano has not evacuated overseas Chinese, it can also reflect the mainland's concern for overseas Chinese in details such as communications.
The following are some of the more significant evacuations:
In June 2000 (116 expatriates), a military coup d'état took place in the Solomon Islands, and with the assistance of Australia, mainland expatriates were transferred to Papua New Guinea and then returned home on a special plane by the Chinese government.
In April 2006 (310 overseas Chinese were evacuated), there was another riot in the Solomon Islands, and the Chinese chartered plane first evacuated the people to Papua New Guinea and then to Guangdong, compared with the evacuation incident in 2000, this time without Australian assistance.
In November 2006 (193 expatriates), riots broke out in Tonga and the expatriates were evacuated on a chartered flight.
In January 2008 (411 evacuated), due to the war in Chad, the Embassy in Chad assisted the personnel of Chinese-funded institutions and overseas Chinese to evacuate to Cameroon and Gabon in batches.
On November 12, 2010 (48 overseas Chinese were evacuated), a major earthquake struck Haiti, and the Chinese government dispatched a medical and epidemic prevention and rescue team and chartered a plane to directly take overseas Chinese back to Beijing.
In June 2010 (1,299 people evacuated), riots broke out in Kyrgyzstan, and the Chinese government dispatched nine charter flights to bring back all citizens in Kyrgyzstan.
In January 2011 (more than 2,500 overseas Chinese were evacuated), protests broke out in Egypt, the Chinese government chartered a plane to pick up overseas Chinese compatriots in Egypt (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots), and some personnel of chinese-funded institutions returned to China via Egypt via the Saleum port in Libya.
In February 2011 (more than 36,000 people were evacuated), civil war broke out in Libya, and our side quickly prepared for the evacuation of overseas Chinese, dispatching 138 charter flights (including 12 military aircraft), 17 sub-ship ships (including 1 naval frigate), and more than 100 buses in a short period of time to transfer our personnel in Libya, and this evacuation is also the largest evacuation of overseas Chinese in recent years.
In 2015 (571 evacuations), a civil war broke out in Yemen, which can be seen in the film and television work "Red Sea Operation", which is based on the evacuation of overseas Chinese in Yemen.
In July 2021 (210 overseas Chinese were evacuated), the political situation in Afghanistan changed, and in order to protect the safety of overseas Chinese in Afghanistan, the Chinese government dispatched Xiamen Airlines to fly MF8008 flight from Kabul to Wuhan with our personnel in Afghanistan.
(In recent years, the mainland has been performing well in the evacuation of overseas Chinese)
Recalling the Chinese laborers who were tricked into working as cheap coolies in North America and other places in the 19th century, there are countless people who have died in other places, while today's overseas Chinese compatriots have changed the painful experience of bullying and discrimination in the past, and can truly integrate into the local area and communicate with the locals in a friendly and equal manner. Why are overseas Chinese more and more confident? It is precisely because of a strong motherland as a backing that we can always support overseas Chinese compatriots, give them meticulous and sincere care, and protect their life, health and legitimate rights and interests in the event of natural disasters and man-made disasters.
For Chinese citizens overseas, no matter the end of the cape, the powerful Chinese force will always be with you!