At 7:58 a.m. on April 3, a rare and strong earthquake struck the eastern sea of Hualien County, Taiwan, with an epicenter depth of about 12 kilometers, followed by several aftershocks.
Although the epicenter of the earthquake was located in the sea, it still caused strong tremors throughout Taiwan, and also affected many provinces along the southeast coast of Chinese mainland, causing great harm to residents.
At present, Hualien County has seen a number of houses collapse and tilt, one of the largest earthquakes in Taiwan since the 1999 "921" earthquake, which experts say is equivalent to the energy of 32 atomic bombs.
The earthquake brought the most serious impact to Hualien County, including the main shock and aftershocks, there have been nearly 600 aftershocks, as of the 6th, the Taiwan Disaster Center statistics show that the death toll in the disaster area has risen to 12, the number of trapped people has reached more than 600, and more than 10 people are missing.
Hualien is one of the areas with the most frequent seismic activity in Taiwan, and strong earthquakes have occurred many times in the Hualien area in history, and after the earthquake, the safety of the people in the affected areas has also received widespread concern from the people on both sides of the strait.
The disaster has caused direct economic losses of $11.8 billion, and the number of unemployed people has reached more than 80,000.
As soon as the disaster occurred, the mainland side raised donations and expressed its willingness to lend a helping hand to Taiwan, but as early as 1999, the mainland provided more than 1 billion yuan to Taiwan.
One of the most eye-catching is the donation of the richest philanthropist, Chen Guangbiao, who was the first to break the silence when the cross-strait situation is very tense and the media did not make a big deal about the amount of donations and the number of people.
According to statistics, he donated 10 million yuan to the disaster area in Taiwan in his personal name, and this donation will be used for Taiwan's post-disaster reconstruction work, Chen Guangbiao said that he hopes that Taiwan's victims can return to normal life as soon as possible, and he also posted an appeal on his personal social media, so that the majority of entrepreneurs have taken action to dedicate love.
It is worth noting that Chen Guangbiao's donation amount this time is second only to Taiwan's richest man Guo Taiming, and what is even more commendable is that Chen Guangbiao is the first mainland private entrepreneur to donate to the disaster area after the Hualien earthquake.
However, just when mainland netizens felt that Taiwan would report and post a thank you to Chen Guangbiao, the behavior of some Taiwanese media was disappointing and surprising.
The Taiwanese media did not focus on Chen Guangbiao's donation or expressed gratitude, but ranked behind Taiwanese entrepreneurs on the list of thanks, and what is even more infuriating is that the Taiwanese media seem to be more concerned about reporting that Japan donated 100 million yen to Taiwan.
Some netizens said that 100 million yen is converted into less than 5 million yuan, which is not more than 10 million yuan at all.
In addition, the Taiwanese media also posted some donation data of Taiwanese entrepreneurs, but they did not report it in large volumes, on the contrary, they still put the news of donations from Japanese companies and artists on the front page, and also noted below that Japanese netizens want to repay Taiwan.
Some media even directly told Japan that true friendship can only be seen when Taiwan needs help, and even reposted the comments of many Japanese netizens, creating a scene of harmony and friendship in the snow.
Even if they don't care about the donations of mainland entrepreneurs, and even turn a blind eye to the donations of local entrepreneurs, it is difficult to say that this is not some careful thinking on the part of the Taiwan media, whether they want to take this opportunity to express their close relations with Japan, or whether they worship foreign countries and have other plans?
It is difficult not to be reminiscent of the 2008 Hualien earthquake, when the Taiwan authorities also politely refused the mainland's help but accepted Japan's rescue.
At that time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also specially wrote the words "Come on Taiwan", and took photos and posted them on the platform to encourage Taiwan to tide over the difficulties.
However, as far as the people on both sides of the strait are concerned, Chen Guangbiao, as a mainland entrepreneur, has donated such a large amount of money on his own, and it is already very clear from his sincerity and goodwill.
In any case, Chen Guangbiao's kindness has directly helped the affected people, inspired more people to devote themselves to the reconstruction of the affected areas, and people can return to normal life more quickly.
Chen Guangbiao as a philanthropist is quite controversial, but he has done far more than this for so many years, Chen Guangbiao has always been known as the "richest man in charity" in the society, since January 2010, Chen Guangbiao has carried out high-profile charity work, and has helped Taiwan many times, as early as when Taiwan was hit by Typhoon Morakot, Chen Guangbiao took the lead in donating 3 million yuan.
For example, in January 2011, Chen Guangbiao went to Taiwan for a "Thanksgiving Trip" to distribute cash red envelopes to "poor Taiwanese people" in Nantou, Taoyuan, Hualien, Kaohsiung and other places, which caused a lot of controversy at the time.
The people on both sides of the strait are close to each other, and the people on the mainland naturally hope that the Taiwan compatriots will be safe and sound, and they also hope to give the greatest support to the Taiwan people when they need help, but sometimes we do not want our own good intentions to be easily trampled on.
Although the amount of love is not in the amount, if the Taiwan media can maintain objectivity and fairness, do not exaggerate the kindness and love of one side of the party, and give the same friendly feedback, I believe that cross-strait relations will become closer and closer.
In addition, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China also sent sincere condolences to the disaster area as soon as the earthquake occurred, saying that if Taiwan needed assistance, the mainland was willing to lend a helping hand, but Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council responded that it did not need help.
Donation is based on people's goodwill, and cannot become a kind of comparison and show-off behavior, in the face of disasters, people are a community of destiny.
With the release of the donation list for the Taiwan earthquake, all walks of life have seen the unity and warmth of people in the face of the disaster, whether it is Taiwan's local artists or entrepreneurs, they are sending care and support to the people in the disaster area.
The disaster is merciless, these unscrupulous media are still a minority, and these thanks and reports from the Taiwan media cannot explain anything, what we have done is to hope that the people in the disaster area can quickly rebuild and resume their original lives.
After all, Taiwan and the mainland, even though they have not yet been formally reunified, will always be a family whose blood is thicker than water.
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Chen Guangbiao took the lead in donating 10 million yuan to the earthquake-stricken area in Hualien, Taiwan, China—CPPCC Network
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