Taiwan Team Rescues Turkish Man 8 Days After Earthquake

According to reports on February 15th, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit the border area between Turkey and Syria, killing nearly 38,000 people, and the toll number is still increasing. Taiwan’s international rescue team was dispatched to Turkey for rescue mission immediately after the disaster happened. After searching all night, they found a male survivor trapped in the rubble in Adiyaman, Turkey at 5:00 a.m. on February 14th. Taiwan’s rescue team worked with the local people and miners to remove obstacles. After 4 hours of efforts, they successfully rescued the male survivor who had been trapped for 198 hours. According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, until February 14th, total of 138,696 donations, NT$682.24 million, or more than 22.52 million US dollars have been received. In addition, Taiwan’s rescue mission also includes the provision of supplies, equipment, and human resources. Taiwan sent a search and rescue team to the disaster relief, however, the (Chinese Communist Party) CCP dubbed it “Taipei Search and Rescue Team of Taiwan Province, China”. Taiwanese Legislator Cheng Yun-Peng criticized that the Beijing tried to accredit Taiwan’s support to other countries into the CCP’s contribution, and is still doing united front work at the time of disaster relief when human lives are at stake. Immediately after the earthquake, Taiwan’s search and rescue team went to Turkey and continued to carry out rescue missions. When the September 21st 1999, earthquake happened in Taiwan, the Turkish rescue team was the first to arrive in Taiwan to help relieve the disaster. Taiwan’s international influence is stretched in this rescue mission. The flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan) can still be seen on Turkish official thank you list. “Taiwan Can Help!” Is the key to Taiwan’s foothold in the international community.