THE ARMY'S RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE IN XINJIANG, CHINA
An earthquake at Richter scale of 6.8 hit the Kashgar Region of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The quake killed and injured thousands of people as houses collapsed and electricity and water supply failed. Three of our staff went to Xinjiang for emergency relief work on Feb 27, 2003, in response to this devastating disaster.
Bachu county was the most seriously affected area, with the vast majority of the deaths and injuries and material damage occurred in the county's villages. Our delegation immediately distributed 3,000 nang (bread) to the survivors when they arrived at the Bachu area.
At the same time, an appeal for the Xinjiang earthquake was launched in Hong Kong starting from Feb 26. Five newspaper appeal advertisements were published on Feb 27 and three bank accounts were activated for collecting public donation for the Xinjiang earthquake disaster. Both cash donation and gifts-in-kind (new sleeping bags and wadded coverlets) were appealed for. High Performance, a local company owned by film star Jacky Chan, donated more than 1,700 down coats, 830 pieces of warm clothes and 210 pairs of shoes to the survivors. The Hong Kong Post sponsored transportation of the relief materials to the disaster hit area.
With the assistance from the Women's Federation of Bachu county, the batch of down jackets, trousers and blankets worth approximately HK$1 million were subsequently distributed to the women and children of Qiongkuer Qiake area in Bachu county, where some villages were virtually flattened. The area is about 250km from the regional capital, Kashgar.
A press conference was held on Mar 1, 2003 for High Performance's donation and the Hong Kong Post picked up the relief materials for delivery during the ceremony. Movie artist Jackie Chan participated in the press conference.
Report by China Development Department
Hong Kong and Macau Command
