China Mulls Sending Medical Team to Assist Typhoon Haiyan Victims
China has been reported mulling to send a medical team to assist the victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
"In light of the current actual needs of the typhoon-hit areas, the Chinese government is ready to dispatch the emergency medical assistance team on humanitarian grounds," Sky News quoted Hong Lei, foreign ministry spokesman, as saying in a statement posted on the ministry's Web site on Sunday.
He said the medical mission team would be composed of government and private medical practitioners, including one under the Chinese Red Cross.
China recently received flak when it initially just extended $100,000 as assistance in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, spurred by the unfriendly relations with the Philippines over a group of islands in the South China Sea. Both Asian nations claim sovereignty over the land mass which has cast a shadow over their bilateral relations.
Hearing of the dismal figure, Filipino netizens blasted China and said it would be best if the latter just takes it back. Equally firing from the other fence, Chinese netizens said they don't want their taxes extended to them in the first place.
Read: China, Philippines at Odds Again Over $100,000 Donation Amount to Victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Photos)
On Thursday, China raised its assistance offer to the Typhoon Haiyan stricken victims to a total of $1.6 million.
Read: China Gives Additional $1.4 Million Aid to Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) Victims in Philippines, But Still Less Compared to Other Economic Powers
Donations continue to pour in and be offered by other nations to the Philippines. But China's continued to be compared with other nations. Being a super power and the world's second-largest economy, global citizens believe the country should extend more.
Although no concrete details were provided by the foreign ministry, Mr Hong said the medical mission team would depart once conditions have been approved.