Japan quake: China sets aside disputes, offers help

When news of the disaster spread Friday, Chinese leaders were quick to offer condolences and support. China is also earthquake-prone - a deadly 5.8-magnitude tremor just hit southwestern Yunnan province Thursday - and officials here immediately put a trained rescue team in place to dispatch to Japan if needed.

The Chinese defense minister, Liang Guanglie, called his Japanese counterpart, Toshimi Kitazawa, to offer military assets. The Red Cross Society of China pledged 1 million yuan, or about $152,087, to help Japan. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao also had a telephone conversation Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and offered China’s condolences and help.

China’s rapid show of sympathy and solidarity toward an Asian neighbor in distress stands in sharp contrast to the heated rhetoric of the past half-year, which saw noisy anti-Japanese demonstrations in some cities and the canceling of some ministry-level exchanges and tour groups.