China has dispatched a national rescue team to assist in disaster relief efforts in Myanmar after a devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake jolted the Southeast Asian country on Friday, causing severe casualties and infrastructure damage.
On Saturday morning, the 82-member Chinese rescue team, carrying rescue equipment and supplies, departed from the Beijing Capital International Airport aboard a chartered Air China flight, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
At a send-off ceremony held before the team's departure, Ambassador of Myanmar to China Tin Maung Swe expressed his gratitude to China for its assistance.
"This rescue team consists of skilled members tasked with administrative work, search and rescue, medical care, and logistics. We take pride in participating in this international rescue mission and are confident in completing our tasks," said Wang Mo, leader of the team.
This team follows earlier Chinese relief efforts, including a 37-member rescue team sent by Yunnan Province, which arrived in Myanmar on Saturday morning, and a group of 16 volunteers from the Chinese civil relief squad who set off earlier on the same day.
As of Saturday morning, the disaster had claimed 1,002 lives, left 2,376 people injured, and 30 people remain missing, according to the Information Team of Myanmar's State Administration Council.
Chinese national rescue team leaves for earthquake-hit Myanmar
Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.
"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.
He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.
"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.
"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.
Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival
