Latest news with #Sino-Burmese
Iraqi News
31-03-2025
- General
- Iraqi News
Tears in Taiwan for relatives hit by Myanmar quake
New Taipei City – As images of destroyed buildings in earthquake-hit Myanmar flashed across her television screen in Taiwan, Yang Bi-ying could only weep for her family there. Yang, 76, has lived in Taiwan for more than half her life and has a daughter-in-law in the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, which was devastated by Friday's massive earthquake. At least 1,700 people have been killed in Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand, and hopes of finding more survivors are fading fast. Yang said her daughter-in-law was safe and other relatives in Yangon were unaffected by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks. 'I could only cry. There was nothing else, just tears,' the grandmother told AFP at an eatery in a Sino-Burmese neighbourhood near the capital Taipei. 'Every family has been worried, especially for those buried under the rubble. What could be done? Nothing. It's all in the hands of fate.' Three days after the quake struck, many in Taiwan's Sino-Burmese community still feared for their loved ones. 'Several buildings near my family's home collapsed, many people died,' said eatery owner Yeh Mei-chin, 48, showing AFP a video of the damage on her smartphone. It took hours before Yeh was able to reach her mother and sisters in Mandalay on Friday. They were safe, but too scared to go home. 'I asked them where they would sleep that night and they said they were still looking for a place but hadn't found one yet,' Yeh said. People in Taiwan have been using social media platforms, including Line and WeChat, to contact family in Myanmar and monitor the situation. But internet connection has been intermittent. 'On a lucky day, we may be able to get through a few times,' Lee Pei, 66, chairman of the Myanmar Overseas Chinese Association, told AFP. 'Usually, we can only leave messages as voice calls rarely go through. If we do manage to connect, the signal deteriorates after a few words.' – Waiting for friends online – The Myanmar community in Taiwan dates back to the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Many members of Chiang Kai-shek's defeated Kuomintang nationalist forces fled across the border to Myanmar and later went to Taiwan. Over the decades, students and people fleeing anti-Chinese sentiment as well as economic and political turmoil in Myanmar have followed. Pei estimated Taiwan's Sino-Burmese population at 160,000 and said 10 percent were originally from Mandalay. University student Aung Kyaw Zaw has been following developments on Facebook where he has seen reports that in Sagaing city, near the quake's epicentre, there was a 'stench… like the smell of decaying bodies'. The 24-year-old said he had exchanged messages with some friends in quake-hit areas, but 'some of them still haven't come online'. There were also concerns that donations sent to Myanmar would not reach the people who need it. 'The junta only cares about fighting wars or other things, but they don't really do much to help the people,' said university student Yi Chint, 24. 'I think very little of it would actually go to the people.'
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tears in Taiwan for relatives hit by Myanmar quake
As images of destroyed buildings in earthquake-hit Myanmar flashed across her television screen in Taiwan, Yang Bi-ying could only weep for her family there. Yang, 76, has lived in Taiwan for more than half her life and has a daughter-in-law in the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, which was devastated by Friday's massive earthquake. At least 1,700 people have been killed in Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand, and hopes of finding more survivors are fading fast. Yang said her daughter-in-law was safe and other relatives in Yangon were unaffected by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks. "I could only cry. There was nothing else, just tears," the grandmother told AFP at an eatery in a Sino-Burmese neighbourhood near the capital Taipei. "Every family has been worried, especially for those buried under the rubble. What could be done? Nothing. It's all in the hands of fate." Three days after the quake struck, many in Taiwan's Sino-Burmese community still feared for their loved ones. "Several buildings near my family's home collapsed, many people died," said eatery owner Yeh Mei-chin, 48, showing AFP a video of the damage on her smartphone. It took hours before Yeh was able to reach her mother and sisters in Mandalay on Friday. They were safe, but too scared to go home. "I asked them where they would sleep that night and they said they were still looking for a place but hadn't found one yet," Yeh said. People in Taiwan have been using social media platforms, including Line and WeChat, to contact family in Myanmar and monitor the situation. But internet connection has been intermittent. "On a lucky day, we may be able to get through a few times," Lee Pei, 66, chairman of the Myanmar Overseas Chinese Association, told AFP. "Usually, we can only leave messages as voice calls rarely go through. If we do manage to connect, the signal deteriorates after a few words." - Waiting for friends online - The Myanmar community in Taiwan dates back to the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Many members of Chiang Kai-shek's defeated Kuomintang nationalist forces fled across the border to Myanmar and later went to Taiwan. Over the decades, students and people fleeing anti-Chinese sentiment as well as economic and political turmoil in Myanmar have followed. Pei estimated Taiwan's Sino-Burmese population at 160,000 and said 10 percent were originally from Mandalay. University student Aung Kyaw Zaw has been following developments on Facebook where he has seen reports that in Sagaing city, near the quake's epicentre, there was a "stench... like the smell of decaying bodies". The 24-year-old said he had exchanged messages with some friends in quake-hit areas, but "some of them still haven't come online". There were also concerns that donations sent to Myanmar would not reach the people who need it. "The junta only cares about fighting wars or other things, but they don't really do much to help the people," said university student Yi Chint, 24. "I think very little of it would actually go to the people." joy/amj/jfx
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In Taiwan's Little Myanmar, fear for quake affected relatives
By Ben Blanchard NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) - Win Win has been glued to social media for the past day, trying to work out whether her family in Myanmar's Mandalay survived Friday's powerful earthquake, distracting herself at the Taiwan restaurant where she works by serving samosas and other snacks. "We spoke last night but then nothing today. I can't get through. I'm so scared for them," Win Win, one of Taiwan's estimated 50,000 Sino-Burmese, told Reuters on Saturday at the eatery in Little Myanmar in New Taipei, neighbouring the capital, Taipei. Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay, which lies close to the epicentre of the 7.7 magnitude quake, has a large ethnic Chinese population, many of whom have ties to Taiwan, whose government has offered to send rescue teams. Taiwan's foreign ministry says it has yet to receive a response to that offer. Yee Yu Nai, sitting at a snack store in Little Myanmar, scrolled through her phone looking for the latest news from Mandalay, where her sister lives. "I know their house is OK as it was newly built, but the street is very badly damaged," she said. Taiwan's Myanmar community traces its history back to the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, when many of the defeated Republic of China soldiers fled into what was then called Burma before eventually being evacuated to Taiwan. Others have come more recently, fleeing repression and anti-Chinese sentiment. Ethnic Chinese in Myanmar have historically faced discrimination, especially under the rule of General Ne Win, who seized power in 1962. He barred ethnic Chinese and other foreigners from owning land, banned Chinese-language education and stoked anti-Chinese violence. Bloody anti-Chinese riots erupted in 1967. Another resident of Taiwan's Little Myanmar, who asked to be identified by her family name of Huang to avoid repercussions for her relatives still in the country, said the precarious state of civil strife-hit Myanmar was her biggest concern. "I just don't think anyone is coming to save them," she said of her relatives still in Mandalay.
Reuters
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
In Taiwan's Little Myanmar, fear for quake affected relatives
NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 29 (Reuters) - Win Win has been glued to social media for the past day, trying to work out whether her family in Myanmar's Mandalay survived Friday's powerful earthquake, distracting herself at the Taiwan restaurant where she works by serving samosas and other snacks. "We spoke last night but then nothing today. I can't get through. I'm so scared for them," Win Win, one of Taiwan's estimated 50,000 Sino-Burmese, told Reuters on Saturday at the eatery in Little Myanmar in New Taipei, neighbouring the capital, Taipei. Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay, which lies close to the epicentre of the 7.7 magnitude quake, has a large ethnic Chinese population, many of whom have ties to Taiwan, whose government has offered to send rescue teams. Taiwan's foreign ministry says it has yet to receive a response to that offer. Yee Yu Nai, sitting at a snack store in Little Myanmar, scrolled through her phone looking for the latest news from Mandalay, where her sister lives. "I know their house is OK as it was newly built, but the street is very badly damaged," she said. Taiwan's Myanmar community traces its history back to the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, when many of the defeated Republic of China soldiers fled into what was then called Burma before eventually being evacuated to Taiwan. Others have come more recently, fleeing repression and anti-Chinese sentiment. Ethnic Chinese in Myanmar have historically faced discrimination, especially under the rule of General Ne Win, who seized power in 1962. He barred ethnic Chinese and other foreigners from owning land, banned Chinese-language education and stoked anti-Chinese violence. Bloody anti-Chinese riots erupted in 1967. Another resident of Taiwan's Little Myanmar, who asked to be identified by her family name of Huang to avoid repercussions for her relatives still in the country, said the precarious state of civil strife-hit Myanmar was her biggest concern. "I just don't think anyone is coming to save them," she said of her relatives still in Mandalay.
