Northeast Asia accounts for about one-third of all Asia-Pacific disaster-related fatalities over the past decade. In addition to the human costs, annual economic losses from disasters can be massive. Many of the region's people live in high risk, multi-hazard areas that are also served by well-developed infrastructure that is similarly exposed to hazards. The risk landscape includes biological hazards alongside floods, storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. Moreover,...
More DescriptionNortheast Asia accounts for about one-third of all Asia-Pacific disaster-related fatalities over the past decade. In addition to the human costs, annual economic losses from disasters can be massive. Many of the region's people live in high risk, multi-hazard areas that are also served by well-developed infrastructure that is similarly exposed to hazards. The risk landscape includes biological hazards alongside floods, storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. Moreover, the effects of climate change will exacerbate some hazards. Based on experiences and frameworks, the People's Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan all bring different levels of expertise to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.The experiences of the governments and people of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan in disasters and emergencies make them valuable partners in global humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Each has its own preferred ways of engaging with disaster-affected states and foreign communities, and they have differing relationships with the global coordination framework as led by the United Nations. Moreover, they have different cultures of volunteerism and giving. Consequently, the government structures and legal frameworks for foreign disaster relief and humanitarian assistance differ, and the involvement of non-government organizations and community-based organizations varies widely.