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In the past two weeks, something near 100,000 people were wiped out by natural disasters and the United Nations international relief agency estimates that those numbers could skyrocket as the final death totals from the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake and aftershocks in China are known. After today’s aftershock in China, the UN said the death toll there could exceed that of a 1976 earthquake that killed 378,000 people.

In Myanmar, the rulers officially put the death toll as of today at 78,000, but with the exclusion of international relief workers and the disease and infection that often follow disasters of this scale, the death toll their may continue to rise for months. At best estimate, there are 2.5 million people in Myanmar who were affected by the cyclone. Those who managed to keep their lives lost their homes, their rice fields, their food, and their access to clean water. Without international aid to help dispose of the bodies, just the dead could prove to be an enormous health hazard to the country.

And the world stands by, ready to help while the military leaders of Myanmar bicker over who gets to claim responsibility for helping the people. Meanwhile, the people face a lack of clean water and a lack of food. Historically, we know that this combination will lead to dysentery, cholera, and other infectious diseases not to mention plain old starvation and dehydration.

In China, maybe because they saw what happened in Myanmar or maybe just because they are more politically savvy and understand the importance of good will from the world community, the government has thrown open its doors acting aid from all comers –including traditional enemies like Japan and Taiwan. The marked differene in these responses from the two countries should be noted by presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Whoever the next president is, he will have to decide how to deal with countries with very different political viewpoints than ours and he needs to know how to approach them.

In their response to the earthquake, China’s leadership has shown itself to be rational and capable of discussing humanitarian issues on a level above politics. Myanmar has not.

Sure, the new president will have to address issues in China like the oppression of the press and the on-going debate over freedom for Tibet. He will have to be able to discuss issues like international food prices and food contamination with China since they are a major Ameircan trading partner. The issues will be difficult and devisive, but he will know going into the discussion that above all else, China’s government looks out for its people.

Diplomatic relations with Myanmar cannot be so optimistic. The government there responds only to its own need to stay in power and is not swayed by the needs of its country. This doesn’t mean that they cannot be dealt with diplomatically, but it does mean taking an entirely different approach.

Personally, I’d like to think the candidates were taking notice, but they aren’t. They are too busy sniping at one another about President Bush’s comments yesterday in Israel about the politics of appeasement.

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