S M Hali In an undiplomatic gesture, Richard Holbrooke, US envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, asked Islamabads all weather friend, meaning China, to do more, after he had announced aid for flood victims. At a Press Conference, he had the temerity to inquire where is China, where are the Arabs? Whereas Pakistan acknowledges US efforts to provide help in its hour of need, it is in extreme bad taste to question others. The world is facing a donor fatigue: massive earthquakes in Pakistan and Haiti, the tsunami, and numerous other calamities have exhausted the donors resources and economic melt-down has depleted funds for charitable causes. However, the UN appeal for help has not fallen on deaf ears and according to the latest reports, 70 percent of pledges have materialised. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, Iran and Qatar all have stepped up the dispatch of aid. As the UN Secretary General had commented, the flood devastation in Pakistan is a slow moving tsunami; its impact is gradually coming to the fore; hence the international communitys tardy reaction. The case of China is totally different. The year 2010 has tested once again the strength of its people. There have been natural disasters droughts, earthquakes, mudslides and floods. Over 1500 persons have been killed while nearly 10,000 trapped; yet China has come to the aid of its closest ally, Pakistan. Islamabads Ambassador to Beijing, Masood Khan, reacting to Holbrookes snide comments, said China was one of the first countries to respond. It has sent tents, sludge cleaning and water purifying equipment, generators, blankets, food, bottled water, and medicines. In the light of immense damages China has donated an additional RMB 60 million eme-rgency humanitarian aid, bringing its total relief aid to more than RMB 130 million ($20 million). Additionally, a 55-member China International Search and Rescue Team (Medical Team) has arrived and is already helping people in Thatta fight against water-borne and other diseases. It includes 36 doctors, mostly women to take care of female patients, and 19 technical support personnel and brings 25 tonnes of high-tech medical equipments and medicine. Chinas determination to help Pakistan is not only expressed by its government but also individuals and companies, who have opened their wallets with generosity. They have given millions of dollars of rice and essential medical equipment. Many of these goods have come from companies such as the China National Nuclear Cooperation, the China Asia International Finance Limited, Xinjiang Beixin Road and Bridge Construction Co Ltd, Beijing Kangjiantong Technology Development Company and China International Water and Electric. Some of these enterprises have operated in Pakistan. An important aspect of the relief operations is the use of land route to the Sust dry port near the Pakistan-China border for supplies from Kashgar in northwest Chinas Xinjiang province. Holbrookes lamentation is that the US has been largely increasing its aid to Pakistan in recent years but the sad fact remains that not many Pakistani people love America. Perhaps, the US needs to ponder the causes of animosity. In the past too the US has exploited Pakistan for its strategic needs but discarded it when it had served its purpose. The US clasped Pakistan close to its bosom in the 1950s and 1960s but after the U-2 incident, Pakistan realised that it was being used for its own designs against the Soviet Union. When the US did not aid it during the 1965 and 1971 Pakistan India Wars, despite being a member of the CENTO and SEATO, and instead had sanctions slapped on it, Pakistan grew disillusioned. Still from 1979-1989, Pakistan continued to support the US to drive out the Soviets from Afghanistan. Afterwards, Pakistan was ditched again and faced massive sanctions. After 9/11, Pakistan again became a US ally for its invasion of Afghanistan, but gradually, the US turned on it, and now drone attacks kill more innocent civilians in the tribal region than terrorist attacks do. In 2005, after the deadly earthquake and even now during the 2010 deluge, US aid has been tremendous but the people of Pakistan are wary that the US has its own vested interests. The state-run Global Times hit out at the US, and said the high-profile surge of financial assistance to Pakistan at this time makes one wonder if there was any ulterior motive under the surface. Apparently the US requires Pakistans roads and communication infrastructure for the logistic support of its operations in land-locked Afghanistan. Whatever the case, it has no business to ask China to step up the plate. Pak-China friendship has stood the test of time. The writer is a political and defence analyst.