Graphic Taiwan media stoke quake sympathy for China

By Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan, normally hostile to China, is experiencing a rare moment of sympathy for its earthquake-hit neighbour, fed by an unrelenting stream of shocking photos and footage of quake victims in local media.

The mainstream United Daily News ran a graphic, full-colour front-page photo on Friday of a writhing 10-year-old girl after her leg had been amputated in China's Sichuan province.

Taiwan's four dailies and six bitterly competitive TV networks have shown images of bloodied bodies trapped under rubble and parents wailing as they discover dead children since the magnitude 7.9 quake struck on Monday.

Add to these pictures of Taiwan-registered aircraft planning to fly supplies and personnel into the quake-affected region, where more than 50,000 are believed to have been killed, and the result is a rare surge of China sympathy in Taiwan.

"The news on TV all shows how terrible the damage is in Sichuan and how many people are making efforts to help," said Jill Jiang, who is self employed and living in Taipei.

"I feel very sorry for these people and I'd really like to know anything I can do to help," she said, adding that she planned to make a donation to the Rotary Club.

China and Taiwan, which China claims as its own, have a history of fractious relations.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communists won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists (KMT) fled to the island. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.