OTTAWA -- The devastating earthquake that rocked central China on Monday is offering a new challenge for relief agencies and governments still trying to help with the cyclone catastrophe in Myanmar.
The Canadian government has offered its military Disaster Assistance Response Team to help in Myanmar, but a Chinese-Canadian group is now urging that it be sent to China instead.
So far, Myanmar has not responded to the offer of the team, said a spokeswoman for the country's embassy in Ottawa, who identified herself only as Marie.
The reclusive military junta that governs Myanmar has been dragging its feet on allowing foreign relief workers into the country, although supplies are trickling through.
The United States delivered its first relief supplies to Myanmar on Monday, as the UN urged the reclusive country to open its doors to foreign experts who can help up to two million cyclone victims facing disease and starvation.
Government spokesman Ye Htut said the aid, which was transferred to Myanmar army trucks, would be ferried by air force helicopters to the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta later Monday. Two more U.S. air shipments were scheduled to land Tuesday.
Myanmar reported the official death toll from cyclone Nargis had risen by nearly 3,500 to 31,938. Nearly 30,000 others remain missing, and the UN and others have said the death toll could reach 100,000 or higher.
As the troubles in Myanmar multiplied -- with perhaps 100,000 dead and more than a million homeless -- word came of a quake in China that killed thousands.
Dave Toycen, president of World Vision Canada, said the duelling disasters may force donors to make choices.
If people do have to make a choice, he said, the Myanmar cyclone likely will be the first choice if only because of its size.
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