Myanmar's sparked international outrage. China's won admiration.
Myanmar's military government, which has ruled with an iron first since 1962, has barred almost all foreign experts experienced in managing humanitarian crises, saying it would handle relief efforts on its own.
But without the equipment to even lift cargo off Boeing 747s and at least 1.5 million people in need, the U.N. warned Tuesday that Myanmar faces a monumental catastrophe unless relief efforts reach the scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
China's communist government also said it was not allowing foreign aid workers into the area affected by Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake that wrecked towns and killed thousands across Sichuan province though it would accept international aid for the tens of thousands left homeless.
But in contrast to Myanmar, China's government quickly moved into high-gear, sending 20,000 soldiers and police into the disaster area with 30,000 more on the way. The government was also mobilizing food, clothes, tents and plastic sheeting for the victims and sent Premier Wen Jiabao to oversee relief efforts.
China's leaders appeared intent on reassuring the Chinese people and the world that they were in control of the biggest natural disaster to strike the country in three decades. They also wanted to show they were ready for the Aug. 8-24 Olympics in Beijing.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday sharply criticized Myanmar's military junta, whose leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe has refused to take his calls, expressing frustration at "the unacceptably slow response to this grave humanitarian crisis."
U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs followed up saying: "We fear a second catastrophe unless we're able to put in place quickly a maximum of aid and a major logistical effort comparable with the response to the tsunami."
U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas also said Tuesday that Ban was not concerned so far that China has not yet said what kind of help the U.N. can provide to quake victims.
"He doesn't have any reports that aid is not reaching the survivors and that the survivors are not being taken care of," she said. "I think his concern was about the situation in Myanmar, because of the fact that people were not receiving aid."
Britain's U.N. Ambassador John Sawers also said the two disaster responses were different.
"I think China has reacted very promptly to the appalling disaster ... and I think the political attention, the rapid response, has been admirable," he said.
"The situation in Burma is very, very different," Sawers said, using the former name for Myanmar. "There, the scale of the disaster is a whole lot greater. The risk of waterborne disease, lack of clean sanitation — all these problems are going to escalate over the days to come."
The Myanmar government says the cyclone left at least 34,273 dead and 27,838 missing. Sawers warned the death toll could "double or more because of the lack of basic health care facilities and clean water and food and shelter — and with heavy rains expected in southern Burma in the days ahead that can only make things even worse."
Sawers and Ban also expressed concern at reports that food and aid from the U.N. and other organizations that arrived in Myanmar is being diverted to non-cyclone victims, though there has not been independent confirmation of these reports.
