HONG KONG, CHINA - Hong Kong has mounted its biggest ever aid drive for the victims of China's devastating earthquake, with the government on Wednesday approving US$45 million for the relief effort.

The southern Chinese territory's pledge of HK$350 million (S$62 million) agreed in an emergency meeting on Wednesday, makes up the lion's share of the total amount pledged worldwide as offers of aid flood in.

Relief organisations in Hong Kong, already stretched by the Myanmar cyclone disaster, also rushed to get aid to the disaster zone, while Hong Kong charities donated millions more dollars.

Mr Simon Wong of charity the Salvation Army said the quake forced him to abandon plans to travel to Myanmar. 'We have never experienced this before - two disasters of such massive scale being so close to each other in time and space. Our manpower is stretched to the full,' he said.

'The impact of the quake is a lot more widespread than what many people think. We believe there are more counties and villages in Sichuan affected but that have not yet been found.'

Salvation Army workers headed for Sichuan have arrived in the neighbouring province of Yunnan, but were advised not to travel further until roads to the disaster zone were unblocked, he said.

The Hong Kong government and five charities working in Sichuan are launching a public appeal for funds to help the quake's victims, and major charities and businesses here also pledged money. The Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Li Ka Shing Foundation, founded by the Hong Kong tycoon, have each donated HK$30 million.

No foreign aid teams needed

While China kept the door open to foreign offers of help, saying it 'welcomed' them, it warned the conditions were 'not yet ripe' to allow foreign rescue teams into the country, citing damage to transport links.

Beijing rebuffed Australian expertise on Wednesday and frustrated Japanese teams were forced to turn around at the airport.

'We were told that China cannot receive rescuers now due to poor condition of transportation systems,' said a Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of emergency aid.

Australia also had a 'fairly sizeable' team of search and rescue experts on standby to fly into the disaster area, but was also told Sichuan's shattered transport system made it impossible.

Similarly, South Korea's offer of 41 rescue workers and more than 20 medical staff was also declined.

International aid experts said it was important for Beijing to be seen to be coping with the disaster alone.

'For China, in addition to questions of sovereignty, there is the question of national pride,' said Mr Pierre Micheletti, head of the medical charity Medecins du Monde (MDM, Doctors of the World).

'This is a great country that is about to organise the Olympic Games and which probably has trouble admitting it might need outside countries to help it handle a disaster.'

Mr Rony Brauman, former head of Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders), agreed that a natural disaster shines a light on relations between the authorities and the population, between the authorities and the rest of the world.

'It reveals its skills, or inability to react,' he said, adding that the sheer scale of the Chinese relief effort was likely to dwarf the work of most non-governmental teams on the ground. -- AFP