August 31, 2009: Swallowing their distaste for the bad publicity and symbolism, Taiwan accepted the donation of a thousand pair of Chinese army combat boots, and allowed relief workers to wear them to clean up after Typhoon Morakot. This massive tropical storm (a Pacific Ocean hurricane), hit Taiwan on August 7th, leaving over 500 dead and causing more than $3 billion worth of damage. Taiwan was happy to receive aid from neighbors, and it was Singapore that donated the Chinese combat boots.

While Singapore is also an ethnic Chinese country, unlike Taiwan, China does not claim Singapore as a lost province. Thus diplomatic relations between China and Singapore are quite good, and Singapore buys some types of low-tech military equipment from China. Apparently the boots are excellent good. China is a major manufacturer of military and hiking boots, including many premier American brands.