Grief and Renewal

By DING ZHITAO

Sirens wail, national fl ags fl y at half-mast, Chinese people from across the vast territory engage in mourning. The sad moment on April 21 has instilled in us a heartbreaking sense of deja vu, as national mourning took place to convey sincere condolences to the Qinghai quake victims.

The memory of the Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, 2008,remains fresh. Now our country has new scars, as the 7.1-magnitude quake, which struck the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu,Qinghai Province, on April 14, killed thousands, injured tens of thousands and displaced even more.

A rescue mission 4,000 meters above sea level is challenging.This one has been hampered by frequent aftershocks, high altitudes,thin air, freezing temperatures, rugged terrain, inhospitable weather and disrupted telecommunications, all adding to the complexity of relief operations. Nonetheless, tens of thousands of rescuers, including troops, armed police, fi re fi ghters, special police units, and earthquake and mine accident rescue specialists, have all been searching for survivors and providing help in Yushu.

Meanwhile, relief materials are being transported to the quake zone nonstop. At present, most quake-affected people in Yushu have been provided with tents, as well as food, clean water and other basic needs. The situation will improve as more relief materials and donations from all walks of life pour in.

Epidemic prevention teams have also been dispatched to expand monitoring for the possible spread of disease. Tibetan cultural and religious relics are being excavated and protected. Temporary schools are also being built for pupils.

The relief work re fl ects the nation’s strong disaster-relief capability and mobilization. It also showcases the effective disaster-relief coordination of the military, police and government departments.Under the leadership of the Central Government, personnel, equipment, facilities and resources have been ef fi ciently coordinated for the rescue effort. The presence of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao at the rescue site gave the rescue efforts even greater strength.

When fighting against the natural disaster, we have again witnessed moving moments as people help each other, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. In addition to volunteers at the rescue site,many others, some from distant locations, have extended their helping hands to people in Yushu. Life goes on, even after an earthquake. A reconstruction plan for Yushu is already on the government agenda.

We have suffered and survived first the Wenchuan earthquake,and now the Yushu earthquake. Disaster teaches us valuable lessons,and now we are even more prepared and better armed. At this sad moment, we know disaster occurs. More important, however, is the knowledge that what does not kill us can only make us stronger. ■

New Guangzhou Mayor

Wan Qingliang was elected mayor of Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong Province, on April 16. He replaced Zhang Guangning who was named Party chief of Guangzhou earlier this month.

Wan, 46, had been a vice governor of Guangdong since January 2008, with foreign trade and economic cooperation as his area of responsibility. He is credited with leading the local exportoriented manufacturing sector to weather the global downturn during the recent crisis.

Previous to his promotion to the provincial post, Wan served as mayor of Jieyang in east Guangdong between 2003 and 2004.

Guangzhou, which will host the 16th Asian Games in November, is one of China’s five of fi cially designated “key” cities, along with Beijing,Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing. It is also the first provincial capital with an annual gross domestic product topping 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion).

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), the country’s largest lender by assets,nominated Zhang Hongli (Lee Zhang), a former senior executive at Deutsche Bank AG, as its vice president.

If the appointment is approved by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Zhang will be the first high-ranking manager to be recruited by a Chinese state-owned commercial bank from a foreign counterpart.

The bank said its board believes Zhang “is experienced in international fi nancial markets and the circumstances of the country and is experienced in the management of international banks.”

Zhang, 45, joined Deutsche Bank in 2001. He had served as a member of the Global Banking Management Committee and Asia-Pacific head of Deutsche Bank Global Banking and chairman of Deutsche Bank(China) since October 2004. He had also been Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief representative in Beijing and worked at British asset management fi rm Schroders PLC and personal computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co.

Banned Sprinter

Female sprinter Wang Jing, who failed doping tests at last year’s National Games, has been banned for four years between October 25, 2009, and October 24, 2013, from competition and for a lifetime from the national squad, the Chinese Athletics Association said.

Wang tested positive for the performance-enhancing steroid epitestosterone and epitestosterone metabolites after she won the 100-meter title at the National Games in October 2009 with a time of 11.50 seconds. She has been stripped of her gold medal.

Though Wang denied knowingly taking any banned substances, she did not demand a Sample B test.

Wang, 22, was the only Chinese sprinter to compete in the women’s 100-meter event at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 but was eliminated in the first round heat with 11.87 seconds.

China and India

China and India have far more common interests than differences, Chinese President Hu Jintao asserted on April 15.

The two countries are “cooperative partners and in no way rivals,” Hu told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Brasilia on the sidelines of the second BRIC summit. “Both sides welcome each other’s peaceful development.”

A review of China-India relations over the past six decades, said Hu,shows conclusively that cooperation bene fi ts both nations—while confrontation hurts each side.

Beijing and New Delhi, he added,should accommodate mutual core interests while properly addressing each other’s concerns. Hu also called for an early settlement of border disputes.

China and India established diplomatic relations in April 1950, months after the People’s Republic was founded in October 1949.

Beijing has encouraged Chinese companies to invest in India, said Hu,and is willing to collaborate closely with New Delhi in science and education,especially in the hi-tech sector.

China is also willing to strengthen consultation with India in G20, the BRIC group and other multilateral mechanisms, Hu said.

China and Venezuela

China signed a series of agreements with Venezuela on April 17 to help the South American country develop its oil and electricity industries.

Under the agreements, the two countries will establish joint oil exploration and processing operations in Venezuela’s Orinoco reserves belt.China will provide technology transfers to Venezuela and help it build its own thermoelectric power plant to ease the oil-exporting country’s recent energy crisis.

In addition, China will provide loans worth $20 billion to Venezuela’s energy sector via the China Development Bank.

The agreements were signed during a visit by a delegation of Chinese government officials and entrepreneurs to Caracas.

Venezuela is China’s fifth biggest trade partner in Latin America. Bilateral trade reached $7.15 billion last year, according to Chinese of ficial statistics.