China committed to global peace: Hu

PUSAN (South Korea)—Chinese President Hu Jintao took center stage at a Pacific Rim forum here the other day, offering assurances there is nothing to fear from his fast-developing country and emphasizing that China has great potential to contribute to world peace.
“Facts have proved that China’s development will not stand in the way of anyone, nor will it pose any threat to anyone,” Hu said in a speech to a gathering of chief executives. “Instead, it will only do good to peace, stability and prosperity in the world”.
Hu came to Busan for the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, where he, President Bush and 19 other leaders plan to address threats like terrorism, stalled global trade talks and the potential for a flu pandemic that experts say could kill millions of people.
The focus of APEC’s weeklong meetings shifted to the business summit, an annual event on the sidelines of the leaders’ gathering, as government delegates took a break from official meetings a day after trade and foreign ministers signed off on a statement to be handed to leaders.
Hu said China has emerged a major engine of world growth, touting the strides it has made in recent years. He read off a slew of statistics, such as his country’s 9.4 percent economic growth last year and the doubling of its foreign trade from just three years ago.
Along with China’s astonishing economic growth ¡ª averaging about 9 percent over the past decade ¡ª have come concerns that major increases in military spending mean the world’s most populous country may be seeking a role as the strongest power in the Asia-Pacific region.
Hu discounted such fears, saying China remains a “developing country”.
“The Chinese nation always loves peace,” he said. “China will firmly adhere to the road of peaceful development”.
The business meeting, which heard speeches from several national leaders, came a day after ministers from the 21-member group reached agreement on supporting the World Trade Organization’s current round of trade talks and other topics, including ways to tackle the newest regional threat: bird flu.
The need to respond to bird flu gained urgency as leaders began arriving for the summit, when China confirmed its first human cases of the virus, including at least one death.
“Nontraditional security issues, such as terrorism, financial risks and natural disasters, are posing a threat to the very existence and development of mankind,” Hu said in his speech. He didn’t mention bird flu.  (The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item)
 

Pakistan, India ties key for peace in South Asia: China
From Javed Akhtar (APP)

BEIJING—China and United States both want to see reconciliation between Pakistan and India and make South Asia free of confrontation, said a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Liu Jianchao. “We have a common position in regard to peace and development in South Asia”, he said when asked about the impact of growing Sino-USA relationship on security situation in the region.
He said President George W. Bush’s visit to Beijing, starting from Saturday will increase consensus, expand exchange and cooperation and promote Sino-US constructive and cooperative relations in 21st century in an all-round way. The talks to be held between the leadership of the two countries during the visit will cover wide-ranging issues of regional and international interest, he said adding,” I cannot say what specific matters the two sides would going to discuss”.
Talking to APP, the spokesperson said China believes that both Pakistan and India have taken very bold and encouraging initiatives in the recent years to resolve their disputes through the peaceful means. “We are confident that dialogue process between the two countries would be successful”, he added. To another question, the spokesman appreciated Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism. “Pakistan’s support to the international community to this effect is highly commendable”, he remarked.
Liu Jianchao said China and Pakistan have also their cooperation on counter-terrorism. About President Bush’s remarks in Kyoto Tuesday, which touched upon Sino-US relations, human rights and religion, Liu said that China pursues a path of peaceful development. Noting that China has made remarkable, important progress in the field of human rights, the Chinese people, in accordance with laws, enjoy all various kinds of democracy and freedom, including the freedom in religious belief.
“All countries should hold exchanges and dialogues on human rights on the principled basis of equality, mutual respect and non-intervention in internal affairs,” he said.
 

Early detection of human Bird Flu vital: WHO

BEIJING—China needs an aggressive surveillance system to detect human cases of the bird flu so that treatment is provided as early as possible especially in areas where outbreaks have been reported in poultry, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday. Such a system would make it easier to test a large pool of possible cases and then narrow them down, Roy Wadia, spokesman for the WHO China Office, said.
“We need it because experience shows that bird flu needs to be treated in its very early stages before the infection begins to ravage the patient,” Wadia told China Daily. On Wednesday, China reported its first two confirmed human cases of bird flu, a boy in Central China’s Hunan Province, who has recovered, and a woman in East China’s Anhui Province, who died.
The boy’s 12-year-old sister, who died on October 17, could not be classified as a human case because early sampling was not sufficient for adequate testing. There is no “cure” for bird flu in humans, but early detection and treatment with anti-viral drugs, among other measures, are vital, Wadia said.
The WHO is calling for heightened surveillance also because symptoms in the initial stages of human infections are so similar to regular flu “that it’s often difficult to diagnose unless you know the patient’s history and background,” Wadia noted. He praised China for being very aggressive in containing bird flu in poultry over the past year and more. The WHO has received detailed information about the Hunan situation and the Anhui woman, he said.
“We are happy to support China if it requests our presence in other places,” Wadia said. The places Wadia mentioned include Anhui and Northeast China’s Liaoning Province where several suspected human cases have been reported since earlier this month.
In Beijing, Henk Bekedam, the WHO representative in China, said yesterday that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission in the two reported cases. “If there were something like that, we would expect more people to be dying of very severe pneumonia,” he was quoted by local media as saying.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health yesterday issued treatment guidelines for human cases and provided information on related issues. While people are not easily infected, children under 13 years old are more susceptible and form a disproportionately high percentage of cases worldwide; and are more difficult to treat.   (The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item)

 

China, Chile sign free-trade agreement

BUSAN (South Korea)—China and Chile signed a free-trade agreement Friday, the first between China and a Latin American country. Chilean Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker and his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing signed the pact on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Busan, South Korea. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Chilean President Ricardo Lagos witnessed the signing.
No details of the agreement were immediately released, but it was quickly welcomed by business leaders. Chilean officials have said it is the first free-trade agreement between China and a Latin American country. “The free-trade agreement is a historic step for free trade important for China, important for Chile, important for Latin America,” Mauro Mazzacurati, the president of delivery company DHL’s operation in Chile, told reporters.
Earlier Friday, Lagos extolled the benefits of bilateral free-trade agreements in a speech to business executives at the APEC forum, which aims to achieve free trade between its 21 member economies by 2020.  (The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item)