TOKYO, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Saturday met separately with some of his Latin American counterparts on the sidelines of the 4th foreign ministers’ meeting of the Forum for an East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC).

    In talks with Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Tiana, the two sides are of one mind that through joint efforts, China-Argentina strategic partnership has witnessed in-depth development over the past years.

    They agreed that the two nations need to proceed from a long-term perspective, strengthen high-level exchanges, advance practical cooperation in areas of finance, energy, infrastructure construction, and promote contacts and coordination on such issues as climate change and the reform of international financial system in a bid to elevate bilateral ties to a new level.

    Yang also discussed bilateral cooperative relations and issues of common concern with Mexican Foreign Secretary Paricia Espinosa Cantellano, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno Ugarte and Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez Merizalde.

    The Chinese foreign minister arrived Friday to attend the 4th FEALAC foreign ministers’ meeting starting Saturday.

    The two-day meeting will discuss such issues as environment and sustainable development, economic and financial crisis, and social inclusion such as reducing disparities.

    Initiated in 1999, the forum is an international framework consisting of 34 countries including 16 countries in Asia and 18 in Latin America, with the purpose of strengthening cooperative relations in a wide variety of areas between Asia and Latin America.

    By Han Qiao, Li Qing

    HANOI, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — China and Vietnam, two traditional friends, are going to see new developments in all-round cooperation in 2010, said Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Sun Guoxiang in an recent interview with Xinhua.

    China and Vietnam are to embrace the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations on Jan. 18. The two countries have decided to hold various kinds of activities throughout the year to celebrate the six-decade diplomatic ties.

    Early in the middle of last century, China and Vietnam forged the close bond like “comrades and brothers”, said Sun.

    The two sides have seen continuous development of traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation over the past years under the care and guidance of leaders of the two countries, Sun said.

    In 2008, China and Vietnam decided to establish comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, he said.

    Last year, despite the global financial crisis, bilateral trade went up to exceed 20 billion U.S. dollars, said Sun. China has become Vietnam’s largest trading partner for six consecutive years.

    Investment of Chinese companies to Vietnam has totaled nearly three billion U.S. dollars so far, said Sun. Economic and trade cooperation between China and Vietnam is becoming deeper and wider.

    Sun said the year of 2010 is decided by leaders of the two countries to be China-Vietnam’s Year of Friendship. The two sides will hold activities in economic and trade, education, culture, tourism and other fields to strengthen ties and cooperation.

    These activities are expected to further enhance mutual understanding and political trust to enrich and bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, said Sun.

    The activities will also be good opportunities to educate young peoples of the two countries about traditional friendship, laying a good foundation for the future development of bilateral relations.

    In the beginning of this year, Vietnam assumed the chairmanship of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Sun said China will provide support to Vietnam as the new chairman and he believed cooperation between China and ASEAN will be further enhanced during this year.

    China and ASEAN established Free Trade Area in the beginning of this year, with expected new developments in the fields like finance, infrastructure, agriculture and rural areas.

    BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — The international community has mobilized to send aid and rescue teams to Haiti in the aftermath of the magnitude-7.3 earthquake that devastated the Carribean country Tuesday.

    Up to 40 rescue teams have registered for the relief effort and many countries have offered funds and materials.

    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday in a telephone conversation with Haitian President Rene Preval that all relevant UN agencies had moved to deploy rescue work and the World Food Program (WFP) had been distributing food to Haitian people affected by the quake.

    Speaking from New York, Ban said the international body had launched an urgent appeal for 550 million U.S. dollars.

    Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said among the 40 rescue teams registered at the On-Site Operations Coordination Center (OSOCC), 17 had started their mission in Haiti while six were going to arrive there soon.

    She added the OCHA had opened a special aerial route between the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo and the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince to speed the delivery of aid.

    Jacques Diouf, director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said Friday the FAO would coordinate with the international community on the rescue and reconstruction work.

    The Rome-based agency would also play its role in the rehabilitation and reconstruction work over the next weeks and months, Diouf said in a statement.

    He added the agency would continue assisting with food production in Haiti, the western hemisphere’s poorest country with highest level of malnutrition, “so that the devastating effects of the earthquake do not increase hunger in the capital and elsewhere.”

    Liu Zhenmin, Chinese deputy permanent representative to the UN, on Friday told a UN flash appeal meeting to raise funds for Haiti that “the Chinese government will closely follow the developments of the disaster in Haiti, and positively respond to the flash appeal of the United Nations.”

    ”China will do what it can to provide assistance and contribute to the efforts of the Haitian people to triumph over the disaster and rebuild their homes at an early date,” Liu said.

    Liu said China reacted immediately after the earthquake. On Wednesday, China sent a 60-member rescue team to Haiti, which started disaster relief immediately after its arrival.

    Following a one-million-U.S.-dollar donation by the Red Cross Society of China, the Chinese government announced Friday it would provide 30 million RMB (some 4.4 million dollars) worth of humanitarian emergency supplies to Haiti.

    In addition, Chinese peacekeeping police working for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) were also fully engaged in the relief efforts on the ground, he said.

    The Chinese working group in Haiti have been searching for their compatriots in the quake region and made arrangements for their needs.

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would go to Haiti Saturday with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah to meet President Preval and inspect the U.S. rescue work there.

    Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said in Brasilia after returning from a trip to Haiti early Friday that what the Haitian people lacked most was equipment for medical treatment and food.

    He said the Brazilian air force had built a field hospital in Port-au-Prince and the navy was considering transporting a medical center to Haiti.

    Cuba had sent its second 60-member medical team to Haiti with large amounts of medicine, blood plasma and food on Friday, two days after the first team reached there, Latin American News Agency reported.

    Other countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Mexico, Finland, Lebanon and Poland have offered relief funds, goods and materials and sent rescue teams.

UN seeks $562 mln to help Haiti earthquake victims

Seven-year-old Stepanie lies injures in a makeshift hospital on a street in Port-au-Prince January 15, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — The United Nations and its partners Friday appealed for 562 million U.S. dollars to help the victims of the devastating earthquake that jolted Haiti earlier this week, as the world body scales up its assistance in the wake of the disaster. Full story

UN chief to travel to Haiti Sunday: spokesman

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel on Sunday to Haiti, which was devastated by a massive earthquake on Tuesday, his spokesman Martin Nesirky told Xinhua here Friday.

    Nesirky said that the Secretary-General made the announcement during his meeting with Haitian staff at United Nations headquarters Friday to comfort them and to offer his condolences. Full story

UN chief to travel to Haiti to show solidarity with quake victims

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks to reporters at UN headquarters in New York, the United States, Jan. 15, 2010. The United Nations on Friday issued a flash appeal of 550 million U.S. dollars to provide emergency care to thousands of Haitians suffering from the fallout of Tuesday’s earthquake that has devastated the country and created an epic humanitarian challenge.(Xinhua/Shen Hong)

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced here Friday that he will soon travel to Haiti, which was devastated by a massive earthquake earlier this week, to show solidarity with the people of the impoverished Caribbean nation. Full story

World Bank to provide additional emergency aid to Haiti

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — The World Bank said Wednesday it will provide an additional 100 million U.S. dollars in emergency grant funding to support recovery and reconstruction in Haiti in response to a magnitude-7.0 earthquake that caused extensive damage and casualties in the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.

    “This is a shocking event and it is crucial that the international community supports the Haitian people at this critical time,” a World Bank press release quoted bank group President Robert B. Zoellick as saying. Full story

16 UN staffers confirmed dead in Haiti: Ban

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Wednesday that 16 UN staffers were confirmed dead in Haiti in the wake of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake.

    The 16 include 11 Brazilians, one Argentine, three Jordanian police officers, and one Chadian officer, said Ban.Full story

Earthquake crushes thousands of buildings in Haiti

    SANTO DOMINGO, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — A major earthquake rocked Haiti on Tuesday, crushing thousands of buildings, including the presidential palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters, and trapping untold numbers of people in the rubble of the capital city.

    The devastation from the magnitude-7.3 quake, the strongest ever recorded on the poor Caribbean island, was so complete that it seemed likely the death toll would run into the thousands, according to reports monitored here. Full story

“Scale of catastrophe in Haiti is very high,” says UN peacekeeping chief   

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — The United Nations deals with humanitarian crises all the time but the devastating earthquake in Haiti has stricken especially close to home, said the head of UN peacekeeping forces Alain Le Roy here Wednesday.

    With the number of fatalities among UN staff members rising, LeRoy said the emotion is “extremely high.” Full story

Over 100 UN personnel trapped in collapsed headquarters in Haiti earthquake

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — A total of 100 to 150 UN personnel were trapped under the rubble of the main building of the UN mission in Port au Prince, Haiti, which collapsed in a powerful earthquake, UN officials said Wednesday.

    The UN staff members were still working at the headquarters of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) when the earthquake struck, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters at UN Headquarters. Full story

Special Report: Strong Quake Rocks Haiti

Chinese rescuers observe a moment of silence to pay last respects to a dead Chinese colleague in quake-hit Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 16, 2010. Chinese rescue team found one dead Chinese body from the rubbles Saturday.(Xinhua/Yuan Man)

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    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — A Chinese body had been found among the rubble of a building here destroyed by Haiti’s massive earthquake, Chinese rescue team leader Huang Jianfa said here early Saturday morning.

    The body was found at 03:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT) among the ruins of the collapsed building of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

    They also found a camera and a video camera, which belonged to the Chinese peace-keeping police in Haiti, as well as a shoe marked “Made in China,” added Huang.

    The Chinese rescue team members and the Chinese peacekeepers held a mourning ceremony on the site, standing in five lines and making three bows to the body.

    The rescue team is doing everything possible to speed up the search for another seven policemen still missing.

    Eight Chinese police officers were meeting UN officials in the building when the 7.3-magnitude quake hit Haiti on Tuesday.

    There were 142 Chinese peace-keeping police officers in Haiti. The others are accounted for.

Special Report: Strong Quake Rocks Haiti

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    TOKYO, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechion Saturday extended condolences and deep sympathy to families of the victims in quake-hit Haiti.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, is interviewed by Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television (CCTV) in Tokyo, capital of Japan, Jan. 16, 2010. Yang is in Japan for the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC). (Xinhua/Ren Zhenglai)

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 China’s defense ministry announces emergency humanitarian aid to Haiti

    ”We feel great regret over the heavy casualties and enormous damage to properties caused by the major earthquakes in Haiti,” said Yang in an interview with Xinhua and China Central Television(CCTV).

    ”On behalf of the Chinese government, I express sincere condolences and deep sympathy to people in Haiti,” said Yang, who arrived late Friday to attend the 4th foreign ministers’ meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC).

    ”The Chinese government has decided to send emergency humanitarian aid package worth 30 million yuan (4.41 million U.S. dollars) to Haiti, and China’s Red Cross Society has pledged 1 million U.S. dollars in emergency aid,” he said, adding that a Chinese emergency rescue team, including medical workers, has arrived in Haiti to help with the rescue operations.

    Yang said that China’s humanitarian attempts were greatly appreciated among the foreign ministers at the meeting.

    On the eight Chinese peace-keeping police officers trapped under rubble in Port-au-Prince, Yang said that the Chinese people are deeply concerned for their survival.

    And the Chinese foreign ministry will work with the departments concerned to do everything possible to speed up the search for the officers.

    The two-day FEALAC foreign ministers’ meeting opened Saturday to discuss various issues facing the international community and both regions. 

Special Report: Strong Quake Rocks Haiti