CHINA: US SECRETARY of state Condoleezza Rice avoided overt references to China's human rights situation and emphasised Washington's cordial relations with Beijing yesterday during a visit to devastated areas of Sichuan province.
Dr Rice is the highest-ranking American to inspect damage from the earthquake which tore through Sichuan province on May 12th. The 7.9-magnitude quake killed almost 70,000 people, with another 20,000 missing.
Dr Rice steered clear of thornier issues between Washington and Beijing, such as human rights and Tibet, and focused on the quake in her public comments.
"I'm really impressed by the recovery effort. It is really a sign of how the human spirit can overcome great devastation," she said.
One of the places Dr Rice visited was Dujiangyan, a city of 250,000 not far from the Sichuan provincial capital, Chengdu. Some 3,000 died there and 90 per cent of the buildings are now uninhabitable.
"I can see that the Chinese government and officials have been attentive. I can see how much effort has gone into the recovery," Dr Rice said. "But with a disaster of this magnitude, no one can do it alone. We are very glad that the Chinese people have reached out for help."
She said the head of the US Agency for International Development, Henrietta Fore, would travel to Sichuan with a delegation including private companies to aid reconstruction efforts.
The US has provided almost €1 million in humanitarian aid to China since the quake. Together with US defence department funds, most of which are spent on transportation and logistics in delivering the aid, the US government has spent more than €2.35 million to help the victims.
Dr Rice contrasted China's reaction with Burma's response to a devastating cyclone that left more than 138,000 dead or missing.
She visited the debris of the Tengda sports club in downtown Dujiangyan, which collapsed during the quake, and a tent city at Qinjianrenjia, where 8,000 people are being housed.
Dr Rice then travelled to Beijing for meetings with Chinese president Hu Jintao, premier Wen Jiabao and Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi. North Korea's destruction last Friday of its nuclear reactor cooling tower at the Yongbyon facility - the end of the first phase of the country's denuclearisation process - was expected to be top of the agenda.
Dr Rice also urged China to continue talks with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.