President Hu thanks Japanese quake team

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-09 09:54

SAPPORO, Japan: President Hu Jintao started his visit to this city in northern Japan Tuesday by acknowledging the help from Japanese rescuers toward relief efforts for the devastating May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province.

"Friends, Chinese people will always remember you," Hu told 16 representatives of the rescue team in Japan's Hokkaido island, where he was scheduled to attend the annual Group of Eight (G8) meetings.

Hu and the Japanese rescuers watched a brief tele-film on the rescuers racing against time to treat a two-and-a-half-month-old baby girl, digging out 16 bodies from the rubble, a Chinese girl thanking the rescuers in Japanese, and other clips on disaster relief.

China's President Hu Jintao (2nd R, front row) greets Japanese rescue and medical team members who helped with relief efforts of the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province, during a ceremony in Sapporo, Japan on the sidelines of the G8 summit July 8, 2008. [Agencies]

"Your outstanding rescue work has impressed Chinese people deeply," Hu said.

"Your action has fully demonstrated Japanese people's friendly feelings toward Chinese people."

The rescuers said they were encouraged by the high praise from Chinese people and that the experience in Sichuan will serve as their legacy.

"We regret that we were unable to save anyone, but we were glad that we were able to fulfill our international responsibility," rescue team representative Takashi Koizumi said.

At the end of the meeting, Hu handed out to the rescuers commemorative albums recording their 119-hour work in China.

The Japanese rescuers were the first international rescue team to arrive in quake-hit areas after the disaster, which has left more than 80,000 people dead or missing.

Their meticulous work and respect for those who died in the quake was said to have won them praise in Chinese media and Internet chatrooms, in line with warming ties between the two countries.

Last month, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (SDF) destroyer Sazanami visited Zhanjiang, the first time an SDF vessel docked at a Chinese port after World War II.

Similarly, in a rare instance of the Chinese military showing its day-to-day training to foreigners, a group of SDF officers on Monday visited an infantry brigade at the Nanjing Military Command and viewed the brigade's artillery training, Japan's Kyodo News reported.

Despite the historical scars left by the Nanjing Massacre in World War II, Japanese officers said they received a "friendly reception" during their visit, Kyodo reported.

China Daily-Agencies