China Focus
Relatives, friends in deep sorrow for heroes
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-20 07:56
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Portrait of Guo Baoshan and his relatives. [Wu Zhiyi/China Daily] |
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But this day will never come.
Guo, 60, was the oldest among the eight officers killed in Haiti by the earthquake on Jan 13.
"He is gone now. He will never be able to attend the wedding," said Guo's wife, Sun Gemin, unable to hold back tears. [Full Story]
Li protected Olympic torch on world relay
Members of the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch relay team were in deep sorrow yesterday for their former teammate Li Xiaoming, who was one of the eight Chinese peacekeepers killed in the massive earthquake in Haiti.
A simple but solemn memorial was held by the Beijing Olympic City Development Association yesterday afternoon.
A nearly 70-sq m room was crowed with over 100 mourners dressed in dark colors with chrysanthemums in their hands. Many sobbed and could hardly control their tears when they saw the big picture hanging on the wall showing Li with a big smile in his Olympic uniform.
"Life is full of uncertainty. When I took the photo for him in St. Petersburg, which was the third leg of the torch relay in April 2008, I never thought there would be no chance to give him the photo," said Wang Beibei, one of Li's former colleagues.
Zhang Ming, secretary-general of the association, said she believed Li would be able to escape from the earthquake because of his strong and healthy body. "He should be the person rescuing other people, not the deceased," she said.
Li was assigned to East Timor as a peacekeeping police officer for the first time in 2001 when he was only 26. Since then, he had been assigned to six other countries and regions, including Haiti, Afghanistan and Kosovo. [Full Story]
Toy bears symbol of his love for daughter
Zhong Jianqin was back home, with the three toy bears he bought in Haiti for his beloved daughter.
But the 35-year-old father would never meet his seven-month-old girl. The devastating earthquake in Haiti last week has torn the family apart forever.
In a picture taken in Haiti, Zhong is wearing a black shirt with a Chinese national flag sewn on the right sleeve. He looks healthily tanned under the Caribbean sun, a masculine and strong, good-looking man.
A communications officer of the Chinese anti-riot police team in Haiti, Zhong's work was to record the life and work of the entire anti-riot team and show the pictures to China and the rest of the world.
"When we held weapons, he held cameras," said a colleague in Haiti.
That was Zhong's work.
Zhong had been recruited into the Chinese peacekeeping team in Haiti twice. During his first tour of duty in 2007, Zhong published 286 stories, recorded 267 boxes of tapes and shot over 60,000 pictures.
He did an excellent job, winning him a first-class merit.
