UN relief chief expects strengthened co-op with China

by Xinhua writers Gu Zhenqiu, Wang Xiangjiang, Bai
Jie

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations
relief chief said here on Monday that China's cooperation with the world body
"has been very good," and that he expects to further improve this kind of
cooperative relations.

John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for
humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said in an exclusive
interview with Xinhua that "I think the cooperation has been very good and we
want to improve it further."

A VERY GOOD
COOPERATION

On the China-UN cooperation, Holmes said, "I think it
was very good at the time of the earthquake."

The magnitude-8.0 quake that hit southwest China,
including many parts of Sichuan Province, on May 12, 2008 killed more than
69,000 people. It also left nearly 18,000 missing, more than 374,000 injured and
millions homeless.

"We were able to help a little bit, as I said, and we
were very willing to do that and we were impressed by what China was able to
do," Holmes said, referring to the UN assistance including 8 million U.S.
dollars from the UN Central Fund to help with some of the immediate aid and
assistance.

"I think as time goes on and China becomes a more
prosperous country, and an even more important country in the world than it is
now, it's right for China to play a role in the wider, multilateral system in
responding to disasters as well, not just natural disasters but in the major
conflict situations," he said.

"You have so much to offer in terms of experience, in
terms of people," he said. "Just as China is becoming more involved, for
example, in international peacekeeping around the world, it is logical for China
to be more involved in the international response to disasters both before they
happen and after they happen, and that's one of the things I was strongly
encouraging while in Beijing and elsewhere."

EXTREMELY POSITIVE CHINA
TRIP

Holmes concluded a two-day visit to China on April
22, during which he lauded China's increasing engagement in humanitarian
affairs, while urging more involvement on the multilateral side. He and the
Chinese officials also held fruitful dialogue on global issues of common
concern, including the financial crisis, the food crisis, climate change, and
their implication for humanitarian needs and response.

"The trip was extremely positive," Holmes said. "I
had some very good discussions with some of the key ministers and officials
involved in disaster risk reduction and disaster relief in China and the China
earthquake administration."

"I had a very good discussion with the vice premier
about these issues," he said. "We reached an agreement that while we had already
very positive cooperation in areas like disaster risk reduction and how we
respond to disasters, there was also room for more and I was encouraging the
Chinese government in general to engage more in a multilateral response to
disasters because you have so much to offer."

"You have so much experience, and as China becomes a
bigger player in the world, it's logical for China to take a bigger role in
disaster relief elsewhere than just in China," he said.

On April 22, Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu met
with Holmes. Hui said that China has made remarkable progress in enhancing its
risk management and disaster reduction capabilities. This is a great
contribution to the global humanitarian cause.

Hui said that China was one of the countries most
severely affected by natural disasters. The government has exerted great effort
to comprehensively improve natural disaster risk management and disaster
reduction ability, always adhering to the policy of putting people first and
putting life above everything.

"I think there is also a feeling that while the
Chinese economy is very large and is growing, China is also a country with many
internal issues to be dealt with for the future, and of course, many people
whose own standard of living needs to be raised so there's not a huge amount of
resources left over to be devoted internationally," Holmes said.

"But I hope that over time, as it continues to
develop, which I'm sure it will, then there will be more possibilities to help
in the future as well," he said. "And that's what we were discussing and that
was a very positive discussion."