The director-general of the World Health Organization, Lee Jong-wook, on Wednesday voiced his satisfaction with China's efforts to deal with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which has reappeared in China since April 22.

Speaking to reporters after delivering a public lecture in Singapore on Wednesday, Lee said that he found no excuse to criticize the way China is handling SARS as it has done its best to fight the killing disease, and the outbreak seems to be under control now.

Having experienced SARS last year, China will be more cautious to deal with SARS this time, he said, adding that he has full confidence in China because it is putting all the measures necessary and can handle the disease well.

He is also comforted that China has put some 1,000 people under observation since the first case was found on April 22.

Being concerned that the outbreak in Beijing started at a laboratory researching SARS, he stressed that clearly laboratory transmission is a trend, and this is a very serious situation, people must learn from that.

After arriving in Singapore on Tuesday for a two-day visit, Lee also met with Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and visited the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore's dedicated facility for SARS, which infected over 200 Singaporeans last year and killed 33 of them.

It is not the first case of SARS infection in a laboratory as such infection also happened in Singapore last September.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2004)