The government will further increase cooperation in
disaster prevention and relief work with ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) members and international organizations,
said Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu in Beijing on Tuesday.
Hui made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the
two-day China-ASEAN Workshop on Earthquake-Generated Tsunami
Warning, which was hosted by the China Seismological Bureau.
He said large-scale assistance was provided to
regions around the Indian Ocean hit by the tsunami of December 26,
and China made positive contributions to disaster relief and
reconstruction work.
"We should learn from the lessons of Indian Ocean
tsunami to do more research on natural disasters, to establish an
early warning mechanism, to improve public awareness of disaster
prevention and relief, and to increase international coordination
and cooperation in dealing with natural disasters," Hui said.
China supports the UN in playing the leading role
in establishing the early warning mechanism, and ASEAN should also
play its part, he added.
Hui said China expects that an early warning system
will be set up in the Indian Ocean as soon as possible.
"China is ready to provide assistance in terms of
technology and personnel training to establish the early warning
network," Hui noted.
"We should take cooperation in earthquake and
tsunami early warning as an opportunity and extend it to a wider
range of collaboration relating to disaster prevention and relief,"
Hui said.
Approximately 30 officials from ASEAN, India, Sri
Lanka, the US, Japan and the UN participated in the workshop.
Participants exchanged views on improving the
earthquake monitoring ability of southeast Asian countries.
The proposal of such a workshop was made by Premier
Wen Jiabao in his speech at the international tsunami summit held
in Jakarta, Indonesia on January 6.
(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2005)