China will send more medical personnel to work in the tsunami-hit South and Southeast Asian countries according to their future need, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan at a regular press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

These countries are now facing issues of public health, DNA identification and epidemic prevention rather than emergency medical services for the people who have been seriously injured.

So far, 41 of the 164 medical professionals chosen for services in the tsunami-stricken countries have been dispatched, with the remaining 123 on standby for departure, he said.

On December 30, a 15-member team left Shanghai for Phuket, Thailand, and a second team of 12 sent by Guangdong Province on December 31 is now also in Phuket. On January 2, a 14-member medical team set off from Beijing for Sri Lanka.

By 2:00 PM Thursday, the Red Cross Society of China had received actual donations and pledges totaling 45 million yuan (US$5.4 million) from individuals and organizations. Kong said that 5.5 million yuan in cash and materials had been sent to Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Myanmar, Maldives and Malaysia.

The China Charity Federation, another organization authorized to receive donations, has received 30.1 million yuan (US$3.6 million), part of which has been delivered.

Kong said the Chinese government strongly condemns the illegal act of defrauding people of money under the name of tsunami donations.

As people and organizations scrambled to get aid to the stricken nations, swindlers in several countries set up false websites or other entities to accept "donations."

Kong said the public should be aware of such scams and make donations only through legal channels.

China has proposed holding a seminar on a disaster early-warning system with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Beijing on January 25 and 26.

Experts from the ASEAN member nations, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and some international organizations would be invited, Kong said. China hopes to establish an information exchange mechanism and assessment and warning system for natural calamities, including earthquakes and tsunamis.

Premier Wen Jiabao attended the international tsunami summit held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday, joining more than 20 other government leaders and representatives of international organizations to coordinate global relief efforts for the tsunami-hit countries.

Kong refuted some press reports claiming ethnic Chinese Indonesians had been the target of large-scale robberies. He said the Chinese government had looked into the allegations, as had its embassy in Indonesia, and there were no reports of such cases.

"All the local Chinese have said that currently the priority is to start reconstruction," he said.

Turning to Sino-Russian energy cooperation, Kong said China hopes to make concrete progress in this area with bilateral effort.

He said energy cooperation constitutes an important part of China-Russia strategic partnership and mutually beneficial economic cooperation.

State leaders, governments and related organizations consider the project important and have discussed various plans and proposals, he said. However, there is no official information yet on the plan to lay the pipeline.

Kong dismissed speculation that the postponement of a visit by a group of Japanese lawmakers to Beijing is linked to a controversial visit by former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui to Japan.

"This visit by Diet members was suspended because a lot of areas will be covered and we need more time to prepare for it," he said.

Kong said China will send a six-member observation group led by former Ambassador to Turkey Yao Kuangyi to the upcoming Palestinian presidential election on January 9.

He said China hopes the election goes smoothly and is willing to provide assistance if necessary.

"All parties to the Middle East issue are making unremitting efforts for the resumption of peace talks, and the situation has shown signs of easing," he said.

Kong announced Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio will visit China from January 11 to 17, and Prime Minister of Andorra, Marc Forne Molne, will visit China from January 15 to 18.

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily January 7, 2005)