Beijing, May 08: China today thanked India and especially Defence Minister George Fernandes for promptly sending medical assistance to help China's fight against the killer SARS epidemic that has killed over 200 people. "India donated Rs 400,000 worth of medicines after its defence minister visited China," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Giyue told reporters here while responding to a question on foreign assistance to China, the world's worst-hit country from SARS epidemic.
Zhang said that many world leaders have written to or have telephoned Chinese leaders to express their support for China's battle against SARS. "They have also donated medical supplies to China," she said. "Asian countries have cared much for China's battle against SARS. The leaders of Asean countries have expressed their comfort and support to the leaders of China," she said.
Soon after his maiden visit to China, Fernandes had presented 20 cartons of specialised SARS kits to the Chinese embassy in New Delhi as a gift from the Indian armed forces.
During his visit to China, Fernandes blamed western media for giving an exaggerated figures of SARS toll in China. The state-run Chinese media had given prominent coverage to the comments made by Fernandes on the negative foreign media coverage of China's fight against SARS.
Fernandes was one of the very few foreign leaders who dared to visit China at a time when the SARS epidemic was peaking in the world's most populous nation.
At the briefing, Zhang also thanked the governments of the Britain, France, Germany and the United States for their material support and assistance. Bureau Report