JERUSALEM: CHINA'S AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL HAS VISITED TWO CHINESE CITIZENS CRITICALLY INJURED IN A SUICIDE BOMBING NEAR A MARKET IN JERUSALEM

Record ID: 400389

  • Title: JERUSALEM: CHINA'S AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL HAS VISITED TWO CHINESE CITIZENS CRITICALLY INJURED IN A SUICIDE BOMBING NEAR A MARKET IN JERUSALEM
  • Date: 14th April 2002
  • Summary: (W3) JERUSALEM (APRIL 15, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL, PAN ZHANLIN, WALKING INTO HOSPITAL 0.14 2. SV EMBASSY OFFICIALS HOLDING FLOWERS 0.20 3. SV PAN AND OTHER VISITORS IN ROOM OF ONE OF BOMBING VICTIMS, IN SERIOUS CONDITION 0.30 4. SV MONITOR SHOWING VITAL SIGNS 0.33 5
  • Embargoed: 29th April 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Reuters ID: LVA54DZFDJCH830AGQXYW3OVU2PY
  • Story Text: China's ambassador to Israel has visited two Chinese
    citizens critically injured in a devastating suicide bombing
    near a market in Jerusalem. Two other Chinese citizens were
    killed in the bombing.



    China confirmed one of its citizens was among at least
    six killed in Friday's (April 12) suicide bomb attack in
    Jerusalem.

    The Foreign Ministry said two other Chinese were wounded
    and another was missing after the powerful blast, which
    injured nearly 90, mostly Israelis, near a crowded market.

    There are thousands of Chinese contract workers employed
    across Israel, most of them engaged in the construction
    industry.

    Israel contracts out much of its unskilled labour needs,
    mostly to companies who bring tens of thousands of workers
    into the country annually, mostly from Thailand, China and the
    Phillipines.

    On Monday (April 15) China's Ambassador Pan Zhanlin
    visited wounded Chinese in hospital, and called on both sides
    to find a way towards peace.

    "I think both sides must stop the violence. Violence will
    not solve the questions. And I think peace negotiations are
    the only way of solving the questions of this conflict. You
    know, 2,500 years ago the philosopher Confucius said peace is
    very precious, (more) precious than anything", he said.

    Many Chinese workers say they no longer feel safe.

    "This problem really has affected us all, even Chinese
    workers...no one can escape this problem, not even Chinese",
    said construction worker Min Linhung.

    Beijing has tried to maintain an even keel amid tensions in
    the Middle East to balance ties with Palestinian leader Yasser
    Arafat, its friend for four decades, and Washington's ally
    Israel, a key arms supplier to China.

    The Chinese government has since warned its citizens and
    companies in Israel to take safety precautions and expressed
    sympathies to the families of the victims, she said.

    Premier Zhu Rongji will meet Egyptian President Hosni
    Mubarak later this week during a visit to Cairo, where
    officials said he would focus on the crisis in the Middle
    East.



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