Chinese President Hu Pays Silent Tribute to Quake Victims

Chinese President Hu Jintao paid a one-minute silent tribute on April 21st in Beijing to the victims of the earthquake in northwest China.

The nine members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, including Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, all in dark suits, stood solemnly and bowed their heads to show respect for the dead at the beginning of a meeting in the central leadership compound of Zhongnanhai.

National flags flew at half-mast at government agencies in the Chinese capital on Wednesday and all public entertainment was suspended.

At Tian'anmen Square in downtown Beijing, thousands of people watched the national flag being hoisted to full height and then lowered to half-mast at about 5:33 a.m.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Central Military Commission, Chinese embassies around the world and other authorities all flew the national flag at half-mast.

The issues of People's Daily, China Youth Daily, 21st Century Business Herald and other major nationwide newspapers were printed in black and white to mark the day of mourning this day.

Internet portals like Sina and Baidu displayed gray home pages.

Chinese Internet users posted tens of thousands of tributes for victims and survivors of the quake. Some wrote poems and some lit candles and delivered flowers in online mourning halls.

"Go Yushu! Disasters will invigorate our nation. Chinese people are united in the face of difficulties," said a post from "Xingwen" on fetion.com.cn.

Ye Duchu, a professor with Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said the country's central leadership showed sincere and careful concern for the quake-affected people.

President Hu visited the quake zone on April 18th and vowed to help survivors, living in tents with only the most basic of facilities, to rebuild their homes.

Hu cut short his trip to South America and postponed visits to Venezuela and Chile after the quake in Yushu, while Premier Wen delayed visits to Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar scheduled for April 22 to 25.

Premier Wen arrived in Qinghai on the second day of the quake and visited schools, orphanages, monasteries and temporary shelters, consoling and sympathizing with the victims on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.

"The major task in the quake zone now is to make sure the lives of all survivors return to normal," said Li Junpeng, public administration professor from the Chinese Academy of Governance.

More than 12,700 military rescuers, firefighters and thousands of medical personnel poured into the quake zone with food, water and other emergency supplies after the quake, with most arriving in Yushu within 30 hours of the quake.

At a gathering on April 19th, Chinese state-run and private companies, joint ventures and celebrities raised RMB 2.17 billion (US$320 million) in donations for relief and reconstruction work.

Chinese people from different circles, including government departments, non-governmental organizations and Taiwan, are all donating to help the survivors.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs, which is responsible for receiving donations from provincial-level Party committees and governments, has received more than RMB 69.5 million from Party committees and governments in 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Government officials from the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administration Regions also dressed in black suits to show respect for the quake victims. The Hong Kong SAR government has approved a fund of 4.5million HK dollars for non-governmental organizations' relief work in Qinghai.