No contact from five of 18 Chinese-funded firms in US
( 2001-09-14 08:08 ) (1 )

Two Chinese citizens -- a married couple -- are confirmed dead, following the terrorist attack on the US on Tuesday.

Another countryman was reported dead by his family, and one more native is still missing.

By 8 am Thursday, 65-year-old Zheng Yuguang and his wife, 61-year-old Yang Shuyin, were confirmed dead. Both of them were passengers on the US' airline AA77, which crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC.

According to the relatives of 32-year-old Chen Xiaobing, he was killed in the disaster, and 41-year-old Wang Weibing has not yet been traced.

It has not yet been confirmed where Chen and Wang were during the catastrophes in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.

After the initial investigation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said that, among the 18 Chinese-funded enterprises in the World Trade Center in New York, 11 of them have confirmed no casualties during the attack, one firm had staff injured and another had one employee missing during the evacuation. Five enterprises have still not been in contact.

All staff employed at six other Chinese-funded financial institutions near the centre were safe, Zhu added.

After the attack, the Chinese Embassy to the United States, the Chinese Consulate-Generals in New York and China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations immediately adopted emergency measures. These provided assistance to the staff and their relatives of Chinese institutions, students, overseas Chinese and Chinese compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in the United States.

Zhu said they are sparing no effort to investigate possible injuries or death of Chinese.

The Chinese Embassy and Consulate-General in New York also opened special hotlines to provide communications with injured compatriots, placing all necessary assistance at their disposal.

And China National Tourism Administration said it is willing to offer ``any necessary help'' to American tourists who have had to stay in China due to the recent flight cancellations after the US's tragedy.

Affected US tourists can seek help by telephoning 010-65201318 or 010-65201329.

However, sources at the administration said they did not receive any calls yesterday from US and foreign tourists.

In addition, the administration ensured that China will remain open for tourists of different races.

``The Chinese Government and its people guarantees any tourist's security within its borders, and tourists from any country are welcome,'' a circular by the administration stated.

In Washington DC, the US-China Business Council on Wednesday expressed its appreciation of the statement from Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and offered condolences to Chinese agencies and enterprises whose personnel were affected by Tuesday's terrorist attack.

``The council has read with appreciation the statement by President Jiang Zemin relating to these tragic events,'' the council said in a statement.

``In the hours since the assault, US-China Business Council offices in Washington DC, Beijing and Shanghai have received many messages of concern and sympathy from Chinese organizations and individuals with whom the council has close and friendly working relations.

``The council expresses, on behalf of its staff and its member companies, its deepest thanks for these very moving messages of concern.''

The statement concluded: ``The council hopes that, in the aftermath of the tragedy that engulfed New York and the United States on Tuesday, the United States and China will further intensify their co-operative efforts across the board.''