Wen's words of comfort

President Hu Jintao comforts an injured girl at a makeshift hospital in Yushu. Photo:Liao Pan/China News Both President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao cut short their BRIC / LatAm meetings to get back to "direct" the rescue work of the quake affected people in Yushu. The tragedy of the Quake is hard to imagine as children lie under the rubble, some dead and some, as we saw yesterday, still alive. So far the death toll is 2,064 with 175 missing and 12,135 wounded. Wen was the first back and the press have been keen to show him with the suffering victims.

In the midst of the suffering we were struck by the genuine warmth of expression by Wen to the sufferers in a way that I wonder whether such words could be uttered by a British Prime Minister:

"Life is full of hope and no matter how big the difficulties we encounter, the sun will rise as always. No matter whether you are Tibetans or Hans, you are all in one family."

I similarly wonder whether the words of today's China Daily writer could ever be echoed by a British newspaper leader writer commenting on the way in which the presence of China's leaders are giving impetus to the rescuers and provide confidence and encouragement to the survivors and then saying:

"We have enough reason to believe that their examples will assemble national efforts to help residents affected by the earthquake get through the hard times and muster enough courage for the reconstruction of their homes."