China offers U.S. $5 million in aid ahead of Hu visit
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has offered $5 million in aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina ahead of President Hu Jintao's U.S. visit, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.
The Chinese government would provide the aid in addition to a batch of emergency relief goods, Xinhua quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang as saying.
If needed, the Chinese government would also send rescue workers, including medical experts, Qin said.
Thousands of people were feared dead after Katrina smashed into the U.S. Gulf Coast. Corpses rotting in the sun and uncontrolled looting presented images once thought unimaginable in the world's richest and most powerful country.
On Wednesday, Hu sent President Bush a telegram expressing "sympathy and confidence that the American people can certainly defeat the natural disaster and rebuild their beautiful homes."
China, an emerging economic powerhouse after more than two decades of market-oriented reforms transformed it from a centrally planned backwater, had been a recipient of WFP aid until April. But millions of Chinese still live in abject poverty.
Hu's September 5-17 tour of North America, which includes stops in Canada and Mexico, comes against a backdrop of heightened Sino-U.S. trade tensions, alarm over China Inc.'s courting of U.S. firms and a simmering concern over the rise of China on the global diplomatic stage.
Talks to hammer out a textile agreement ended in failure with both sides saying there were wide differences in their positions.
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