Thursday, August 21, 2008

Chinese Premier meets Estonian counterpart on sidelines of Beijing Games

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday met Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip on the sidelines of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Wen first extended a welcome to Ansip, who arrived in Beijing on Sunday to watch events, and congratulated Estonian athletes for their excellent performance at the Games.

"I heard that yesterday you joined Estonians celebrating until midnight your athletes winning a gold and a silver in discus and rowing," Wen said.

With a throw of 68.82 meters, Gerd Kanter on Tuesday grabbed the gold medal in the men's discus, the first gold for Estonia at the ongoing Games.

Ansip said he felt honored to attend the Games. "Though hit by a great natural disaster, China managed to unite the whole nation and stage a very successful Olympics," he said.

Ansip's comments coincided with the 100th day of mourning of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated China's western province of Sichuan on May 12.

Ansip expressed his support to the Chinese people as the quake claimed nearly 70,000 lives, left 17,923 others missing and destroyed the homes of more than 10 million people.

In response, Wen thanked the Estonian people for their support to China following the quake. Wen particularly mentioned the Estonian Ambassador to China, who took the initiative to donate his blood.

Source: Xinhua

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