China welcomes offers of quake aid

BEIJING (Reuters) - China welcomed offers of international aid on Tuesday after an earthquake killed nearly 12,000 people, and said it was moved by the show of support.

But the Foreign Ministry did not say clearly whether China, whose role in recent years has shifted from aid recipient to aid donor as its economy soars, would accept the offers.

"We express our welcome and gratitude. Relevant departments of China and relief departments welcome the aid of international society and are also willing to maintain communication with relevant countries and organizations," ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference.

The United States, Britain, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have offered assistance.

Condolences poured in from around the world.

"I extend my condolences to those injured and to the families of the victims of today's earthquake in China's Sichuan province," U.S. President George W. Bush said in a statement.

"I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy. The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the Chinese people, especially those directly affected. The United States stands ready to help in any way possible."

The United Nations was ready to support China in its efforts to respond to the disaster, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Japan would provide assistance to China if Beijing made a request.

"It is a neighboring country and there has been huge damage, so we want to do what we can," he told reporters. "On the other hand ... some countries prefer to cope on their own. We want to be ready to respond whenever needed."

Japan itself suffered a devastating earthquake in Kobe in 1995 that killed more than 6,400 and caused an estimated $100 billion in damage.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak sent a condolence telegram to Chinese President Hu Jintao and called on his cabinet to find ways to help, the Yonhap news agency said.

"South Korea is planning to send aid to China as soon as possible. We have the emergency aid supplies ready and a team of aid workers are on standby," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Taiwan's soon-to-be ruling Nationalist Party sent a cable to its one-time nemesis, the Communists, who won the Chinese civil war in 1949 and drove the defeated Nationalists into exile.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, whose isolated country's nuclear arms program is the subject of multinational talks hosted by China, sent his condolences.

"I hope that your people will eradicate the aftermath of the disaster as early as possible under the leadership of the Communist Party of China," he said, according to the official KCNA news agency.