By Xinhua,
Chengdu (China) : US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Sunday arrived in this capital of southeast China’s quake-devastated Sichuan province.
“Rice will express condolences on behalf of the American people for the disaster,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey before Rice’s departure.
She is the highest-ranking US official to visit the area ravaged by an 8.0-magnitude earthquake May 12 that killed some 70,000 people.
During her 4-hour stay in this southwestern province, Rice will travel to Dujiangyan, one of the worst-hit cities in the massive quake.
She is also scheduled to give a press briefing at the end of her tour.
Her Sichuan visit is part of her two-day China tour, which will bring her to Beijing where she will discuss with Chinese leaders a wide range of issues, including north Korean denuclearisation.
The US has sent relief material worth some $2.6 million for the victims of the quake, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.