China relieved at Manila hostage crisis settlement: FM

BEIJING - China's central government has expressed relief at the settlement of the Manila hostage crisis which left eight Hong Kong tourists dead in August 2010, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

The central government supports the consensus reached between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government and Philippine government, said Qin Gang at the daily press briefing.

"We feel relieved," he said.

According to a joint statement issued by Hong Kong and the Philippines on Wednesday, the Philippine government expressed sorrowful regret and profound sympathy, and extended its most sincere condolences for the pain and suffering of the victims and their families in the bus hostage crisis.

Both governments agreed with the four demands of the victims and their families for an apology, compensation, sanctions against responsible officials and individuals, and improvement of tourist safety.

The statement came as the Mayor of Manila Joseph Estrada visited Hong Kong to offer an apology on behalf of the Philippine government and to compensate victims of the crisis.

According to Hong Kong media reports, the Philippines offered 20 million HK dollars (2.6 million U.S. dollars) in compensation for the victims and their families, with 1.5 million HK dollars for each of the deceased and 3 million HK dollars for the injured.

On Aug. 23, 2010, a sacked Philippine police officer hijacked a bus with 21 Hong Kong tourists on board. The 11-hour hostage crisis ended with eight Hong Kong tourists killed and the hostage taker shot in a bungled police rescue.

The Foreign Ministry will fully protect the overseas safety and legal rights of all Chinese citizens including Hong Kong citizens, Qin said.