On the evening of January 5, 2005, Premier Wen Jiabao, who heads for Indonesia to attend the Special ASEAN Leader's Meeting on the Aftermath of Earthquake and Tsunami, upon arriving at Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, called the members of China International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR) who are implementing tasks in the hardest hit Banda Aceh area, expressing sincere greetings to CISAR members and the Chinese medical teams operating in Thailand and Sri Lanka on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the State Council, CPC Secretary General Hu Jintao and the Chinese people.

Wen told the members earnestly that the earthquake and following tsunami are a human catastrophe. You and the Chinese medical teams carrying out relief tasks in other countries, entrusted by the motherland and the Chinese people, spare no pains in traveling a long distance to the areas affected the disaster and work day after night to heal the wounded and rescue the dying, carrying on the traditional virtue of "providing assistance from all sides to places in difficulty" of the Chinese nation, demonstrating the deep feeling of sincerity, friendship and sharing hardships, building China's lofty image of taking care of the entire world and all mankind, winning honor to the motherland and the people and making contributions to the cause of peace and friendship. Thank you for your hard work!

The countries hit by the disaster are our neighbors and friends. Over years, whenever difficulties occur, we always help each other, and it is our bounden duty to extend our hands to the people of countries affected in the earthquake and tsunami disaster, said Wen.

The relief task remains to be Herculean and there will be huge difficulties. You should take care of yourselves and ensure your personal safety. Your motherland and the Chinese people are your strong backing and will extend full support to you. We are looking forward to seeing your accomplishment of tasks and returning home with glory, added Wen.

The members of CISAR thanked the Central Party Committee, the State Council and all the Chinese people for their greetings and encouragement, saying that they will carry on the spirit of showing no fear in front of hardship and exerting strong fighting capacity to accomplish the assistance task and never let the motherland and fellow Chinese down.

Wen also signed New Year cards and brought gifts to each CISAR member and both the cards and gifts will soon be handed over to the members by the Chinese government mission to areas hit by the disaster.

The CISAR operating in Banda Aceh is composed of 35 members and arrived at the task area at night December 31, 2004 to carry out medical assistance, epidemic prevention and search tasks. By night of January 4, the team has found and cleaned dozens of victim bodies, provided medical diagnosis and treatment to over 3,000 person times of local people. In addition, in Thailand and Sri Lanka there are another 41 Chinese medical staffs who have provided medical services to more than 2,300 people in the two countries.