(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-16 07:59

Hours after the quake, a relief task force headed by Wen was pulled together on the plane to Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao comforts local people during an inspection in Muyu Township, Qingchuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province May 15, 2008. Qingchuan County is one of the worst-hit areas in Sichuan Province. Premier Wen is here to oversee rescue work and visit survivors. [Xinhua]

"Confronted with the disaster, we need composure, confidence, courage and an effective command," he said, promising the country in front of the CCTV cameras that the government will lead the people to win the battle against the earthquake.

Wen made it very clear that the top task was to save lives, and he pressed officials and troops very hard to implement rescue work.

Three hours later, in a tent at Dujiangyan, Wen presided over another meeting of the relief task force. The first thing he ordered was to send rescuers into the isolated epicenter "by all means."

Special coverage: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China Related readings:  Wen continues inspection in quake-hit Guangyuan  Wen orders delployment of 90 more helicopters  Premier Wen oversees quake rescue in Beichuan  Wen: We need calm, confidence, courage  Saving lives top priority - Premier Wen

"The earlier, even a minute, we reach the quake-hit areas, the more lives we are able to save," he said.

He ordered that roads be cleared to the epicenter by Tuesday midnight.

The first group of 30 soldiers arrived at the epicenter town Yingxiu on foot on Tuesday afternoon and rescued 300 people by midnight.

More soldiers, doctors, rescue experts, engineers and volunteers were assembled in Sichuan and tons of bottled water, milk, instant noodles and other relief materials were trucked in and airdropped to the quake-hit areas.

From the big issues of restoring traffic flows and allocating troops to tiny things like milk powder for infants, Wen addressed them carefully at relief work meetings.

"The Chinese government acted really fast for disaster relief. It was beyond my expectations," said Tristan Lebraz, a reporter from French TV channel France 2, who covered the quake in Mianyang city in Sichuan.

Pan Guang, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the government's response has been fast.

"It's not realistic to save every victim immediately after the quake, but judging from the speed and scale of the response, China has already created a nation-wide system to counter the disaster," he said.

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