Delamere to Host Chinese Defence Minister

Associate Treasurer, Hon Tuariki Delamere, will host a hangi in Rotorua on Wednesday, February 11, for the visiting Minister of Defence of the People's Republic of China, General Chi Haotian, and a delegation of defence and foreign affairs officials.

The next morning, the Minister will host the General and his delegation on a visit to the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute and Whakarewarewa village.

This will be the General's second visit to New Zealand, which is intended to strengthen relations between China and New Zealand. He was last here briefly in April 1994.

General Chi (67) is a veteran of the wars against the Japanese, the Kuomintang and the UN forces in Korea.

He is a Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Central Military Commission and is likely to be promoted to second-highest ranking general at the Chinese Communist Party Congress later this year.