China hails death of bin Laden, defends Pakistan

BEIJING, May 3 (Reuters): China hailed Tuesday the death of Osama bin Laden in a US raid while defending its regional partner Pakistan against accusations it had done too little against terror threats. Beijing and Washington have gone through bouts of friction over Taiwan and Tibet, regional security and most recently China's clampdown on dissent and human rights activists. China showed no appetite, however, for turning the US raid that killed bin Laden on Pakistani soil into a point of dispute. "We have noted the announcement and believe that this is a major event and a positive development in the international struggle against terrorism," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said about the White House's announcement that bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader who orchestrated the September 11 attacks, was killed in a US raid, Chinese newspapers reported on Tuesday.