Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/chinese-ambassador-on-quake-disaster-olympic-protests Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript In a NewsHour interview, Zhou Wenzhong, the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., discusses the earthquake that hit central China this week, recent protests over Tibet that have disrupted the Olympic torch relay and the state of international relief efforts following Myanmar's cyclone. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: Now, a Newsmaker interview with China's ambassador to the United States, Zhou Wenzhong. Margaret Warner spoke with him earlier this evening. MARGARET WARNER: Ambassador Zhou, welcome. Thank you for coming.ZHOU WENZHONG, China's Ambassador to the United States: My pleasure. MARGARET WARNER: First, our deepest condolences on this tragedy in China. ZHOU WENZHONG: Thank you. MARGARET WARNER: It's a terrible loss of life. What can you tell us, the latest casualty figures, and what your government's been told to expect in the way of casualties? ZHOU WENZHONG: According to the incomplete statistics in Sichuan province alone, the death toll reached 12,000. And 26,000 people were hospitalized, receiving all kinds of treatment. And more than 3 million houses were damaged. MARGARET WARNER: But has your government been told to expect a much higher death toll, a somewhat higher death toll? ZHOU WENZHONG: Very much likely, because we understand more than 9,000 people are still under debris. And we still have yet to reach the epicenter area. MARGARET WARNER: And so is it fair to say you probably don't have a good sense of how many people are still missing, unaccounted for? ZHOU WENZHONG: Right. Right.