国际英语新闻:Germany bids farewell to ex-chancellor Helmut Schmidt

BERLIN, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Two weeks after the death of German ex-chancellor Helmut Schmidt, Germany's heads of state and government bade farewell to the former leader on Monday in Hamburg.

Around 1,800 guests joined the state ceremony in honor of the ex-chancellor who deceased at the age of 96, including German President Joachim Gauck, Chancellor Angela Merkel, former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

"His death moved all of us. He was an instance across the boundaries of any party and generation," said Merkel.

Schmidt's high reputation has a good reason, as he had fulfilled his responsibility to all the political duties, she added.

Kissinger said, Schmidt's strengths were the vision and courage. The commitment to his own conscience was for Schmidt the highest instance.

Kissinger finished his very personal speech with the words: "Helmut will remain a great and good man."

The governing Mayor of Hamburg Olaf Scholz stressed that not only Hamburg grieves, but Germany and the whole world.

"We have lost a giant, politically and humanly," said Scholz, adding that Schmidt had always taken responsibility for his action.

After the funeral, Schmidt's coffin received a large military escort by the guard battalion of the German armed forces. The coffin was then transferred through Hamburg to cemetery Ohlsdorf.

Schmidt died on Nov. 10 in his house in Hamburg. He was Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1974 to 1982.

Known as "an old friend of the Chinese people," Schmidt was also a pioneer and promoter of Sino-German relations.

Schmidt had kept an eye on China's development in recent decades in all respects, and shared his views on the current and future development of China in several books.