GOOD news is a rare commodity in our troubled world. I take great pleasure in bringing to the attention of your readers the hopeful tidings flowing from the European Parliament.

The North-East MEP Stephen Hughes is a member of the European Parliament’s delegation to China which recently visited Beijing for talks.

Mr Hughes reminds us that what happens in China today has an impact on everyone in the North-East because, unless we can cut CO2 emissions from the coal-fired power stations of China, global warming and rising sea levels will affect us.

The European Union is looking to help China with clean coal technology and carbon capture.

The continued growth of the Chinese economy matters a great deal to Britain. Chinese demand for steel, for example, has kept Corus at Redcar going in recent years.

Mr Hughes has also been finalising a project to put former pit deputies in the classroom with Chinese miners to transfer technical know-how to slash the official total of 6,000 deaths a year in China’s mines.

George Henry Hamilton, Tweedmouth.