China will continue to play an active role in United Nations peacekeeping activities as required by the world body and based on the development of events, Major Genera Liu Pei, head of the Chinese Delegation to the UN Military Staff Committee, said Monday.
"China's active participation in UN peacekeeping missions not only demonstrates its support for the UN, but is also an embodiment of the fulfillment of its obligations as a major power, " Liu said in an interview with Xinhua on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the birth of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Liu commended the important contributions and outstanding performance of Chinese military personnel who have participated in 17 UN peacekeeping missions since 1990, when the country started dispatching servicemen on such missions.
Chinese peacekeeping forces have earned praise from the United Nations and from the government and people of host nations for their courage, perseverance, professionalism and discipline, Liu said.
China now has over 1,600 military personnel serving UN peacekeeping missions in such places as Western Sahara, Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Lebanon and Sudan.
It is soon to dispatch an engineering unit of 315 members to Darfur, Sudan, as part of the first batch of UN peacekeepers being sent there.
The Chinese government's active participation in peacekeeping in the Darfur region has won commendation and appreciation from relevant departments of the United Nations and from the international community, Liu added.
China has all along attached importance and rendered support to peacekeeping activities in accordance with the spirit of the UN Charter, Liu said, adding that the leading role of the Security Council must be strengthened and that peacekeeping activities can only be implemented when the conditions are right.
"Peacekeepers should not become parties to a conflict, which is a departure from one of the fundamental principles of peacekeeping," Liu said.
He reiterated China's stance that peacekeeping is an important but not the only means of the United Nations in safeguarding peace and security, stressing the need to tackle the root causes of conflicts through comprehensive measures.
Liu emphasized that no double standards should be followed in planning and implementing peacekeeping operations.
China has contributed over 7,500 military personnel to UN peacekeeping operations since 1990, and eight Chinese servicemen have given their lives in the line of duty.
Source: Xinhua
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