Sixty Chinese soldiers left Tuesday for Liberia, becoming the
first group of Chinese peacekeeping forces to go to that
war-ravaged country.
The Chinese government has decided to send a peacekeeping team
of 550 people to Liberia, which will be China's largest
participation with the most soldiers in the United Nations
peacekeeping missions by far, sources with the Ministry of National
Defense said.
The peacekeeping forces will include a 240-person transportation
company, a 275-person sapper company and a 35-person hospital. The
60 soldiers belong to the transportation company, sources said.
In January 2002, China formally joined a UN peacekeeping standby
mechanism, making preparations to provide engineering, medical and
transportation teams for UN peacekeeping missions.
The first group was equipped with 10 special-purpose vehicles,
tents and provisions as well as telecommunication and medical
facilities, said Shen Gangfeng, lieutenant colonel with the
transportation company.
The transportation company will be equipped with 158 vehicles
and 20 water-supply trucks, according to sources.
The Chinese peacekeeping forces will shoulder the responsibility
of transporting UN peacekeepers and materials, constructing roads,
repairing houses and airports, providing water and electricity as
well as curing the wounded.
This peacekeeping mission is planned to last for one year, and
may be prolonged on the basis of the new situation.
The UN Security Council in September unanimously voted for the
deployment of a peacekeeping mission in war-torn Liberia for one
year. Currently, 29 countries, including China, the United Sates
and Britain, have decided or already sent peacekeeping police to
Liberia.
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2003)
