China will send a second force to join the UN peacekeeping
operation in southern Lebanon this month, sources with the Chengdu
Military Area Command said on Thursday.
The 275 peacekeepers will take a UN chartered flight from
Kunming, capital of southwest Yunnan Province, to replace the
engineer battalion deployed from the same military command in April
2006, sources said.
The second force, which has just finished a training program
begun in November last year, will stay eight months in Lebanon,
sources said.
The first force cleared more than 6,845 landmines and explosives
and rebuilt roads over 50 kilometers in its eight-month term. The
182-member team won a UN award on October 1 for their contribution
to the mission.
China has contributed more UN peacekeepers than any of the other
four permanent members of the UN Security Council
Over the years China has sent 6,000 military personnel to
participate in 16 UN peacekeeping operations since it began to
participate in UN peacekeeping operations in the 1990s.
Eight Chinese peacekeepers have died and dozens have been
wounded in the line of duty. UN observer Du Zhaoyu died in an
Israeli raid on a UN post in southern Lebanon on July 25 last
year.
(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2007)
