HELSINKI - China plans to send a contingent of peacekeeping troops to Lebanon and is consulting the United Nations on the details, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday. ‘We have a plan to send peacekeeping troops. We’re consulting with the United Nations on the specific arrangements and will duly announce the outcome,’ spokesman Liu Jianchao told Reuters. He was speaking in Helsinki after an Asia-Europe summit attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.The spokesman gave no details but French President Jacques Chirac, whose country is a key player in the UN deployment, suggested that China’s contribution may number around 1,000.
Around 200 Chinese engineers already work for the United Nations in Lebanon clearing mines and unexploded ordnance. The UN peacekeeping force is being expanded to uphold a shaky truce between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
Chirac, who was also at the meeting, said Wen had mentioned the plan for more troops in Helsinki. ‘Indeed the premier announced yesterday that beyond the 240 Chinese soldiers that are already there in Lebanon clearing mines, they would send a not inconsiderable contribution, because 1,000 men have been mentioned,’ he told a news conference.
The Chinese announcement came two days after Wen pressed European Union leaders to lift an arms embargo in force since Beijing used troops to crush pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989.
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