China should expand the scope of its involvement in United Nations peace-keeping operations, David Harland from the Department of Peace Keeping Operations in the UN Secretariat Wednesday said at the Beijing International Seminar on Challenges of Peace Operations: Into the 21st Century opened here Wednesday.

Harland, chief of the UN's Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit, said Chinese peace-keeping soldiers and police in East Timor and the Democratic Republic of Congo are among the best in the world, and China should expand the scope of its involvement in peace-keeping operations.
 
China's peace-keeping forces mainly provide engineering, medical and transportation support for UN peace-keeping missions.

There are two Chinese engineering units, two medical units and one transportation unit together with 69 military observers in UN's eight peacekeeping missions, according to the Defense Ministry.

Since China first sent military observers in 1990, Chinese peacekeeping units, military observers and staff officers have participated in 2,796 person-missions on 13 UN sites. Six deaths have been reported so far.

The force has built 1,200 kilometers of road and 48 bridges, destroyed four batches of weapons and provides medical service for over 4,000 UN peacekeeping staff and local inhabitants.

Harland said peace-keeping operations are an opportunity for both the UN and China. On one hand, UN is confronted with the challenge of whether it can organize an adaptable peace-keeping force to various circumstances. On the other hand, China can play a bigger role in international affairs only when it is able to proficiently handle conflicts and crises.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2004)