A peace-keeping company of 175 officers and soldiers, together with a medical team of 43, are ready for their UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R. Congo), Dai Shaoan, vice-director of the Peace-keeping Affairs Office of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said in Beijing Monday.
The peace-keeping mission was waiting for the United Nations' final departure order, Dai said.
Sixty-nine foreign correspondents in Beijing representing 44 media organizations from 15 countries visited the People's Liberation Army (PLA) engineering brigade Monday, which was organized by the Information Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense.
Dai briefed the foreign correspondents on the Chinese peace-keeping policy, the UN peace-keeping operation China joined in the past and the UN peace-keeping mission in the D.R. Congo.
The main tasks of the engineering company are to build roads, bridges, airports and barracks, Dai said.
Since 1990, the PLA has sent more than 650 military observers, liaison officers, advisors, staff officers and 800 engineering officers and soldiers on UN peace-keeping operations.
The UN peace-keeping operations are conducted by a group of volunteer military personnel dispatched according to resolutions of the UN Security Council or its General Assembly to global hot spots to restore and maintain peace.
(Xinhua News Agency February 11, 2003)
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