A visiting senior Chinese diplomat said in London on Thursday
that China had done a great deal in order to solve the Darfur issue.
"Chinese government has done a great deal in order to solve the
Darfur issue." Liu Guijin, special representative of the Chinese
government on the Darfur issue, said at a news conference at the
Chinese Embassy in London.
Chinese President Hu Jintao had met the Sudanese President Omer
al-Bashir twice during a trip to Sudan last February and the
Beijing Summit of China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2006, said Liu,
who is a former ambassador to Zimbabwe and South Africa, and has
been engaged in African affairs for more than 25 years.
"Because of the efforts made by the international community, and
by the Chinese government, the Sudanese government has accepted the
deployment of the hybrid peacekeeping forces in Darfur and the UN
security council has adopted the resolution 1769, which has put the
Darfur issue on a road of political settlement." said Liu.
China has pledged to send a 315-member multi-functional
engineering unit to the region, and 140 members have arrived and
carried out effective work in building camps, wells, roads for the
hybrid operation, said Liu, adding that the rest 175 were preparing
to go there soon.
Liu also detailed on China's humanitarian assistance in the
Darfur region.
China provided assistance of about 11 million US dollars in five
batches, and provided Sudan with power generators, pumps and 120
schools, he said.
China has already helped the Sudanese dig 46 wells and build 20
power plants to ease the severe water shortage in the country,
which is one of the major causes for turmoil in the Darfur region.
And Chinese companies have spent 50 million US dollars in building
85 km of water pipelines and digging wells in southern Darfur,
which will be completed in months.
Moreover, china will provide another 90 million US dollars in
soft loan for the construction of water supply facilities in
northern Darfur.
Liu said that china will do more for the Sudanese, and hoped
that other countries would do "tangible and practical work" to help
relieve the sufferings in the Darfur region.
China was the first nation outside Africa to send peacekeepers
to Darfur and the first and biggest development aid provider to the
region.
(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2008)
