Foreign and Military Affairs

China willing to send more peacekeepers to Haiti

By Wu Chong in New York and Ai Yang in Beijing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-20 09:18

China said on Tuesday it will consider sending more troops and police to Haiti if the United Nations makes such a request.

China willing to send more peacekeepers to Haiti

Later on Tuesday, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to temporarily increase the number of UN troops and police in Haiti by 3,500 to help maintain security and support earthquake relief efforts. Late news bulletins did not specify which countries would provide the troops.

"We participate in peace keeping missions led by the United Nations, and if the Security Council has made such decisions, we will consider sending more troops according to the UN's requirements," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said at a regular news media briefing in Beijing.

He is responding to the UN's call to rally more troops and police to Haiti to keep the order and expedite the delivery of aid and assistance, and about 400 troops from around the country have been added to the quake-stricken country.

The situation in Haiti is generally "calm," according to UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, who spoke at a news briefing at the UN headquarters in New York late on Monday. But incidents "here and there sporadically" have broken out as local victims are not able to get food and water quickly, he added.

Earlier Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked the Security Council to increase the number of UN police officers in the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti by 1,500, or 67 percent over current levels, and to raise the number of troops by 2,000, a nearly 30 percent increase for six months.

Le Roy, under-secretary-general for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said the Dominican Republic has pledged to send 800 troops to Haiti and the EUwill send some police units. There are already 3,400 troops and police in Port-au-Prince, he said.

Susana Malcorra, under-secretary-general for the Department of Field Support, said the organization has also started sending out the UN personnel whose relatives died in the quake, and shifting new people into the area.

"We have to adjust to that in the coming two to three weeks," she said.

Transporting aid to the victims is also a huge challenge. Malcorra said it is also important to open alternative roads or corridors due to the limited capacity of the airport.

She told China Daily that the organization is asking the Chinese government to extend its search-and-rescue mission as the nation had extensive experience from the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008.

The officials also challenged the criticism about bad coordination work, saying that it is "not perfect" but "improving".

Rashid Khalikov, director with the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said there are more than 40 teams from different countries working in Port-au-Prince right now.

"Every morning we have a meeting for search and rescue teams," he said.

The UN officials said they did not have estimates for the death toll besides the reported 50,000 deaths. "Right now I don't think anyone knows," Le Roy said.