China To Bolster Standing By Sending More Troops To Lebanon
Joseph S. Mayton - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Beirut, Lebanon (AHN) - China is to raise the number of peacekeepers in Lebanon in a move that is seen to reinforce its international presence across the globe. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made the announcement Monday, which also included giving Lebanon 40 million yuan ($5 million) in humanitarian assistance. The number includes 20 million yuan that has already been sent to the war-ravaged nation. "Whether in the Middle East or in other places, what counts for China is to project an image of power," Valerie Niquet, director of the Asia Center at the Paris-based French Institute of International Relations, told AFP. "Obviously, one of the elements is the capacity of China to show that it participates as a major power in major international issues, notably peacekeeping operations," Niquet added. China has only recently begun sending troops on international peacekeeping missions. They sent 400 engineers and 50 observers on its first two deployments between 1992 and 1994. The move broke with previous political policies that viewed collective security as an instrument of American policy, AFP reported.
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