Foreign and Military Affairs

UN must play bigger role for world peace: Wen

By Wu Jiao and Zhang Yuwei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-25 07:55

UNITED NATIONS - Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday called on the United Nations Security Council to strengthen its authority and shoulder more responsibility to ensure world peace.

Addressing a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, Wen said that as the core of the world communal security mechanism, the UN should play a bigger role in preserving global security.

Wen was the only leader from the five permanent member countries of the UN Security Council present at the meeting.

China sent a batch of peacekeeping forces to East Timor in 2000. In the decade that followed, the country has dispatched some 1,560 peacekeepers to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kosovo, Liberia, Sudan and Haiti, where the devastating earthquake in January claimed the lives of eight Chinese peacekeepers.

In a recent press conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised China's participation in UN peacekeeping missions.

"China has been participating in many peacekeeping operations, most recently in Haiti. Many young Chinese men and women help preserve peace and security around the world," he said.

Noting that peacekeeping was the major means by which the UN Security Council addressed conflicts, Wen said it is important to improve the effectiveness of such operations.

However, the council must adhere to the Hammarskjold principles of impartiality, consent of the parties, and non-use of force except in self-defense, he added.

The council must, as a matter of priority, resolve problems in Africa, since most issues on the council's agenda are related to that region, he said.

Wen stressed that international community should accommodate the concerns of African countries and respect their choices.

Wen also urged the UN Security Council to enhance cooperation with the African Union and take more positive measures to help solve the problems in Africa.

In the past few years, relations between China and Africa have deepened.

In 2007, China launched the $1-billion China-Africa development fund to encourage, finance and support Chinese companies with investments across the African continent.

China played an active role in UN peacekeeping operations, Wen said, noting that his country was the biggest contributor of peacekeeping personnel among the Security Council's permanent members.

Noting that China appreciates the value of peace, Wen said, as a permanent Council member, China will continue to get engaged in UN Security Council missions that build and preserve peace, and help the Council build a bigger role in preserving world peace and security together with other countries.

China Daily