LONDON: A visiting senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday that China had done a lot in order to solve the Darfur issue.

"The Chinese government has done a great deal in order to solve the Darfur issue," Liu Guijin, a 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 met 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," Liu said.

China has pledged to send a 315-member multi-functional engineering unit to the region, and 140 members have arrived and started building camps, wells and roads, Liu said, adding the other 175 engineers were preparing to go there soon.

Liu also detailed China's humanitarian assistance in the Darfur region.

China provided assistance of about $11 million in five batches, and provided Sudan with power generators, pumps and 120 schools, he said.

China has also 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.

Chinese companies have spent $50 million 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 in soft loans 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 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

(China Daily 02/23/2008 page11)