5th contingent of peacekeepers send to Kosovo

BEIJING—China will send the fifth contingent of peacekeeping police to Kosovo in early March, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said here on Wednesday.
The peacekeeping police arrived in Beijing on Monday for three weeks of intensive training, an official with MPS said. The 18 recruits were chosen from among 70,000 police in the southwest province of Sichuan, based on test scores in English, driving, shooting and physical condition.
The police, 15 male and three female, are aged 29 years on average. Two of them previously served as peacekeepers in Kosovo and Liberia, according to the official. The police will replace the fourth contingent of peacekeepers and carry out criminal investigations and traffic policing. They will also protect witnesses and important people.
The fourth contingent of Chinese peacekeepers arrived in Kosovo on Oct. 28, 2006 and they were given UN peacekeeping medals in May 2007. China has been involved in the peacekeeping mission since April 2004.
China stressed on Tuesday that United Nations Resolution 1244 is still the political and legal basis of resolving the issue of Kosovo’s status. “Unless the UN Security Council has other decisions which should be abided by, the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1244 is still the political basis and legal foundation of resolving the issue of Kosovo’s status,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular press conference.
Liu was responding to a question about whether China would participate in the UN mission in Kosovo. He said since 1999, the international presence in Kosovo, including its combination and tasks, had been authorized and approved by the UN Security Council.
“Before adopting any new resolution by the Security Council, any efforts or acts to resolve the Kosovo issue should accord with relevant regulations of the Resolution 1244,” said Liu He said that China would continue to play an active role in the settlement of the Kosovo issue.
China has expressed grave concern over Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence on Monday. “Kosovo’s unilateral act can produce a series of results that will lead to seriously negative influence on peace and stability in the Balkan region and on the realization of building a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo, which China is deeply concerned about,” said Liu.
Kosovo’s parliament voted on Sunday to adopt a declaration of independence at an extraordinary session on its independence from Serbia. But Serbian President Boris Tadic said that Serbia would never recognize the independence of Kosovo.
Kosovo was a southern autonomous province within Serbia before the breakup of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Among its population of 2 million, more than 90 percent are ethnic Albanians. Serbs make up about 7 percent. Kosovo has been under UN administration since mid-1999, after NATO air-strikes drove out Serbian forces from the province.
The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that the U.S. embassy in Serbia is still open and running despite the withdrawal of Serbia’s ambassador to the country following the U.S. recognition of Kosovo’s independence. “I also understand that our embassy is up and running today. It’s closed to the public, but our embassy is doing the work — and we’re actually working very closely with the Serbian government on issues related to security,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
“They’re doing a fine job in helping to provide security for our embassy.” Serbia ordered its ambassador to leave Washington Monday in protest against the U.S. recognition of the independence of Kosovo. McCormack also urged all populations in Serbia and Kosovo to turn away from violence after Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia last Sunday. According to media reports, violence has been reported at the crossing points of Banja and Jarinje since Sunday, prompting NATO peacekeepers to intervene for the first time since Kosovo’s independence.—Xinhua