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PRC to send more troops to Lebanon

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) confirmed yesterday that his country would increase its UN peacekeeping presence in Lebanon to 1,000 troops, raising China's profile in the volatile Middle East.

Wen recently discussed China's contribution to UN forces in Lebanon with European leaders gathered in Helsinki, but until now China had not publicly specified the size of its contribution.

"China has decided to increase its peacekeeping force in Lebanon to 1,000," Wen told reporters at a joint news conference in Beijing with visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

"China is very concerned about the situation in Lebanon and hopes it can be fundamentally resolved," Wen said.

One-hundred and eighty-two Chinese military peacekeepers were sent to Lebanon in February and April, its first peacekeeping deployment to the Middle East. They work for the UN clearing mines and unexploded ordnance.

The peacekeeping force is being expanded to bolster a brittle truce between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

China will also give Lebanon 40 million yuan (US$5 million) in humanitarian aid, including 20 million it has already sent, Wen said.

Prodi, on the final day of a five-day visit to China, praised Beijing's contribution in Lebanon.

"This shows that China is assuming more and more international responsibility," Prodi told reporters,

ARMS BAN

Prodi also said his country was leaning toward supporting the end of a 17-year-old EU ban on arms sales to China, as he signed trade agreements and pledged stronger ties with Beijing.

Italy "leans to lifting the embargo of arms sales to China," Prodi said after meeting with Wen. "We should resolve this issue as quickly as possible because it can't wait."

The embargo, imposed after China's 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, has become a political sticking point in China's generally robust relations with the EU.

For Beijing, the embargo has come to represent a measure of the EU's trustworthiness as a partner and has lobbied intensively for its lifting. Beijing's push has divided the 25-member EU. Though France supports a repeal, Britain and other northern European countries have disagreed, citing Beijing's human rights abuses and the need for an EU code of conduct governing arms sales by members of the 25-nation bloc.

Prodi's six-day visit was aimed at bolstering business and political relations frequently roiled by his predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi. Prodi brought along a large delegation of politicians, entrepreneurs and bankers, underscoring his government's interest in China.

During his meeting with Wen, Prodi said China held a "prominent place" in his foreign policy.

"We must continue strengthening our relations," he said at a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's legislature.

Wen praised him for choosing China as his first stop outside of Europe since being elected in April.

"You are a farsighted European political leader," Wen said. "You believe that the gate of Italy should open to the East, to China."

The two sides signed 15 agreements on trade, agriculture, medical care and cultural preservation.

Prodi hopes that his visit will represent a shift in policy from Berlusconi, who often blamed Chinese imports for Italy's weak economy.
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