U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday welcomed China's commitment to play a wider role in U.N. peacekeeping and other operations, urging it to meet the world's "increasing expectations". "China's role and influence in international affairs is growing. China is an important force in safeguarding world peace and development," state media quoted Annan as telling President Hu Jintao. Hu said the world had seen an "obvious increase in unstable and uncertain factors" in recent years. "China will, as always, commit itself to strengthening international multilateral mechanisms, with the United Nations at the center," he was quoted as telling Annan. In an earlier speech during a visit to China's U.N. peacekeeping training center in Langfang, near Beijing, Annan praised China's "well-equipped and well-trained" soldiers, medical staff and engineers. "As China's economic and military strength continues to grow, we will inevitably see a corresponding growth in expectations," he said. "The world will be looking to China to take a more direct part in the peacekeeping and other operations mounted by the international community to bring an end to conflict and help war-torn countries to rebuild their societies," he said. China currently has more than 900 military and civilian personnel serving in 12 U.N. missions in countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Western Sahara, and the Eritrea-Ethiopia border. It is about to send peacekeepers to Haiti, Annan said.
