Paying homage to our peacekeepers
Eight Chinese peacekeepers died in the Haiti earthquake. An article in Beijing News calls everyone to pay homage to the martyrs. Excerpts:
After waiting for several agonizing days, we still got the sad news that eight Chinese nationals, trapped in debris in Port-au-Prince, had died. They were public security workers sent by the UN across half of the globe to maintain peace, and devoted their lives to the sacred cause of mankind. Let us pay our last respects to their souls.
China has sent one of the highest number of peacekeepers around the world. Figures show that Chinese peacekeepers had made 14,650 trips on 18 missions till the end of 2009.
Chinese peacekeepers and aid workers have been attacked by mobs and other armed forces or faced other dangers during their missions. But they have not deterred them from performing their duties, nor have they prevented China from sending more of their kind to help UN missions.
There have been times when Chinese peacekeepers have suffered in wars, caught in other dangerous situations and trapped under debris. We hope such tragedies are not repeated in any part of the world. Human beings are a great family, and we are bound by a sense of duty to our brothers, even if they live in the other half of the globe.
Peacekeeping is a sacred cause. A lot of people from across the world, regardless of their nationalities, have sacrificed their lives for peace. The Haiti quake has brought people from many countries and international organizations together to help the victims. Their names will live forever.
At the ceremony to mourn the Chinese peacekeepers' deaths, a man held a banner that read: Brother, we are coming home. Death is not to be feared when we work for the common good of all. But let's pray that all those still buried under debris are rescued alive so that the good work of the peacekeepers is rewarded.
(China Daily 01/19/2010 page9)
