The Chinese government has decided to provide one million yuan
worth of aid to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees for the proper settlement of Afghan refugees, the
Foreign Ministry said
Monday.
The Red
Cross Society of China will also provide assistance to the
Afghan refugees through the International Federation of the Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies, according to the Ministry.
China's Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan sent notification letters
about the decision Sunday to United Nations Secretary General Kofi
Annan, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russian Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine,
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Jack Straw, and Louis Michel, foreign minister of Belgium which
holds the current European Union presidency.
Tang said in the letters that China has been watching the related
developments closely and is sympathetic to the plight of the Afghan
refugees.
The Chinese government calls on the international community to
share the responsibility of providing more aid to Pakistan and
other neighboring countries of Afghanistan, who are helping settle
a great number of Afghan refugees, so that the issue of Afghan
refugees can be handled appropriately, Tang said.
( 10/02/2001)