China joins in

China joins in

One of China's top foreign policy priorities in recent years
has been to portray itself as a respectable member of the
international community.

Such a responsible image would have been impossible to
maintain if Beijing had blocked efforts to end the killings in
East Timor. It would have been hard to reconcile such a stance
with the concern expressed at the brutality inflicted on ethnic
Chinese during last year's riots in Jakarta.

It might also have created difficulties in achieving key
foreign policy goals, such as entry into the World Trade
Organization.

So now China has adopted a more positive tone, deploring the
recent bloodshed and even agreeing to dispatch civilian police to
join the peacekeepers.

That marks a more serious involvement than the last time
Beijing participated in a UN force, sending engineers to Cambodia
in 1982.

As a permanent member of the Security Council, China is in a
position to play an important role in international affairs. In
the past, that power has not always been exercised in a
constructive way.

But the decision to join the East Timor force, albeit with
misgivings, suggests that Beijing is serious in its goal of
establishing itself as a bigger player in the world community.

-- The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong