UNITED NATIONS - THE United Nations on Thursday put a Chinese general in charge of the international peacekeeping force in Cyprus in a new sign of China's growing diplomatic importance.
The part British-educated Major General Chao Liu, 51, takes over as force commander of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) from Rear Admiral Mario Sanchez Debernardi of Peru.
Gen Liu is currently China's military attache in India and has had several top positions in the People's Liberation Army.
He studied at the Shijiazhuang Military Command Academy and the London School of Economics, where he gained a Master of Arts. In 1993-94, Gen Liu was a military observer at the UN mission in Western Sahara.
China already has the force commander with the UN Mission for the Referendum Western Sahara (MINURSO), Major General Zhao Jingmin.
UNFICYP has more than 900 troops and police patrolling a buffer zone between the north and south of Cyprus, which has been divided since 1974. -- AFP
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