China asks Israel to apologise: Killing of Chinese peacekeeper

BEIJING: A deeply shocked China on Wednesday condemned an Israeli air strike in Lebanon which killed a Chinese UN peacekeeper and summoned Israel's ambassador in Beijing to demand an apology.

"China strongly condemns the activity to raid the UN peacekeeping post and urge Israel to carry out thorough investigation and apologise to China and the victim's families and coordinate with China to deal with the aftermath," Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun told the Israeli ambassador Yehoyada Haim, who was summoned.

China is deeply shocked by the Israeli air raid on a UN post in South Lebanon which killed four UN peacekeepers and strongly condemned the act, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao said.

"China urges the concerned sides, especially Israel, to take tangible measures to ensure the security of UN peacekeepers," he said.

Chinese Ambassador to the UN Wang Guangya today urged UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown to ask Israel to take every measure to ensure the security of UN peacekeepers, including those from China, and investigate the incident.

The Chinese victim Du Zhaoyu was among the four UN peacekeepers killed in the Israeli air strike last night.