Assistant minister to attend Darfur talks

An assistant foreign minister will represent China at a high-level meeting on Sudan's strife-ridden Darfur region in New York, the South China Morning Post reported. The meeting, the second of its kind so far, will address the region's political, security and humanitarian situations. The announcement came as 435 Chinese United Nations peacekeepers, including engineering, logistics and transportation forces, left for Sudan's Wau region. It was China's third batch of troops dispatched to Sudan. China has maintained that it is ready to be active in the peacekeeping effort in Sudan, while also insisting that the issue of genocide in Darfur must be solved through "equal consultation and peaceful means." China has large investments in Sudanese oil and has been criticized for selling arms to the Sudanese government.