(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-19 20:25

BEIJING - Liu Guijin, the Chinese government's special representative for Darfur, will pay a visit to Britain from February 21 to 23, and to Sudan from February 24 to 27, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

He will pay the above visits at the invitations of Malloch Brown, minister of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, and the Sundanese Foreign Ministry, announced Liu Jianchao, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman at a regular press conference.

He said the Chinese envoy had paid three visits to Darfur and shuttled between the United States, Britain and other countries concerned, making unremitting efforts to resolving the Darfur issue.

The spokesman said the settlement of the Darfur issue has made progress with the efforts of the whole international community including China.

He referred to the signing of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the United Nations and the Sudanese government recently, the deployment of hybrid troops, as well as the development of the political process in this region.

Liu noted under the current circumstances, the UN, the African Union (AU) and the Sudanese government should fully play their own roles and be patient about resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation. Arms should not be used easily to avoid the situation from being deteriorated, he added.

Liu said the political process has lagged behind peacekeeping deployment in the Darfur region.

He called on the international community to push forward the political process and continue to persuade the opposing sides in this region to join the political process and reach a peace agreement with Sudan.

He said the international community should help Sudan to improve the humanitarian and security situation to restore the peace and stability of the region as early as possible.