Chinese people are expressing their respect for the eight peace-keeping police officers who died in the Haiti earthquake as their bodies are on way back to China.

The Ministry of Public Security turned its website black Monday and opened online mourning sites. So far, more than 300,000 people have presented virtual bouquets.

The bodies are expected to arrive in China Tuesday morning Beijing time on a chartered China Southern Airlines flight.

Major Chinese website portals such as sina.com have opened special columns about the victims.

Most postings are respectful, with messages such as "Rest in peace."

A posting from "agou0724" on 163.com said: "The peacekeeping officers are ordinary and innocent people who risk their own safety to guard that of others."

However, a comment from "2012quanhexiele" said feelings were mixed given recent reports of a policeman who shot dead two villagers in southwest Guizhou Province.

Another said the officers might be corrupt and that they might have been sent abroad "for other purposes."

But they were immediately blasted by other netizens, who said lives were precious and the dead should be mourned.

Police across the country were mourning their colleagues and promised more commitment to honoring the dead, the China Police Daily reported Monday.

More than 50,000 people are believed to have died in the 7.3-magnitude quake that struck the island country Tuesday local time.

Haitian officials said it was the strongest earthquake to hit the country in more than 200 years.

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2010)