Police across the country have also been mourning their colleagues, with more than 13,000 border officers in Yunnan province - where three of the UN officers came from - paying their respects with ceremonies at several stations.

Citizens of Kunming, capital of Yunnan, paid tribute in the mourning hall at the police command offices, which were specially opened to the public, said Fan Yuquan, a command publicity officer. More people were expected to come before the venue closed on Thursday, he said.

Zheng Tao, husband of He Zhihong, 38, of Lijiang, Yunnan, paid tribute to her yesterday by saying she was "the perfect wife".

"We have a 3-year-old boy and he's been asking why he hasn't seen his mother for so long. She first left for her peacekeeping in Haiti in December 2007, when our boy was only one. This was her second time out there," said Zheng, who married He, a Chinese Armed Police Force major, in 2003.

China sent officers to assist peacekeeping efforts in Haiti when it was hit by an outbreak of violence following floods in 2004, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. The Red Cross Society of China also donated funds after the country was devastated by hurricanes in 2008.

A foreign ministry official said at the news briefing that China has made many contributions to UN peacekeeping missions around the world, and would consider sending more peacekeepers to Haiti if needed.

"China will consider it according to decisions made by the UN Security Council and UN requests," said Yang Tao, counselor of the Ministry's department of international organizations and conferences.

The country has sent 14,000 peacekeepers on 24 UN missions, while about 2,100 Chinese officers are currently working in 10 areas, he said.

(China Daily January 19, 2010)