Captain Zhou knows he is on a mission to end war in Darfur. What the Chinese People’s Liberation Army officer may not know is that he also has a responsibility to ensure next year’s Beijing Olympic Games are not branded the genocide games.

The 27-year-old lieutenant is one of 315 Chinese soldiers who will be among the first members of a United Nations peacekeeping force to reach Darfur next month.

His blue UN beret tucked into a shoulder flap, the officer in China’s engineering unit is in the vanguard of efforts by Beijing to counter claims that its support for the Sudanese Government is prolonging the agony in Darfur.

He trembled with nerves as he was put on show for a rare visit by foreign reporters. “Our aim is to contribute to peace in Darfur. And also to protect world peace,” he said. Thousands of protesters in several countries around the world yesterday held demonstrations urging world leaders to work harder to end the crisis.

The first 100 soldiers expect to leave next month to build bridges and roads and dig wells ahead of the main 26,000-strong UN force. They have undergone 67 days of training and have had almost daily English lessons.

The exhibition of their skills underscored Beijing’s sensitivity to criticism that it places a need for oil and a willingness to profit from weapons sales above international concern over events in Darfur. Khartoum is blamed for backing militias that have waged a brutal campaign in rebel areas of Darfur which, the UN says, has led to more than 200,000 deaths since 2003.

Stung by that criticism and anxious about its reputation before the Olympics, China earlier this year appointed a special envoy for Africa. Liu Guijin has made Darfur his priority. But China, which purchases two thirds of Sudan’s oil, is treading a careful path lest it offend this key supplier of energy to fuel its economic boom.

Senior Colonel Dai Shao’an, deputy director-general of the Ministry of National Defence office responsible for peacekeeping, emphasised that China’s decision to contribute men was a response to a UN request. “We will face difficulties and challenges. But we are good at hardship, at fighting, and at making contributions.”

He said this was likely to be the most dangerous peacekeeping mission Chinese troops have ever undertaken. It has 1,546 officers and men divided among missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Liberia and southern Sudan. The final composition of the Darfur force is likely to consist mainly of African Union peacekeepers.

The colonel dismissed suggestions that China was motivated by concerns about a possible Olympic boycott. “We decided to send these troops before anyone had tried to link the games with peace in Sudan.”

It remains to be seen whether China’s peacekeeping role will dispel threats of an Olympic boycott. The director Steven Spielberg, for example, has said that he might abandon his role as an artistic adviser to the opening ceremony.

And Colonel Dai bristled at any hint that Beijing was responding to criticism of its long-time friendship with the Government in Khartoum. “If you and I are friends and I have problems with my brothers and sisters, nobody can blame you for that.”

Asked how he felt about going to Darfur to build infrastructure that could easily end up being destroyed in the conflict, Zhao Huafeng, a soldier, said: “I’m sure we’ll be able to build them again.”

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