ICRC President: Xi’s speech a strong commitment to peace

BEIJING, September 5, 2015 (People’s Daily Online) - Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech was really a very strong commitment to peace, to reconciliation and to justice, when he received an exclusive interview with People’s Daily Online after China's massive military parade Thursday.

As one of the invitees to the commemoration activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Maurer stated that he came to China to pay tribute to all the civilian victims and all other victims of the Second World War.

Being an international humanitarian organization, ICRC did a lot of work during the Second World War. Maurer mentioned that their work was to protect people and soldiers who no longer participate in armed conflicts and to see that how the international humanitarian law was applied.

In Maurer’s words, the Second World War was a watershed event in humanitarian activities worldwide. “Civilians for the first time were the main target of military operations,” Maurer said. Therefore, it led immediately to the Geneva Convention that still has positive effects today.

“ICRC at that time was a very small organization,” Maurer said. The organization spared no efforts to have access to people. Small as it was, ICRC were able to mobilize the International Red Cross&Red Crescent Movement in different national societies to help and support Chinese who were suffering from the effects of the WWII.

Maurer stated that it is of high value that the war eventually led to new norm for international humanitarian law and created legal framework under which armed conflicts are regulated. “Our work is to ensure that international humanitarian law is respected by the parties in conflicts.” Maurer said.

Apart from humanitarian relief, ICRC is also devoted to visiting detainees and prisoners of war during the WWII, which still lasts to today. “It is assistance work for people in need,” Maurer said.

To read Chinese version of this article please click 红十字国际委员会主席莫雷尔：中国向世界传递和平承诺