BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of thousands of Chinese people, including Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, on Monday expressed their respect for the eight peacekeeping police officers who died in the Haiti earthquake as their bodies were on the way back to China.
The premier expressed his condolences in his call to the Ministry of Public Security Monday morning, according to a notice posted on the ministry's official website.
"They gave their lives for world peace. They are outstanding sons and daughters of the motherland," Wen was quoted as saying in the notice.
Wen also urged the ministry, which administers the country's peacekeeping police officers, to take good care of the families of the victims, according to the notice.
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi sent a message of mourning to the Public Security Ministry Monday, also posted on the website.
"They are the pride of Chinese police officers and all Chinese people. They will live in our hearts forever," Yang said in the message.
More than 50,000 people were 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.
The bodies of the eight peacekeeping police officers were excavated and expected to be brought home Tuesday morning Beijing time on a chartered flight. They were meeting U.N. officials when the quake struck.
The Public Security Ministry opened a mourning hall on Monday, where many officials came to offer condolences. Zhou Yongkang, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, sent a wreath to the mourning hall.
The ministry also turned its website black Monday and opened online mourning sites, where numerous Internet users presented virtual bouquets.
Major Chinese website portals have opened mourning columns about the victims. More than 666,800 people have presented virtual bouquets at the popular portal www.sina.com.
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.
More than 13,000 border police officers in southwest China's Yunnan Province paid their respect to their three colleagues, Li Qin, 47, Zhong Jianqin, 35, and He Zhihong, 35, who died in the earthquake.
Ceremonies were held at 9 a.m. in different stations of the Yunnan provincial command of border police.
They stood in silent tribute and bowed solemnly to the pictures of the three victims, who were dispatched by the command to join China's anti-riot team in Haiti.
Yin Jiayong, whose sister is also a peace keeping officer, donated 2,000 yuan (293 U.S. dollars) to each family of the three victims on behalf of his parents living in a remote area of Yunnan. The old couple sold their only four pigs for the donation.
Citizens of Kunming, capital of Yunnan, paid tribute to the officers at the mourning hall in the office building of the command opened to public at noon, said Fan Yuquan, a publicity officer with the command.
More people were expected to come before the venue closed on Thursday, he said.
Almost 40,000 people had presented virtual boutiques to the three on www.yunnan.cn.
