China will give 1 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka to help the civilians affected by the conflict there, China's Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.

China had paid great attention to Sri Lanka's internal situation, said the ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu at a regular news briefing.

He said it was in the fundamental interests of the Sri Lankan people to maintain social stability and realize national reconciliation, and it was expected by the international community.

"We hope to see the early realization of peace, stability and development of Sri Lanka," Ma said.

Sri Lanka is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, such as food, shelters and sanitation for around 200,000 Tamil civilians displaced by the conflict between the government and Tamil fighters.

The displaced are housed in welfare camps and transit centers in the northern districts of Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna.

Claiming discrimination at the hands of majority Sinhalese-dominated governments, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began to fight for an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east of the island in the mid-1980s. More than 70,000 people have died in the fighting.

(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2009)