One hundred and thirty-one Chinese anti-riot policemen passed a
final UN recruitment exam for peacekeepers on Sunday and 125 of
them will be dispatched to Haiti in August on a UN peacekeeping
mission.
This will be the fourth unit of UN peacekeepers dispatched to
Haiti by China.
The UN selection process, held at the China Peacekeeping Police
Training Center in Langfang of North China's Hebei Province which is 50 km southeast of
Beijing, includes training and exams on anti-riot procedures,
search methods, VIP protection, combat techniques, psychology
skills, physical agility, driving and vehicle
maintenance.
Deputy Chief Adviser to the UN mission in Haiti, John Smith,
said the Chinese policemen were very professional and he believed
they'd play an important role in improving the unstable situation
in Haiti.
All members of the unit received advanced training for five
months prior to their examinations in 31 disciplines including
shooting, driving and anti-riot procedures.
Ministry figures show over 700 of its police peacekeepers have
served on UN missions since China dispatched the first team in
2000.
"All provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across
China have contributed to the operations," said Gao Xinman, deputy
director of the training center.
China is the second largest contributor of peacekeeping police
officers of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and
they're working under the UN flag in several locations including
Kosovo, Liberia, East Timor, Afghanistan, Sudan and Haiti. The
length of a tour of duty for Chinese peacekeepers varies from 8
months to one year.
And they've many plaudits for their work because of their strict
discipline and high efficiency. In January 2005 Chinese
peacekeeping police in Haiti were awarded UN peace medals for their
outstanding performance in the crisis-torn country. This is the
highest honor granted by the UN for peacekeeping
missions.
(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2006)