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SCIO briefing on white paper 'China's Armed Forces: 30 Years of UN Peacekeeping Operations'

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China Review News:

The White Paper mentioned several times that Chinese peacekeeping troops have made important contributions to safeguard the regional peace and security. We know that UN peacekeeping operations is an important part of the international collective security. My question is that what kind of role that Chinese peacekeeping troops play in the UN peacekeeping mechanism? And what are their contributions? Thanks.

Luo Wei:

It has been 30 years since China began to take part in the UN peacekeeping operations. Over the past three decades, we have stepped up fulfillment of our responsibilities as a major country and taken concrete actions to honor our promise to safeguard world peace. Chinese military peacekeepers have made a tremendous contribution to facilitating the peaceful settlement of disputes, safeguarding regional security and stability, and promoting economic and social development in host nations.

Here I would like to share with you some figures. Over the past 30 years, China's armed forces have contributed more than 40,000 service members to 25 separate UN peacekeeping missions. Sixteen Chinese military peacekeepers have sacrificed their lives for the noble cause of peace. China's armed forces have cooperated in peacekeeping with over 90 countries and 10 international and regional organizations. In 2015, President Xi Jinping attended the UN Peacekeeping Summit and made a six-point commitment to support peacekeeping operations. Over the past five years, a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops has been generated. Twenty-five enabler troops totaling over 7,000 individuals have been committed to missions. China has provided training programs to over 2,800 peacekeepers from more than 60 countries, including more than 1,000 peacekeeping police officers and more than 300 professionals for mine sweeping. The PLA helicopter unit, with four helicopters, made its first flight on a peacekeeping mission. The PLA has honored China's commitment of free military aid to the value of $100 million to support the African Union. China has established a China-UN Peace and Development Fund. The fund has financed 23 projects to support peacekeeping operations, which cost more than $10 million. As of now, 2,521 Chinese military peacekeepers have been serving on eight UN peacekeeping missions and at UN headquarter.

In addition, China is the second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, and the largest troop-contributing country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. I believe that all these figures fully demonstrated that, in the past 30 years, especially in the recent five years, China has made great contribution. Thanks.