After a material escort team under attack from unidentified armed men asked for backup, a white
Mi-171 helicopter with “UN” painted on it immediately carried a rapid response team to the scene
of the attack. Upon arrival, eight soldiers in blue helmets simultaneously slid down ropes from the
helicopter and cooperated with the material team to fight fiercely against the attackers.
The above-described scenes were part of the recently concluded multinational peacekeeping drill,
“Shared Destiny-2021,” held by the Chinese military from Sept. 6 to 15 at a training base of the
Chinese People’s Liberation Army Ground Force.
More than 1,000 troops from China, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Thailand participated in the
international peacekeeping live exercise held for the first time by the Chinese military.
Focusing on tasks including armed escort, protection of civilians, and response to violent and
terrorist attacks, the multinational live drill on peacekeeping held amid the raging COVID-19
pandemic fully demonstrated China’s determination to support and contribute to the United
Nations peacekeeping operations (UNPKOs) and further enhanced the exchanges, mutual trust and
pragmatic cooperation between the country and its neighbors.
As a critical element and key force in UN peacekeeping, China has unswervingly supported the
UNPKOs all along and exerted itself to promote the peaceful settlement of disputes and safeguard
world peace, and regional security and stability.
In 1990, China’s armed forces officially joined the UNPKOs. Today, China ranks first among the
permanent members of the UN Security Council in terms of the number of peacekeepers
dispatched and is the second largest contributor to both peacekeeping assessment and UN
membership fees.
China’s armed forces have sent nearly 50,000 peacekeepers to 25 UN peacekeeping missions,
among whom 16 sacrificed their lives for the cause of world peace.
China has also carried out exchanges and cooperation with more than 90 countries and over 10
international and regional organizations on peacekeeping to constantly improve the peacekeeping
capacity of its armed forces.
While contributing to a safe and stable environment for countries and regions in conflict, China’s
armed forces also actively participate in medical support and health care, humanitarian assistance,
environmental protection, improving lives, and social reconstruction, among other endeavors,
trying to provide more public services for local people during the UNPKOs.
Over the past more than 30 years, China’s armed forces have built and rehabilitated more than
17,000 kilometers of roads and over 300 bridges, disposed of more than 18,000 landmines and
unexploded ordnance, transported over 1.2 million tons of materials and equipment over a total
distance of more than 13 million kilometers.
In addition, they have performed a large number of engineering tasks, including leveling ground,
renovating airports, assembling prefabricated houses, and building defense works, and provided
medical services to over 250,000 sick and wounded people.
In the past over three decades, Chinese peacekeeping troops have sown seeds of peace and hope in
more than 20 countries and regions, including Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), Liberia, Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus, South Sudan, and Mali.
In Sudan’s Darfur, which is located on the edge of a desert and one of the regions afflicted by the
world’s most severe water shortages, engineer units of the Chinese UN peacekeeping force dug 14
wells after surmounting numerous difficulties, effectively alleviating the scarcity of drinking water
for locals.
In the SOS Children’s Village in Bukavu, the DRC, members of the medical units of the Chinese
UN peacekeeping force not only provide medical services for local children and teach them
knowledge about disease prevention, but buy stationery, basketballs, and articles for daily use for
them. Touched by the love and care from the units, children in the village called the female
members their Chinese mothers.
Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, an engineer unit of the Chinese UN
peacekeeping force completed the construction of a bridge over the Sopo River in South Sudan to
the highest quality standards, adding an important transport route to the country suffering from
severe food crises.
At this moment, more than 2,200 Chinese peacekeepers are serving in seven mission areas and at
UN headquarters, making their contributions to world peace.
China has long been providing strong support for UN peacekeeping missions, said Jean-Pierre
Lacroix, UN Undersecretary-General for Peace Operations, adding that Chinese peacekeepers
protect civilians, maintain law and order, help with local infrastructure construction, and improve
people’s well-being, making huge contributions to world peace and development.
As the COVID-19 pandemic and threats including regional hotspot issues, ethnic conflicts, and
terrorism have been intertwined since last year, peacekeepers have faced rising safety risks. To
address the issue, China made efforts to promote the adoption of the first resolution on the
protection of peacekeepers by the UN Security Council and initiated the launching of the Group of
Friends on the Safety and Security of UN Peacekeepers mechanism, ensuring substantive progress
in the security agenda of peacekeepers.
China also donated COVID-19 vaccines to UN peacekeepers, with priority given to those who
serve in UN peacekeeping missions in Africa.
Besides, the country has continuously innovated the forms and expanded the ways of firmly
supporting and actively participating in the UNPKOs. It is believed that no matter how the
international landscape evolves, China’s armed forces will always remain a force of justice for
world peace and development.
