PLA plays major role as global peacekeeper

In the same year that China celebrates the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, 700 of its soldiers stationed over 8,000 kilometers away from the motherland in South Sudan have been awarded for their contributions to the cause of world peace.

The soldiers of the 10th Chinese Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion in Juba, South Sudan, were awarded the United Nations Peace Medal of Honour during a ceremony at the Chinese camp of the UN Mission in South Sudan last month.

At the entrance of the camp, two flags are prominently displayed: the red National Flag of China and the blue flag of the UN. An accompanying banner in Chinese read: "Fulfilling the responsibility of a major power, upholding the mission of peace."

According to China's Ministry of National Defense, since the battalion's deployment last December, it has completed over 150 mandated tasks under the UN mission's command, including security duties, armed patrols and emergency response operations.

It has also actively engaged in humanitarian aid activities such as medical outreach, donating over 10,000 items of humanitarian aid materials locally.

Li Jian, a peacekeeper in the battalion, said that although their mission was coming to an end, the mission of maintaining world peace is ongoing.

"We will remember our original intentions, cherish our honor, and continue to uphold our positions with the highest standards to bring this peacekeeping mission to a successful conclusion, never failing the trust of our country and people," he told China Media Group.

Li is just one of nearly 2,000 Chinese soldiers currently participating in UN peacekeeping missions worldwide.

Zhang Junshe, a former researcher at the People's Liberation Army's Naval Research Academy, said that over the past 30 years, China's involvement in UN peacekeeping operations has demonstrated its commitment as a responsible major power, and its determination and desire to maintain world peace.

International public good

In 1990, China first took part in UN peacekeeping operations by sending five military observers to Egypt and Syria for missions organized by the UN Truce Supervision Organization, which is headquartered in Jerusalem.

Since then, the Chinese military has dispatched over 50,000 personnel to participate in UN peacekeeping operations in more than 20 countries and regions, according to the Defense Ministry.

Currently, China is the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the top contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, with nearly 2,000 Chinese troops serving in six peacekeeping missions.

At the UN peacekeeping summit in 2015, President Xi Jinping announced six measures that China would take to support these operations. All six measures have been fully implemented, including establishing a standby peacekeeping force of 8,000 troops, offering 20 training programs to over 1,500 peacekeepers from more than 60 countries, and sending 25 rotations of engineer and medical units totaling 7,001 troops to missions in Africa and Asia.

Zhao Lei, deputy director of the International Strategy Research Institute at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, emphasized that peacekeeping is China's contribution to the international public good in the security domain.

"Unlike the military forces of the United States, NATO and others, which have indeed caused conflicts and wars in many regions, the PLA soldiers, wearing the UN blue helmets, carry out peacekeeping missions in conflict areas," he said. "We do not start wars. We stop them."

Nicholas Haysom, UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN mission in South Sudan, was quoted by China Media Group as saying that in South Sudan, the Chinese peacekeeping battalion has consistently fulfilled its mandate to bring lasting peace to the people of South Sudan, and added that Chinese peacekeepers' contributions have been immeasurable.