New infantry battalion and engineers set for South Sudan and Darfur

China will dispatch a new infantry battalion and army engineers in December to aid the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan and Sudan’s Darfur region, according to the Ministry of Defense.

The third batch of 700 peacekeeping infantry personnel from the 54th Combined Corps will arrive in Juba, capital of South Sudan in mid-December to replace the battalion stationed there. The thirteenth batch of 225 army engineers from the 65th Combined Corps will arrive in Darfur mission zone in late-December.

Both combined corps fall under the People’s Liberation Army Central Theater Command. The peacekeeping mission will last for 12 months.

Key personnel for the mission had undergone pre-deployment training from Oct 26 to Nov 1 at the Peacekeeping Affairs Office under the Ministry of Defense in Beijing, the ministry said.

Ninety military personnel studied 27 courses on United Nation’s Memorandum of Understanding, operation manuals and other UN guidelines, covering topics from practical skills to refugee protection. Twenty-nine scholars from various military commissions, customs, research institutions, and army academies had taught in the program.

China has 1,056 peacekeepers in South Sudan; 700 from infantry units, 268 engineers, 63 medical staff and 25 officers and military observers, ministry spokesperson Wu Qian told the regular October press conference.

"They will be responsible for patrols, defense and protecting civilians, UN personnel and humanitarian aid workers," Wu said.