UN expects China to expand participation in peacekeeping missions

BEIJING—The United Nations expects China to have greater and active involvement in future peacekeeping missions, a senior UN peacekeeping official said here Wednesday.
“China has made considerable contribution to UN peacekeeping and I hope the participation to grow in years,” said Jean-Marie Guehenno, under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations of the United Nations, at a press conference. He said he discussed the possible expansion with Chinese officials from the ministries of defense, public security and foreign affairs.
China announced on Tuesday that a 315-member engineering group would go to Darfur on Friday. It would be the first batch of peacekeeping troops of the United Nations and the African Union in place in the troubled western Sudanese region. “This engineering unit has a critical role to play to facilitate the deployment of other units,” Guehenno said.
China has provided the second most peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, following France, with about 1,800 soldiers and police serving UN missions globally. “The expansion of Chinese involvement in UN peacekeeping has both practical and political reasons,” Guehenno said.
China’s active involvement in UN peacekeeping, an important instrument for the UN to manage conflicts around the world, sends strong signals that it not only stays in a key position in decision-making of the UN Security Council but it also plays its part in implementation, he said. With China’s participation, the implementation will be more successful. From a practical perspective, China has sent the speciality units that UN peacekeeping missions always need, such as engineering and medical units, Guehenno said. “We hope China to send more of such units, especially transport units.”
When asked about the Darfur mission, he said it faced “enormous challenges”. Questions also remained whether it was possible to deploy a strong peacekeeping force as the international society expected. In addition, it depended on political circumstances in the war-torn region and the willingness of member countries to provide troops, he said.
The successful mission needed the unity of the Security Council and parties of the conflict in Darfur, he said. “The UN Security Council is working to reach a unity but differences remain.” U.N. Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno on Tuesday praised China’s “important contribution” to ending the crisis and promoting stability in Haiti.
Guehenno called upon the China Peacekeeping Police Training Center in Langfang, which is in northern Hebei Province, where a 125-member riot police team has been trained for a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti. The team displayed its skills for the U.N. official, including combat skills, search techniques, hostage rescue, VIP protection and crowd control. Praising their performance, Guehenno said that he was “very impressed” by the high-level skills and professionalism of the Chinese riot police.
He expressed confidence that they would make an important contribution to promoting peace in Haiti and helping people. The team, China’s sixth deployment to Haiti, is scheduled to leave in December. Over the past four months, they were trained in languages, shooting, driving and combat skills, and received high recognition from U.N. officials.
Guehenno said that thanks to the contribution of the Chinese peacekeepers, Haiti’s situation has witnessed continuous change and people there now live much better lives. He called on China to increase its participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
Of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China is the second-largest contributor of peacekeeping forces. The country has dispatched more than 1,000 peacekeeping police to East Timor, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Liberia, Afghanistan, Haiti and Sudan. Of those, 177 are still working abroad.
The Chinese peacekeepers have won many accolades because of their strict discipline and high efficiency. In January 2005, Chinese anti-riot police in Haiti were awarded U.N. peace medals for their outstanding performance in the crisis-torn country, the highest honor granted by the United Nations to peacekeeping missions.—Xinhua