On Tuesday, May 29 the United Nations will honor the thousands of men and women who dedicate their lives to keeping peace around the world.
Tuesday is the International Day of UN Peacekeeping and under the theme :UN Peacekeepers: 70 years of Service and Sacrifice” the UN pays respect to the 3700 peacekeepers who have lost their lives while serving the United Nations since 1948, including 129 who died in 2017.
Over seven decades, over one million UN peacekeeping forces have left their mark in 71 operations, impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people and saving countless innocent lives.
Among troop providers, China plays an important role.
“China’s contribution to UN peacekeeping mission is “extremely important,” says UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
China has sent thousands of its best to several of the world’s hotspots, including, South Sudan, Mali, and Liberia and Lebanon.
China joined the peacekeeping mission in 1990. Since then, the country has provided more than 35,000 personnel.
In honor of China’s contributions, the United Nations released an appreciation video, which details the Chinese peacekeepers’ efforts in achieving lasting peace in many regions.
May 28, 2018, marks the 70th anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping. On this day, videos of worldwide peacekeepers have been published on its official website by countries including Rwanda, China, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Egypt, and Italy pic.twitter.com/FWHTULTu2L
— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) May 29, 2018
The United Nations pointed out that China, on average, contributes more troops to UN peacekeeping mission than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council, given the fact that China is also the second largest financial contributor to the program.
The troops China sent out are well-trained, and have impressed many.
“I was deeply impressed by the quality of the Chinese contingent, qualified people and quality equipment –this is very important,” Lacroix said.
China is not stopping its efforts; it vows to do more.
During the 2015 UN Peacekeeping Summit, President Xi Jinping pledged that China would establish a 10-year 1-billion-US-dollar peace and development fund to support the UN work, set up a permanent peacekeeping police squad, and build a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops.
Xi also vowed to launch 10 minesweeping assistance programs for the next five years during the summit.
