Participating in UN Peacekeeping Operations
As a responsible major power, China has consistently supported and actively participated in the UN peacekeeping operations, making a positive contribution to world peace.
In 1990, the PLA sent five military observers to the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) - the first time China had taken part in UN peacekeeping operations. In 1992, it dispatched an engineering corps of 400 officers and men to the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) - the first time China had sent an organic unit on peacekeeping missions. It established the Peacekeeping Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China in 2001. In 2002, it joined the UN Stand-by Arrangement System. In 2009, it established the Peacekeeping Center of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China. As of December 2010, China has dispatched 17,390 military personnel to 19 UN peace-keeping missions. Nine officers and men have lost their lives on duty.
Tough, brave and devoted, the Chinese peacekeeping troops have fulfilled various tasks entrusted to them by the UN in a responsible and professional way. They have built and repaired over 8,700 km of roads and 270 bridges, cleared over 8,900 mines and various explosive devices, transported over 600,000 tons of cargo across a total distance of 9.3 million km, and treated 79,000 patients.
As of December 2010, the PLA had 1,955 officers and men serving in nine UN mission areas. China has dispatched more peacekeeping personnel than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council. Among these are 94 military observers and staff officers; 175 engineering troops and 43 medical personnel for the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (UNMONUC); 275 engineering troops, 240 transportation troops and 43 medical personnel for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL); 275 engineering troops and 60 medical personnel for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL); 275 engineering troops, 100 transportation troops and 60 medical personnel for the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS); and 315 engineering troops for the African Union/United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).
