This Day, That Year

40 years on

Since joining UN peacekeeping operations in 1990, Chinese troops have been deployed 24 times, with more than 36,000 personnel dispatched.

In January 2001, the country deployed its first 10 civil police officers to East Timor.

A total of 2,506 UN peacekeepers from China are currently on missions in eight locations, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

Since 2008, the Navy has dispatched 26 escort task force groups for missions in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia. More than 6,300 Chinese and foreign ships have been protected during the missions.

As one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, China has dispatched the most troops on UN peacekeeping missions, and provided major funding for operations.

President Xi Jinping said at the UN Peacekeeping Summit in September 2015 that China would establish a 10-year $1 billion peace and development fund to sup- port UN work.

He added the country will help train 2,000 peacekeepers from other countries and launch 10 minesweeping assistance programs before 2020.

In September, the ministry announced China had registered an 8,000-strong standby peacekeeping force at the UN. The standby force will play a constructive role in maintaining world peace and regional stability.

Troops from China’s Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Logistics Force will undertake tasks such as combat readiness training and disaster relief in China before any missions overseas.

During the past 27 years, 13 Chinese UN peacekeepers have lost their lives in the line of duty.