China on Friday released a white paper on the participation of the country's armed forces in the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations.
The white paper, titled "China's Armed Forces: 30 Years of UN Peacekeeping Operations," was released by the State Council Information Office.
It is the first white paper issued by the Chinese government on Chinese armed forces' participation in the UN peacekeeping operations, said Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference following the release of the document.
Serving on the UN missions for world peace, China's armed forces have become a key force in UN peacekeeping operations over the past three decades, says the document.
China's armed forces have sent over 40,000 peacekeepers to 25 UN peacekeeping missions over the past 30 years, it says.
Chinese peacekeepers have left their footprints in over 20 countries and regions including Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus, South Sudan, Mali and the Central African Republic.
They have made a tremendous contribution to facilitating the peaceful settlement of disputes, safeguarding regional security and stability, and promoting economic and social development in host nations, the document says.
China has faithfully implemented the pledges it announced at a UN Summit to support UN peacekeeping through actions including setting up a peacekeeping standby force, sending more enabler troops to UN peacekeeping operations, helping train foreign peacekeepers and providing military aid gratis to the African Union, it says.
China's armed forces have also cooperated on peacekeeping with over 90 countries and 10 international and regional organizations, it says.
Contributing to building a community with a shared future for humanity, China will continue to play its part as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and firmly support and participate in the UN peacekeeping operations, according to the white paper.
The document also includes a timeline of Chinese armed forces' activities in the UN peacekeeping operations.
Lauding China's contributions to the operations, Senior Colonel Pan Qinghua said at the press conference that 16 Chinese service personnel sacrificed their lives in the cause.
The names of the 16 fallen heroes have been written into the white paper in tribute to them, Pan said.
China is the second largest contributor of funding to the UN peacekeeping missions and the largest troop-contributing country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, said Major General Luo Wei with the Ministry of National Defense, adding that the numbers are a strong testimony to China's contributions to the cause. Enditem
