BEIJING, Aug. 4 -- Jean-Pierre Lacroix, under-secretary-general for the Department of Peace Operations, expressed his wishes via video link for the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the 31st anniversary of Chinese participation in UN peacekeeping operations, and highly acknowledged the contributions made by China and Chinese military in peacekeeping operations.
The following is the full text.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to express my best wishes on the occasion of the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the 31st anniversary of Chinese participation in UN peacekeeping operations.
We are very grateful for China’s support to the work of the United Nations in the field of peace and security, and in particular, its contribution to UN peacekeeping. With close to 2,500 women and men deployed in 8 peace operations, Chinese military and police personnel provided an outstanding contribution to peace efforts in important and complex situations such as Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon and South Sudan. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the second financial contributor to the budget of peace operations, China’s support is essential and multifaceted. We are particularly grateful for China’s engagement to support peacekeepers in the field and to advance the Action for Peacekeeping initiative. Safety and security of peacekeepers is a priority for us as these women and men implement their complex mandate in challenging environments. We are grateful for China’s championing of the safety and security of the peacekeepers. And we are, of course, grateful for China’s support in the efforts to provide vaccination to peacekeepers. We also appreciate China’s commitment to the protection of civilians and to community outreach，as well as to key areas such as medicine and engineering. The performance of Chinese peacekeepers is highly commendable and it has contributed to high operational efficiency of our operations.
On this important occasion, I would also like to pay tribute to the 20 personnel from China who lost their lives while serving under the UN flag, including two who died last year. We are deeply grateful for the sacrifice and for the dedication to the cause of peace. Once again, I would like to address to you my best wishes for these important anniversaries, and I look forward to continuing the strong partnership between China and UN peacekeeping in the service of peace.