BEIJING, May 26 -- "Chinese blue helmets have become a key force in UN peacekeeping operations," said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense at the ministry's monthly news conference on Thursday.
May 29th of 2022 marks the 20th International Day of UN Peacekeepers. Senior Colonel Wu elaborated on the history of Chinese military's participation in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKOs).
Over the past 30 odd years since April 1990, when Chinese armed forces dispatched five military observers to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), Chinese armed forces have contributed nearly 50,000 service members to 25 UN peacekeeping missions across an expanding range of deployments, Chinese military peacekeepers have left their footprints in over 20 countries and regions, said the spokesperson.
At the moment, a total of 2,240 Chinese military peacekeepers are serving on seven UN peacekeeping missions and at UNHQ, Wu added.
"China takes concrete actions to safeguard world peace and has become the largest troop-contributing country (TCC) among the permanent members of the UN Security Council," said the spokesperson.
Following that, Wu disclosed that in the second half of this year, the Chinese military plans to host the "Shared Vision" international peacekeeping forum, where representatives, peacekeeping experts and scholars from the UN and relevant countries will be invited to offer advice and suggestions.
According to Wu, the "Shared Vision" forum, along with the "Shared Destiny" UN peacekeeping field training exercise and the "Shared Mission" Command Post Exercise for UN Peacekeeping Operations, constitute the "Shared" series – an international brand of peacekeeping operations regularly held by the Chinese military.
In the end, the spokesperson paid high tribute to all personnel who have participated in UN peacekeeping operations, both Chinese peacekeepers and their counterparts and sent out his best wishes to all peacekeepers serving with the UN peacekeeping missions by saying that "Please stay safe when you carry out the missions. Your motherland and families are waiting for your return."