By Qian Xiaohu, Zhang Yongjin and Meng Fanyang
The 21st Chinese peacekeeping multi-role engineering company to UNIFIL holds a flag-raising ceremony. (Photo by Tong Wenjun, Li Zhulin and Zhao Wenhuan)
KUNMING, Dec. 14 -- The 21st Chinese peacekeeping multi-role engineering company to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), formed by troops from a brigade under the PLA 75th Group Army, concluded its peacekeeping mission and returned to China successfully on the early morning of December 13. During the one year and four months of mission, the Chinese peacekeeping contingent demonstrated to the world the strong determination of Chinese military to safeguard peace.
In the mission area in Southern Lebanon where the war has not yet ended, the peacekeepers of the 21st Chinese peacekeeping multi-role engineering company to UNIFIL completed mine-clearing, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), path opening, construction work maintenance and other tasks, with 15,325 square meters of minefields safely cleared, and 2,271 landmines found and destroyed. In particular, they successfully disposed of unexploded ordnance dropped in the mission area for four times since October this year. Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, Force Commander of the UNIFIL, highly praised the Chinese engineering contingent for its outstanding contributions. All the 180 peacekeepers of the contingent had been awarded the UN Peace Medal of Honor by the end of the mission.
Among the peacekeepers of the 21st Chinese peacekeeping multi-role engineering company to UNIFIL, many had made great achievements in mine-clearing operations on the borders of China before the peacekeeping mission. From the minefields on the southern border of China to the peacekeeping battlefield thousands miles away, they fulfilled their duties relentlessly in the face of fatal danger, truly presenting the peace desire of the Chinese military and the humanitarian ideal of the Chinese people to the whole world.
"It's the honor of my life to have the chance to make my contribution to world peace," said Sergeant First Class Gao Binbin, member of the mine-clearing and EOD detachment. In the eyes of Sergeant Second Class Wu Han, no matter where the mine-clearing operations were conducted, on Chinese border or in overseas minefield, it was competence that was tested. "We regard peacekeeping mission as a real battlefield to test the effectiveness of combat training and readiness We have created the miracle of 'zero casualties' in mine-clearing and explosive ordnance disposal and 'zero errors' in path survey, establishing a high image of the Chinese peacekeeping forces," he said. During the mission, members of the Chinese mine-clearing team were praised as "the best mine-clearing team in the world" by the officials of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS).
Yan Xiaoliang, commander of the 21st Chinese peacekeeping troops to UNIFIL, introduced that the Chinese peacekeepers have searched and cleared around two million square meters of suspected mine area, and removed more than 20,000 landmines and other unexploded ordnance in the mission area in Southern Lebanon during the 17 years of peacekeeping missions. The minefields that used to be deemed the "land of death" have turned into fields of hope, showing the prospect of development for the people in conflict areas.
Peace is the common aspiration and sublime goal of mankind. The Chinese service members, fearless of hardness, danger, and sacrifice, have been practicing their serious commitment to peace in the dangerous minefields and battlefields to continuously make contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and a better peaceful world.