China plays its peacekeeping role

On June 25, the Peacekeeping Center of China's Ministry of National Defense was founded in Huairou district, Beijing. At the opening ceremony, Chief of General Staff Chen Bingde urged Chinese peacekeeping personnel to follow President Hu Jintao's instruction of "faithfully carrying out the mission and safeguarding world peace". The Peacekeeping Center -- which is in step with China's systematic effort in joining the UN-led peacekeeping operations -- will become an important platform for training Chinese peacekeeping personnel and exchanging of peacekeeping experience.

Since joining the UN Peacekeeping Operation Special Committee in 1988, China has consistently supported the UN-led peacekeeping operations. Entering the 21st century, China's gradually expanding participation in such operations is viewed positively by the international community. In retrospect, China's enlargement of her participation in the UN peacekeeping operations has been a steady process.

First, China's participation in such operations is based on the requirements in maintaining international and regional security. The end of the Cold War did not bring an end to the regional conflicts worldwide, and hotspots kept coming to the fore one after another since the beginning of this century. And, in an effort to alleviate tension and solve regional conflicts, there are 20 UN-led peacekeeping operations currently involving total 91,712 personnel, and five of these operations have a strength of more than 10,000. In the past two years, the UN's expenditure on peacekeeping operations reached almost $7 billion. According to experts, the capacity of the United Nations in maintaining the peacekeeping operations has nearly peaked.