Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2016 | Page 100

Global Security and Intelligence Studies
when examined in the light of situations in war ravaged countries of the DRC and
Liberia in 2003. The brutality, carnage, and atrocities associated with the wars of the
mid-1990s to early 2000s, made it necessary not just to limit peace-keeping to selfdefense
but rather to occasionally engage in peace-enforcement expressed in rapid
and effective intervention to save civilian lives and even prevent further escalation of
conflict. However, China’s geo-economic interests at times stand in the way of allowing
UN interventions in all countries. For instance, in 2006 China did not give its support
for UN peace-keeping expansion in Sudan under UNMIS. It was only after a great
deal of pressure from the international community, and its likely negative effect on the
Olympic Games hosted by China in 2008, that it acquiesced to the wishes of the United
Nations. At the same time, its contribution to peace-keeping in terms of numbers of
troops and financial contribution surpassed that of the other great powers. In 2010
China’s UN peace-keeping contribution reached $300 million (SAFERWORLD 2011).
By 2010 the majority of Chinese peace-keepers were deployed in African countries
such as Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the DRC, Cote d’Ivoire, and others.
Influenced by its non-interference policy, China’s peacekeeping troops largely
play a “supportive role” of building infrastructure, providing medical, logistical, and
transport support. China plays a very intensive and extensive peace-keeping role in the
DRC, but at the same time it is a purveyor of small arms that are responsible for a great
deal of the ethnic carnage, especially in eastern DRC. For instance, within MONUC
China takes the lead role in military observer functions. China is so serious about
peace-keeping that it has a Civilian Peace-Keeping Police Training Center to train
Chinese police officers to be deployed to UN missions. It also established a Peace-
Keeping Affairs Office in December 2001. In 2009, it further set up a new peacekeeping
center for the training of Chinese military peace-keepers.
China has been heavily involved in peacekeeping activities even in a non-geoeconomic
country like Liberia. The UN Mission in Liberia established in 2003 focused
on disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration (DDRR) with the
specific objectives of security sector reform, national police training, and a restructured
Liberian army. The Chinese peace-keepers are mainly involved in infrastructure
development and medical care. In July 2010 China deployed peace-keepers in Liberia
numbered 585 strong, the fifth highest behind Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and
Ghana. The Chinese provide the main source of transportation for the peace-keepers.
They transport not just peacekeepers, but fuel, water, and other essential items around
Liberia. In the area of infrastructure rehabilitation, Chinese engineers have been
busy upgrading roads and bridges, and with the maintenance of runways at airports
around the country. By 2010, Chinese engineers along with other peace-keeping forces
had rehabilitated hundreds of miles of road networks and bridges. In medical work,
Chinese medical staff have provided basic health care to several town and villages, and
also assisted in building local medical capacity (UNMIL 2010). Chinese police have
also worked very hard on beefing up community security through the training of local
Liberian police to effectively combat armed robbery, riots, and violent protests. The
Chinese contingent has been especially commended for its efficiency and effectiveness
in Liberia.
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