White paper says China on forefront in int'l peacekeeping

BEIJING - China is a staunch contributor to international peacekeeping, a white paper issued Thursday here said.

According to the white paper titled "The Right to Development: China's Philosophy, Practice and Contribution," China has to date sent 33,000 military, police and civilian personnel to join UN peacekeeping missions.

Currently there are 2,600-plus Chinese peacekeeping personnel involved in 10 UN peacekeeping operations, making China the most active permanent member of the UN Security Council in terms of supplying peacekeeping personnel, the white paper said.

It said in order to support and improve peacekeeping operations, China will join the new UN peacekeeping standby mechanism, take the lead in establishing regular peacekeeping police force units, and organize peacekeeping standby forces.

In the coming five years China will train 2,000 peacekeeping personnel for other countries, launch 10 mine sweeping aid programs, provide 100 million U.S. dollars of non-reimbursable military aid to the African Union, and allocate part of the China-UN Peace and Development Fund to support UN peacekeeping operations, the white paper said.

"China joins other countries in safeguarding international peace, opposes all forms of terrorism, and supports international and regional cooperation in fighting terrorism, in order to create an environment of peace and harmony that promotes development and thereby consolidates peace," the document read.

It went on to note that China in recent years has offered solutions to regional flash points -- by involving itself in the Iran nuclear talks, mediating for national reconciliation in South Sudan, and proposing a four-step framework for political settlement of the Syrian issue.

It also facilitated the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and promoted consensus on resuming the six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, the white paper said.