PLA on display at the UN

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is actively committed to maintaining world peace and stability and continuously demonstrating China's due responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, said Major General Huang Xueping, head of the Military Staff Committee of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA, a photo exhibition called Journey of Glory opened on Monday at UN headquarters in New York. It will run one week.

With more than 60 photographs on display along the south wall of the first floor, the exhibition illustrates 90 years of historic achievements of the PLA led by the Chinese Communist Party in its bloody and arduous fight for the independence and liberation of the Chinese nation, safeguarding sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the country, participating in the great cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, "and maintaining world peace", Huang said.

"In UN peacekeeping missions, escort missions in the Gulf of Aden, the fight against the Ebola infectious disease in Africa and in international humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, the images of the PLA are everywhere," Huang said.

"China plays a significant role in the peace and security architecture of the United Nations, not only as a permanent member of the Security Council, but also as a significant financial as well as police and troop contributor to the UN peacekeeping," said Alexander Zouev, assistant secretary-general of office of the Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) of the UN, at the exhibition's opening ceremony.

Zouev said that in 2016-2017, China was the second-largest contributor to the peacekeeping assessed budget (after the US), contributing 10.29 percent of the total of $7.87 billion.

China also ranks today 12th among 127 member states in providing troops and police to UN peacekeeping operations. China currently has more than 2,500 military and police personnel deployed in nine peacekeeping missions.

"I would like to commend Chinese peacekeepers for their high performance, discipline and operational efficiency during their service in UN peacekeeping operations," Zouev said.

Zouev said at the Leaders' Summit on Peacekeeping in New York in 2015, that President Xi Jinping pledged a standby peacekeeping force of 8,000 and, at the follow-up UN Peacekeeping Defense Ministerial in September 2016 in London, China joined five other countries in pledging units deployable within 60 days.

"DPKO is very grateful for China's increased contribution and continued support to UN peacekeeping," Zouev said.

"The PLA progresses with the growth of the new China. The development and prosperity of China provides formidable strength for the PLA," said Huang.

"Only a prosperous country can make possible a strong army, and the dream of having a strong army derives from the dream of building a strong country," said Huang.

xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com