Chinese envoy calls for further improvement of UN peacekeeping

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called for the further improvement of UN peacekeeping.

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on, unilateralism, the Cold War mentality and bullying are also on the rise, leading to more challenges in the field of international peace and security, said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, adding that in this context, there is a need to continue to improve UN peacekeeping operations and better leverage their role.

At the General Debate of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, Dai stressed the need to optimize overall planning, better protect peacekeepers, improve peacekeeping performance, and build stronger partnerships.

Calling the peace operations led by the African Union (AU) a useful practice to solve African problems by Africans in African ways, Dai said they are an important supplement to UN peacekeeping operations.

According to the envoy, China supports the provision of sufficient, predictable and sustainable financial support to AU-led peace operations and backs continued discussions by relevant parties to find a viable funding solution.

He pointed out that main funding partners should continue and step up their level of support to avoid a reversal in achievements made by AU-led peace operations.

China is a major troop contributor and the second-largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, with an 8,000-strong standby force, said Dai.

Last year, China organized the "Shared Destiny-2021" international peacekeeping field exercise, launched the Group of Friends on the Safety and Security of UN Peacekeepers and donated 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to peacekeepers.

China will also hold an international forum on peacekeeping in due course to pool ideas and forge synergy, he added.