2nd Ld Writethru-China Headlines: New detachment asserts China's role as peacekeeping heavyweight

China asserted its active role on the international peacekeeping stage on Tuesday, seeing off the last detachment of the country's first deployment of a full infantry battalion for a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Republic of South Sudan.

A total of 130 Chinese peacekeepers, including a squad of 13 females, took off Tuesday evening onboard a UN chartered flight from Jinan in east China.

When they arrive in South Sudan capital Juba on Wednesday, they will join 570 compatriots already sent there over the previous three months, and together make up China's first-ever full infantry battalion deployed overseas for UN peacekeeping missions.

China has previously sent small, specialist units including engineering, transportation, medical and security teams in its 25 years of participating in UN peacekeeping missions.

The detachment of a full infantry battalion, however, means Chinese peacekeepers are no longer limited to traditional supportive roles but have real "combative capabilities," according to a military source who requested anonymity.

Nonetheless, Chinese peacekeepers will not be involved in confrontation with local armed factions nor interfere with other country's internal affairs, the source said.

Ding Feng, director of the UN peacekeeping office of the Jinan Military Area Command, meanwhile said the 700-strong troops in South Sudan will focus on protecting civilians as well as UN personnel and facilities.

They will also participate in humanitarian relief, patrol streets and perform security duties, Ding said.

The infantry battalion is China's latest contribution to world peace in its 25 years of participation in UN peacekeeping missions.

A permanent member country of the UN Security Council, China sent its first group of peacekeepers in April 1990 when Chinese military observers served in the UN Truce Supervision Organization, which monitors and reports violations of cease-fire agreements in the Middle East.

The current South Sudan deployment takes the number of UN peacekeeping missions in which China has participated to 24.

These have involved more than 30,000 peacekeepers, with 10 of them losing their lives, according to Li Xiuhua, the vice director in charge of international peacekeeping with China's Defense Ministry.

Li said among the five permanent members of the UN security council, China is currently the biggest contributor of peacekeepers worldwide, and has more than 2,700 peacekeepers serving in nine UN mission areas.

The number will reach 3,100 by the end of this year, and China will also send a helicopter squad to Darfur for UN missions.

In addition, China is now the sixth largest contributor of UN peacekeeping funding among all member states, and the largest among developing countries, Li said.

In a meeting last month with Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commended China for its active involvement in UN peacekeeping missions, adding that he himself was deeply impressed by the professionalism of Chinese peacekeepers.

Noting that China has witnessed remarkable progress in participating UN peacekeeping missions in terms of scale and scope, Yin Zhuo, director of an expert consultation committee of the PLA Navy, said the latest detachment has shown that China has accumulated considerable experience in international peacekeeping, and is proof of the country's support for UN authority.

His words were echoed by Meng Xiangqing, a professor with the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, who added that all China's peacekeeping operations fall strictly under the UN framework.

According to Meng, the shifting international landscape have rendered UN peacekeeping missions nowadays more taxing and complicated.

"(But) as a rising world power, China has the responsibility, interests and capability in helping maintain world peace," he said.

"The UN's goal of world stability and peace is also the cornerstone of China's diplomatic efforts. A rising and increasingly prosperous China will make even greater contribution to world peace," he said. Endit