国内英语新闻:China ready to play bigger role in promoting peacekeeping operations: Chinese Lt. Gen.

UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese lieutenant general said here Friday that China is prepared to play a bigger role in global peace and security efforts.

"China stands ready to work with all parties to enable UN peacekeeping operations to progress with the times and play a bigger role in the peace and security sector," Shao Yuanming, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of China's Central Military Commission, told a United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference.

"The United Nations has played an important role in the maintenance of world peace and enhancing common development," said Shao.

At present, the international community is undergoing profound changes at an ever-faster pace. With the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, the international multilateral order and global governance are being challenged, he noted.

China has all long played its part in promoting world peace and development as well as in maintaining the international order, Shao added.

"As a firm supporter of UN peacekeeping operations, China faithfully fulfills UN peacekeeping mandates and actively contributes to the UN peacekeeping cause," said the lieutenant general.

Shao said China's first peacekeeping helicopter squad has been deployed to Africa, and China has trained more than 1,800 peacekeepers from other countries.

"China has worked hard to build the capacity of its peacekeeping standby force, and it's ready to send more engineering, transport and medical capacity to serve peacekeeping operations at the request of the UN," he said.

The lieutenant general added that China is steadily pressing ahead with military assistance to the Africa Union.

"The 1-billion-U.S. dollar China UN Peacekeeping Fund has identified peacekeeping capacity building as a priority. The fund will be used to assist the UN in enhancing safety and security of peacekeepers and support developing countries, especially African countries" he added.

"With his earnest commitment to the reform of the UN peace and security sector, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed this peacekeeping initiative," he said. "China supports this."

The lieutenant general also called on efforts in capacity building, adding that "it is very important to rapidly deploy well-trained peacekeeping troops."

The Chinese military is willing and ready to engage with all other parties to strengthen the building of peacekeeping standby forces and improve the capacity of UN peacekeeping missions, Shao said.

He called for more efforts to extend pragmatic cooperation and share experiences in peacekeeping operations, noting that the Chinese military has carried out peacekeeping exchanges with more than 80 countries and a dozen international and regional organizations.