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September 26, 2014

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China to send 700 troops to S. Sudan

By Li Qian | September 26, 2014, Friday | Print Edition

CHINA is to send combat troops to South Sudan for the first time to help keep the peace in an African nation crippled by civil war.

They will assist the United Nations with protecting citizens and humanitarian workers and in other security-related activities, defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng told a news briefing.

Answering an appeal from the United Nations, the State Council and the Central Military Commission had approved the sending of a 700-strong battalion, Geng said.

The soldiers would be equipped with small arms, bullet-proof vests and armored personnel carriers. The location of the troops and the timing of the deployment were still being negotiated, he said.

The conflict in South Sudan broke out on December 15 last year when President Salva Kiir’s government said soldiers loyal to opposition leader Riek Machar staged an attempted coup.

Eleven pro-rebel leaders were detained by the government for their alleged role in the coup attempt, Xinhua news agency reported.

China has played an active diplomatic role in South Sudan.

About 5 percent of China’s oil imports came from South Sudan when it was pumping at full tilt.

China National Petroleum Corp, parent company of China’s top oil and gas producer PetroChina, has a 40 percent stake in a joint venture developing the oil fields in South Sudan.

Shortly after the conflict began, the company evacuated more than 300 Chinese workers from the Fuluj oilfield, the biggest of its kind in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state.

Previously, China had only sent engineering, transport and medical corps to aid peacekeeping activities in Africa.

China has more than 1,800 peacekeepers on the continent, participating in 16 UN missions, the most among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said last month.

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the 193 UN member states to make joint efforts to turn turmoil into peace. “This is our duty,” he said.

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