PLA strives for peace and development

(File photo) Peace Ark arrives at the Port of Dili, Timor-Leste on September 3, 2023. (Photo/Xinhua)

As the People's Liberation Army celebrates its 97th anniversary, its naval hospital ship Peace Ark is on its 10th Mission Harmony, providing free medical services to people in 13 countries across Asia and Africa. At the same time, nearly 2,000 Chinese military personnel are participating in United Nations peacekeeping missions worldwide.

Nearly a century after its founding, the PLA has grown stronger than ever. As Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said in his report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC in 2022, the PLA "has the confidence and capability to make greater contributions to world peace and development".

Embarking on missions for peace has always been a distinct feature of the Chinese military.

At the celebration of the PLA's 90th anniversary in 2017, Xi, who is also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said the nation's military will continue to engage in international military exchanges and cooperation, jointly addressing global security challenges and actively fulfilling responsibilities and obligations commensurate with China's international status, thereby contributing to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

At a reception in Beijing on Wednesday to celebrate the anniversary, which fell on Thursday, Defense Minister Dong Jun said that the Chinese military is willing to engage in pragmatic and friendly cooperation with the armed forces of other nations, fostering a security framework characterized by fairness, justice, and joint construction and sharing, and creating a world of lasting peace and universal security.

According to the Defense Ministry, since China first sent five military observers to the UN Truce Supervision Organization in 1990, the Chinese military has dispatched over 50,000 personnel to participate in UN peacekeeping operations in more than 20 countries and regions.

Currently, China is the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the top contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, with nearly 2,000 Chinese troops serving in six peacekeeping missions.

Zhao Xiaozhuo, a retired PLA senior colonel, said that engaging in UN peacekeeping missions is an important way for the Chinese military to maintain world peace.

"Chinese peacekeepers are integrated into the UN peacekeeping system and operate under UN command," said Zhao, who served in the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2001 to 2002.

Zhao also noted that China is one of the few countries able to effectively carry out peacekeeping missions, thanks to its strong and comprehensive capabilities.

"Chinese peacekeeping forces undertake a significant amount of frontline work, mainly in security, engineering, transportation and medical units. Therefore, they also contribute to local development by improving infrastructure and medical conditions," he said.

"Our military has become stronger, and we also hope to do our part to make the world a better place," he said.

At the UN peacekeeping summit in 2015, Xi announced six measures that China would take to support these operations. All six measures have been fully implemented, including establishing a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops and offering 20 training programs to over 1,500 peacekeepers from more than 60 countries.

Zhao Lei, deputy director of the International Strategy Research Institute at the CPC's Central Party School, said that peacekeeping is a concrete manifestation of China shouldering its international responsibilities, emphasizing that peacekeeping is China's contribution to the international public good in the security domain.

"Unlike the military forces of the United States, NATO and others, which have indeed caused conflicts and wars in many regions, the PLA soldiers, wearing the UN's blue helmets, carry out peacekeeping missions in conflict areas," he said. "We do not start wars, we stop them."

Furthermore, the expert stressed that the Chinese military's peacekeeping participation is a crucial way for China to support the UN-centered international system and true multilateralism, and is one of the important ways in which China practices the concepts of a community with a shared future for mankind and the Global Security Initiative.

Additionally, the Chinese military practices them in other ways, including sending naval escort task forces to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters and the Peace Ark hospital ship to provide free medical services to underdeveloped countries.

Peace Ark is currently on a seven-day friendly visit to Madagascar, offering medical services. During this mission, the ship's destinations include 13 countries, including Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, Djibouti and Sri Lanka.

Peace Ark provided medical services to over 8,000 Tanzanian citizens, and more than 80 operations were carried out on board, including cataract removal and scoliosis correction. A Tanzanian baby was born on the ship with the cooperation of Chinese and Tanzanian military doctors.

The father named the baby Zakhir, which means "steadfastness". He hopes that when his child grows up, he will also become a steadfast defender of peace, according to a report by CCTV News.

According to the Defense Ministry, since it was commissioned in 2008, the ship has conducted humanitarian medical missions overseas multiple times, visiting 46 countries and regions and serving over 290,000 people, and has seen more than 1,700 operations carried out on board.