Training begins in Beijing for UN police missions

A training program for senior police officers from nine African countries has started in Beijing as China ramps up its standing as one of the leading peacekeeping forces in the United Nations.

Officers from more countries around the world are expected to receive training over the next five years.

Seventeen officers from Angola, Djibouti, Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are taking a two-week course at the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces Academy. The course began on Monday.

According to He Yin, the course coordinator at the academy, the classes cover a range of topics, with particular focus on theoretical knowledge of the UN peacekeeping operations. Sections on the human rights and law enforcement elements of the mission, as well as the protection of civilians, are included.

The academy will invite legal experts and former ambassadors to the UN to tell them how the operations are organized under the UN framework.

"For example, they will talk about the authorized matters of the UN mandate and the legal background for an operation," He said.

Liao Jinrong, head of the international cooperation department at the Ministry of Public Security, said, "The training program is the first of its kind. It implements President Xi Jinping's goal, stated in September during his address at the UN Leaders Summit on Peacekeeping, that China will train 2,000 peacekeepers from other countries over the next five years."

Andreas Nelumbu, the regional police commander in Namibia's Erongo region, spoke for many when he said, "Namibia has a responsibility to contribute to peacekeeping in the world. That's why we are here - to learn some techniques from the training course so that we can continue playing our role in serving the countries that need help."

"China is providing the training course for us in addition to taking part in the peacekeeping mission itself. I think the move is great," he said.

Police officers in China have taken part in more than 2,400 tours of duty as part of UN peacekeeping operations in nine areas and at UN headquarters in New York since 2000, making China the biggest source of peacekeeping police among the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

At present, 174 Chinese police officers are on peacekeeping duty in Liberia, South Sudan, Cyprus and at UN headquarters.

The training course for UN peacekeeping missions provided by China was verified by the UN in December 2012. To date, around 3,000 police officers all over the world have received the training.

zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn