From refusal to engagement: Chinese contributions to peacekeeping in Africa

Abstract

China has, in the past decade or so, emerged as an important contributor to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations, with Chinese peacekeepers serving in places as diverse as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sudan. Indeed, China currently sends more peacekeeping troops abroad than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council. This is a major development in Sino-African relations. China's stance on peace operations is closely tied to its attitude on state sovereignty and this limits the type of interventions that Beijing is prepared to sanction vis-à-vis its role in peacekeeping missions. Yet it appears that Chinese policy in this regard is evolving. This study discusses why and how China's role in peacekeeping in Africa has played out and the likely directions this is to take in the future.

Keywords:

• Sino-African relations
• peacekeeping
• sovereignty
• norms

Notes

1. Ian Taylor thanks the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, and the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust for their generous support in facilitating extensive fieldwork in Africa, China and elsewhere.

2. Interview with Shu Zhan, Chinese ambassador to Eritrea, Asmara, Eritrea, 29 June 2006.

3. Interview with He Wenping, CASS, Beijing, China, 18 September 2007.

4. Interview with Pentagon official, Washington, DC, United States, 5 April 2007.

5. Interview with Zhou Yuxiao, Chinese ambassador, Monrovia, Liberia, 20 November 2009.

6. Interview with British diplomat, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15 May 2007.

7. Interview with Pentagon official, Washington, DC, United States, 5 April 2007.

8. Interview with Chinese diplomat, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15 May 2007.

9. Interview with Zhou Yuxiao, Chinese ambassador, Monrovia, Liberia, 20 November 2009.

10. Interview with Shu Zhan, Chinese ambassador, Asmara, Eritrea, 29 June 2006.

11. Interview with military attaché, Western embassy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15 May 2007.

12. Interview with military attaché, Western embassy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15 May 2007.

13. Interview with Shu Zhan, Chinese ambassador to Eritrea, Asmara, Eritrea, 29 June 2006.

14. Interview with Zhou Yuxiao, Chinese ambassador, Monrovia, Liberia, 20 November 2009.

15. Interview with Shu Zhan, Chinese ambassador to Eritrea, Asmara, Eritrea, 29 June 2006.

16. Interview with Zhou Yuxiao, Chinese ambassador, Monrovia, Liberia, 20 November 2009.

17. Interview with Naison Ngoma, African Union official, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15 May 2007.