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| East Asia |
| Ready or Not, ... |
| 2003-09-22 |
| PEACEKEEPING: Chinese Peacekeepers on the Way September 20, 2003: China has asked Canada to host a team of Chinese army officers, who want to observe how Canada trains, equips and leads peacekeeping troops. China has only gotten involved in peacekeeping operations in the 1990s, and then only providing police or military observers. But if China provided well-prepared troops for peacekeeping duty, this would significantly expand the number of peacekeeping troops available, as China maintains the largest army on the planet. This would also be a plus for China, as UN peacekeepers are paid at a "UN rate" that, while not high as wages paid to Western soldiers, is much higher than what troops in countries like China receive. The poor nations sending troops, tax these wages heavily, or simply take the UN wages and pay the troops what they usually get. But for China, the reasons for being more involved in peacekeeping are more practical than financial. Such operations would give China more clout in the UN and provide their troops with some useful field experience. (If any of you are unfamiliar with it, Dunnigan’s Strategypage is very much worth the look.) |
| Posted by:Whiskey Mike |
| #8 Ironically enough, the only UN force that ever did much actual fighting, the one that kept Kim Il Sung from adding South Korea to his slave empire, was opposed largely by this self-same Chinese People's Liberation Army. According to the Chicoms, their troops who fought in Korea were strictly volunteers, even though it emerged during interrogation that many of them did not know in what part of the world they were fighting. According to an old friend who actually witnessed these interrogations, one prisoner guessed that he was in the Phillipines, since there were Americans around, but he thought it might be too cold. Another suspected that it was Mexico, since the people were brown and spoke an incomprehensible language. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2003-9-23 12:16:06 AM |
| #7 China and peace keeping in the same breath makes me want to gag. This is the land of one-baby policy, the SARS outbreak, mischief in Korea, Pakistan and India. It is not in our national interest that the Chinese gain any practical experience. |
| Posted by: Douglas De Bono 2003-9-22 11:56:32 PM |
| #6 "how Canada ... equips ... peacekeeping troops". Garage sales and E-Bay, as I recall. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-9-22 5:32:12 PM |
| #5 I think it's a fine development. This sort of thing tends to draw them into the fold. One hermit kingdom is more than enough... |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-9-22 5:14:12 PM |
| #4 It will be valuable training for the North Korean aftermath. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-22 4:13:44 PM |
| #3 Perhaps they shouldn't ask the Canadians about the 'equiping peacekeepers' part. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-9-22 3:49:43 PM |
| #2 That's one way to take care of the Quebecois. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-9-22 12:50:57 PM |
| #1 hope they've changed their definition of peacekeeping. Last time it was a little mop-up op in Tienanmen square |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-9-22 12:32:41 PM |