By Meletus EZE
A spokesman for the Chinese military on Thursday said China’s standby peacekeeping force had passed an assessment by the United Nations.
According to Ren Guoqiang, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence, the result was announced by UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
Ren said at a regular news conference that China has also offered training for over 1,500 peacekeepers from dozens of countries.
“China will actively consider the UN’s invitation to send more types of peacekeepers to fulfill missions, make more contributions to the cause of UN peacekeeping and safeguard world and regional peace and stability,’’ Ren said.
Ren also said that the seventh China-India Hand-in-hand Army Joint Training Exercise will be held in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, from Dec. 10 to 23.
“Both sides will send 100 participants.
“The joint drill will increase mutual understanding and trust between the Chinese and Indian militaries, deepen pragmatic communication and cooperation and enhance capacity of responding to terrorist threats,’’ Ren said.
The spokesperson said that Chinese and Pakistani air forces will stage a joint training exercise from Nov. 30 to Dec. 23 in Pakistan.
Code-named “Shaheen VII,’’ the exercise is the seventh such drill between the two countries.
