China Forum Executive Committee member and Peking University Prof. Han Hua's interview of retired PLA Senior Colonel Zhou Bo and Senior Researcher, Center for Strategic and Security Studies, Tsinghua University; China Forum Contributing Expert, was published by China's high-circulation portal Guancha (Observer) on May 29. Some comments of interest, including about the BRI and India are reproduced below:

Han Hua: Do the challenges include, for example, the cost of peacekeeping? As one of the countries that attach the greatest importance to peacekeeping, can China improve UN peacekeeping?

Zhou Bo: The UN bears peacekeeping costs including personnel compensation and equipment compensation but where does the UN money come from? Contributions to the UN budget come from its members, but the proportion is not the same. I must say here that China is now contributing more and more to UN funding, both in total UN assessments and in peacekeeping assessments, China has now reached second place. Moreover， China is never in arrears.

Just how China can improve UN peacekeeping is an important question. If we take a look at the composition of UN peacekeeping countries, we will find that the majority of them are from developing countries, in particular South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, which are the main contributors to peacekeeping. There are also some large contributors in Africa, such as Ethiopia and Rwanda.

China now ranks ninth in the world in terms of the total number of troops deployed overseas, but we are the largest troop contributor among the five permanent members of the Security Council. China has a unique advantage in peacekeeping. No matter whether China is compared to developing countries or developed countries, we have the best combination of three conditions: good equipment, excellent personnel quality, and strong political will – in other words, the only one that can combine all three things is the Chinese military. Developing countries have the will, but not necessarily the equipment and quality of personnel; developed countries have good equipment and quality of personnel, but not a strong will, and not many personnel who participate in peacekeeping.

Let’s compare the United States, which has the strongest military in the world, with 28 active duty personnel published by the United Nations in November 2020, while China has 2,548. What kind of difference is that? It shows that although the U.S. has a strong military and highly qualified personnel, his political will is lacking. Developing countries, on the other hand, have the political will, but they are not well equipped and their personnel are sometimes not very well qualified. For example, the biggest internal problem of UN peacekeeping is “sexual exploitation”. Some UN troops have sexually exploited local women, and this has given the UN has a lot of trouble, saying there is zero tolerance for it, but it has never been solved. There is absolutely no way that these problems exist with Chinese troops.

In addition, UN peacekeeping requires a lot of equipment, where to buy it? Developed countries equipment is too expensive, Chinese equipment is good quality and relatively cheap, more than adequate for peacekeeping. So most African countries and some Asian countries buy equipment from China. Nepal ordered armored vehicles from China, and then sent them directly to the Golan Heights for use by the Nepalese soldiers and officers in peacekeeping. The equipment is bound to break down after a while. Who is best at fixing Chinese equipment? The Chinese, of course. So China can make a great contribution to the maintenance of peacekeeping equipment.

I think China’s peacekeeping business is a beacon of light for the UN. I once asked the UN Under-Secretary-General if it was possible for China to play a leading role in UN peacekeeping. He said, without hesitation, “Yes, of course!

Han Hua: We all know that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has now gone abroad to defend China’s overseas interests. Does this have anything to do with China’s active participation in peacekeeping?

Zhou Bo: Peacekeeping is part of the Chinese military’s “going out”. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has two main missions overseas, the first is to protect China’s overseas interests, and the second is to assume international responsibility. The basic task of a country’s military is to protect the country and defend its own territory, airspace and territorial waters, but a big country is different, a big country has overseas interests and has to take international responsibility. The vision and actions of a great power go far beyond its own national boundaries.

In the case of China, the Chinese are already everywhere, China’s overseas interests are everywhere, and China’s overseas influence is everywhere. So how should the Chinese military defend these overseas interests, including the safety of Chinese citizens overseas? As a major power, peacekeeping, anti-piracy and future overseas counter-terrorism are all ways in which the Chinese military can assume international responsibility. Peacekeeping is one of the most important ways in which the Chinese military can contribute to world peace.

China does not want to be the world’s policeman, and the Chinese military’s current overseas military operations add up to, in a word, “responding to threats in the field of non-traditional security” or making a “humanitarian contribution. Whether it is anti-piracy, peacekeeping, disaster relief, or evacuation of overseas Chinese, all are of this nature.

Han Hua: When it comes to overseas interests, more and more countries are participating in the “Belt and Road” construction, and the “Belt and Road” also passes through some high-risk areas, can peacekeeping play a role?

Zhou Bo: Peacekeeping is a UN operation and cannot directly serve the interests of a country, but in terms of the “Belt and Road”, there is a kind of indirect role. “Some countries along the Belt and Road overlap geographically with certain peacekeeping regions, such as the conflict between India and Pakistan in Kashmir, where the UN has a long-term peacekeeping force deployed. Strengthening peacekeeping forces along the Belt and Road should contribute to the security of these countries. For example, 90% of South Sudan’s oil is exported to China. If Chinese workers and engineers see Chinese peacekeepers patrolling the area, they will feel much more secure.