Yang Shupeng on an errand for UN peacekeeping. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Yang Shupeng and Li Lei did not hesitate when their military regiment sought volunteers for a United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan back in 2015.

The two were among the first in their army unit to sign up for the mission, and joined the second batch of Chinese peacekeeping infantry dispatched to the strife-torn African nation. Yang was 32 years old at that time while Li was just 21.

According to information released by UN, South Sudan was one of the most dangerous regions in the world. On the streets of Juba, the nation’s capital city, armed men and trucks carrying guns were a common sight. Amid a fraught security situation, UN peacekeepers and medical teams from China had been stationed in the region since January 2015.

In volunteering to join the South Sudan team, Yang and Li were inspired by the idea of helping keep harmony and peace in the world as citizens of China. 

Li, who was an introvert, had kept a diary in which he used to write down his innermost thoughts. In one entry, he posted a photo of UN peacekeepers helping people in South Sudan, with a handwritten caption underneath: “UN peacekeeper, my dream.”

“When I am gone, please don’t miss me, I have no regrets walking the path I chose,” he wrote in another entry.

Yang, meanwhile, was one of the most experienced soldiers in the regiment. He had completed 15 years of service, and was known as a sharpshooter, “big brother” and a caring chef. One of the best gunners in the company, Yang had excelled in more than 20 major military exercises, but never rubbed his achievements in anyone’s face, upholding the motto “Veterans can’t have egos”.

When asked by a young person how he could leave his wife and a child, then aged five, behind, Yang replied with a smile: “You rookies are too young. It is better to leave these missions to seasoned veterans.”

In the last month of 2015, Li and Yang were deployed alongside hundreds of other soldiers to South Sudan. They knew it could be their last mission, but their family was not aware of the dangers.

More than half a year later, during an operation aimed at protecting thousands of civilians, the two Chinese peacekeepers paid the ultimate sacrifice, losing their lives during an armed conflict in the African nation, which won indepedence from Sudan in 2011 following a 2005 agreement that sought to end a decades-long civil war. 

On July 10, 2016, a mortar shell struck a street in Juba. The explosion ripped through an armored vehicle guarding a refugee camp near a UN compound. Two Chinese soldiers, Yang and Li — who just celebrated his 22nd birthday the previous day — died from the blast, while five others were injured.

Warring factions

Armed conflicts between rival factions of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army — one faction was loyal to the nation’s president while the other pledged allegiance to the vice-president — erupted on July 7 and broke out again the next day. Heavy fighting over four days left more than 270 people dead.

China strongly condemned the July 2016 incidents and called on the rival factions to cease fire immediately.

This was the second deadly incident in less than two months involving Chinese peacekeepers in Africa. Earlier, Shen Liangliang, a 29-year-old sergeant first class, was killed in a terrorist attack on the night of May 31, 2016, in Mali’s northern town of Gao, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated at a UN camp.

Li Lei says in a diary entry that being a UN peacekeeper was his dream. Both died during a mission in South Sudan in 2016. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

On July 20, the remains of Li and Yang were returned home to China. The following day, a funeral was held in Xuchang, Henan province, where their regiment is based. More than 200,000 people turned out to pay their respects.

Several months later, it was still hard for some in the regiment to come to terms with the loss. One evening, during a roll call in the regiment, the commander called Li Lei’s name and nearly 110 soldiers responded.

“Here!” they shouted in unison, as the memory of their fallen comrades echoed in their hearts.

“Li is among us. He is our brother in arms forever,” said Dong Xiaobing, the regimental commander.

Yang, meanwhile, was also remembered for showing his love for his comrades off the battlefield. In 2009, a squad returned from a frost-laden night, and Yang offered to make fried rice with extra eggs.

During one team examination, Yang was suffering from severe back pain, and his squad tried to talk him out of taking part, but he refused, saying, “If I don’t participate, it will be bad for morale”.

“He was like our big brother,” said Zhang Rui, the squadron leader.

Yang’s wife, Zou Lina, was devastated by her husband’s death, but her strong resolve pulled her through. “Now I need to be strong and take care of our son and parents,” she said.

As a responsible stakeholder on global peace and stability, China has deployed its armed forces in the past three decades on dozens of international peacekeeping missions in accordance with related UN mechanisms.

Tasked with preserving peace, promoting reconciliation and facilitating reconstruction, the Chinese “blue helmets” have significantly stepped up their engagement and ranked among the world’s top contributors.

China first participated in UN peacekeeping missions in 1990, when five military observers were sent to Damascus, the capital of Syria. By 2021, China has sent over 50,000 soldiers to around 30 UN peacekeeping missions, the most of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. 

A total of 20 Chinese peacekeepers have paid the ultimate sacrifice in countries and regions including Cambodia, Liberia, Iraq, Kuwait, Haiti, Lebanon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Mali and South Sudan, according to China’s UN mission.

“Peacekeeping missions have brought confidence to conflict zones,” said Major General Yang Chaoying, former acting head of Missions in South Sudan. “It’s to fulfill our country’s responsibility to the international community.”

Peace envoys

The growing deployment in high-risk environments and deepening involvement of the Chinese blue helmets in local reconciliation and reconstruction processes have demonstrated the country’s goodwill — “China is here for peace”, as President Xi Jinping stated at the United Nations Peacekeeping Summit in 2015.

“It was for the purpose of peace that the UN peacekeeping operations came into being. Now as an important means of upholding world peace and security, the peacekeeping operations bring confidence to the conflict areas, and hope to the local people,” Xi said at the summit.

With peacekeepers deployed in countries such as Lebanon, Congo, South Sudan and Mali, China is committed to co-building and sharing a world with lasting peace and common security.

In Lebanon, the Chinese peacekeepers have conducted de-mining programs for years along the 121-km-long “blue line” which serves as the border with Israel. The sparsely populated border region was deemed as a “death zone” by locals and UN missions because of the minefield, a complex geographical environment, a hot climate, thistles and thorns, as well as vipers and insects.

Chinese blue helmets provided free services for the Lebanese people, as well as Palestinian and Syrian refugees, offering medical treatment for many. They also renovated roads in Ebola-affected areas in Congo.

Wherever they go, the Chinese soldiers are always welcomed with thumbs-ups and praises such as “China good” or “China friend.”

For decades, the so-called blue helmets have shown their love to the local people through their brave actions, and helped build “a community of shared future for mankind.” 

On May 29, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, paid tribute to UN peacekeepers and reiterated China’s commitment to the missions.

In a video message for the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, Zhang extended his respect and appreciation to all the peacekeepers deployed around the world. He paid tribute to the more than 4,000 UN peacekeepers who gave their lives to the cause of peace.

“The best way to honor fallen heroes is to continue our pursuit of peace,” said Zhang. China is the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and always pays its dues in full. China is also the largest troop and police contributor among the five permanent members of the Security Council, he noted.

While the blue helmets are protecting the world, China is committed to protecting them, said Zhang.

A new documentary The Blue Defensive Line, China’s first feature-length production focusing on the country’s UN peacekeeping mission, hit the cinemas last year.

It follows a Chinese infantry battalion with the UN mission in South Sudan from 2015 to 2019, recording their devotion in protecting local civilians during civil war in the African country. When the soldiers arrived in the country, the difficulties they experienced were beyond their expectations.

The heartbreaking moment of Li and Yang’s death is captured in the film. Before the martyrs’ bodies were escorted by UN vehicles from the camp, the commander insisted on holding a short memorial service. 

“It’s impossible to buy flowers during wartime,” the commander recalled. “But we had to give a dignified farewell for our brothers. We plucked all wild flowers we could find in the camp.”

Xinhua contributed to the report.