China will contribute 8,000 troops for a United Nations peacekeeping standby force, China’s president Xi Jinping told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, a move that could make it one of the largest players in UN peacekeeping efforts.
Mr Xi’s pledge comes as China is trying to show it is a responsible international player, amid concern over its growing military might and territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific region.
During a state visit to Washington on Friday, Mr Xi agreed with US president Barack Obama that both countries would increase their “robust” peacekeeping commitments.
They are among some 50 world leaders, more than a third from Europe, who are set to pledge thousands of troops and police, equipment or training for UN peacekeeping missions during a UN summit later on Monday.
Mr Obama will chair the summit.
“China will join the new UN peacekeeping capability readiness system, and has thus decided to lead in setting up a permanent peacekeeping police squad and build a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops,” Mr Xi said.
He also said China would provide $100 million in military assistance to the African Union in the next five years to support the establishment of an African standby force and to boost its capacity for crisis response.
He did not give further details.
Obama statement
Earlier, US president Barack Obama said Washington is prepared to work with Russia and Iran to try to end the more than four-year war in Syria that has spawned Islamic State militants.
“The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict,” Mr Obama told the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.
“But we must recognise that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo.”
“There is no room for accommodating an apocalyptic cult like ISIL (Islamic State) and the United States makes no apology for using our military as part of a broad coalition to go after it,“ he said.
He described Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as a tyrant.
World leaders, including Russian president Vladimir Putin, are among the global gathering of leaders at the UN with the conflict high on the agenda.
The UN secretary-general also called for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court.
Ban Ki-moon’s state of the world address to leaders from the UN’s 193 member states came shortly before Mr Obama, Mr Putin, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani were to speak to the UN General Assembly .
The UN chief insisted on a political solution to the conflict in Syria, which is now well into its fifth year, with more than a quarter of a million people killed.
He said five countries “hold the key” to a political solution to the Syrian conflict: Russia, the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran.
He said “innocent Syrians pay the price of more barrel bombs and terrorism” and that there must be no impunity for “atrocious” crimes.
The Syrian conflict is “driven by regional powers and rivalries”, Mr Ban said.
On the sidelines of this week’s meeting, leaders and diplomats from the major players are trying to address the issues behind the conflict.
Refugee crisis
Other crises at the centre of UN discussions include the related refugee and migrant crisis, the largest since the second World War.
Mr Ban warned that resources to address these crises are dangerously low.
“The global humanitarian system is not broken; it is broke,” he said.
The UN has just half of what it needs to help people in Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen, and just a third of what is needed for Syrians.
PA/Reuters