Source: Voice of China National Defense Time and Space, PLA News and Communication Center Rong Media
"Defense Time and Space" celebrates the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, the third episode of the series "Witnessing the Road to a Strong Army", "Chinese Armed Forces Participate in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations for the First Time"
In 1992, 400 officers and men of the Military Engineering Brigade of the Chinese People's Liberation Army arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to participate in the peacekeeping operations of the United Nations Provisional Authority in Cambodia. This is the first time in China's history that it has sent troops to participate in a United Nations peacekeeping operation.
This episode bears witness to the first time that the Chinese military participates in a United Nations peacekeeping operation
Witness: Li Jinyong, former dean of the Engineering College of plausel university of science and technology, was the captain of the first batch of Chinese peacekeeping engineer brigades to Cambodia
[At the same time, we just got off the plane, and what we saw was that the domestic social order was very chaotic, one was that there were constant armed conflicts, and the other was that weapons and equipment were basically unregulated, there were guns and bullets on the market, ordinary people could buy weapons at will, and social order was also relatively chaotic. 】
The 71-year-old Li Jinyong still remembers the major military mission more than 20 years ago.
【Sparse gunfire, sirens】
On April 23, 1992, 45-year-old Colonel Li Jinyong, as the captain of the first batch of Chinese peacekeeping engineers to Go to Cambodia, led 400 comrades-in-arms to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Despite his mental preparations, when he stepped off the plane, the occasional gunshots, shouts and sirens outside the airport made him and his comrades tense up instantly.
Li Jinyong ordered that 400 officers and men immediately receive their equipment and enter a state of combat readiness.
[2nd period: After the end of the Cold War, Vietnam announced the withdrawal of its troops from Cambodia. There were originally four factions in Cambodia, fighting each other for more than twenty years, the Vietnamese withdrew, and the contradictions between these four factions remain unresolved. On October 23, 1991, representatives of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, as well as 19 countries, including Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, held an international conference in Paris, France, and signed the Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodian Conflict. The main element of this agreement is to require the United Nations to send a Cambodian Transitional Authority to monitor the ceasefire between the parties and hold free and fair general elections. 】
In the early 1990s, after more than a decade of reform and opening up, China's comprehensive national strength continued to increase, the level of national defense and army building significantly improved, considering China's increasing influence in regional security affairs, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the Cambodian general election in May 1993, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations Gurley proposed to invite the Chinese government to send troops to participate in the United Nations peacekeeping operations in Cambodia.
Li Jinyong said that from making up his mind to the establishment of the peacekeeping engineer brigade, it took less than a month.
[Same period three: On March 8, 1992, the chief of the General Staff held a special working meeting on the basis of this report approved by the State Council and the Central Military Commission to study and determine the troops to be dispatched. The leadership and technical backbone were basically drawn from the system of the whole army's engineers, and in less than a month on April 12, we boarded the train and headed for Zhanjiang. 】
The engineering brigade led by Li Jinyong was later known as China's first blue helmets, where there were a large number of talents, and among the soldiers, there were 130 backbones with excellent skills and technical experts of the whole army; all the cadres were very familiar with the professional skills of the engineering corps such as blasting, building cities, roads, and bridges, and could drive and repair 1 to 3 kinds of vehicles, and could completely adapt to the unfamiliar environment of foreign countries.
[At the same time, we brought a total of 150 large mechanical vehicles, more than 2,000 sets of engineering equipment, more than 600 tons of logistics materials, and we only had 400 people, almost everyone was several pieces. Because the equipment of our troops in peacetime is not the same as that of going out to carry out peacekeeping tasks, we need to increase a lot of equipment. All were directly distributed by the Central Military Commission, and many pieces of equipment were directly pulled down from the production line and sent to the troops. 】
After arriving in Phnom Penh, Li Jinyong placed his troops and rushed with the liaison officer to a row of light steel houses in the city of Phnom Penh, the headquarters of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cambodia, to receive the task.
【Sparse sound of gunfire and explosion】
Accompanied by the sound of gunfire and explosions outside the window, Lieutenant General John Sanderson, commander in charge of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Cambodia, introduced the critical situation on the ground in the most concise language, asking Chinese officers and soldiers to complete the repair tasks of Route 4, Bocheng East Airport, and especially Route 6 as soon as possible.
[Simultaneous Voice V: (This is) The only way for the Deployment of UN peacekeeping forces to the eastern and northern regions of Cambodia is also the only way for logistical support, and if this road cannot be opened, the deployment of troops cannot be carried out smoothly, and the logistics support cannot be supplied. In addition, Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia, and these provinces in the east and north must go through Routes 6 and 4 to get to the capital. 】
From the perspective of engineering and technology, these tasks are not difficult for the Chinese peacekeeping forces, but Li Jinyong and his comrades-in-arms have learned that the various armed factions in the engineering mission area have infiltrated each other and military frictions have continued. In particular, some important bridges and highways have always been the focus of attacks by both sides.
[Simultaneous Sound Six: The danger is still very great, because the damage to its transportation facilities is very serious, especially Highway 4 and Highway 6, all of which have been repeatedly blown up. There are fights between factions, active sabotage, and damage caused by foreign bombing there during the war years, and many bullet holes can be seen on bridges, especially on beret-style steel bridges. 】
There is a bridge on Route 6 from Skun to Kampong Tung called Bridge 4, which Lee Jinyong called "Difficult Bridge". Over the past few months, the bridge has been repeatedly breached by militants.
On October 14, 1992, I received a report from the troops in Phnom Penh that bridge 4 had been blown up, and I ordered all the troops to withdraw to the camp to rest and stand by. He quickly drove to the scene and went to see, this bridge is a Beret-style steel bridge, completely destroyed, the bridge deck structure, bridge honing fell into the water, a police station near the bridge head was also burned. I thought, who was the person who blew up the bridge? Who is he targeting? Is it a problem between factions? Or for our engineer brigade? 】
After the tempering of war, Li Jinyong and his comrades-in-arms explored a set of engineering operation rules in the battlefield environment, which greatly improved the efficiency of the project. For a time, the construction progress of "one beret bridge a day" by Chinese peacekeepers was a good story among the United Nations peacekeeping forces.
【Soothing music out】
During our time in Cambodia, our Chinese peacekeepers strictly observed the discipline of the masses, respected the religious beliefs and customs of the Cambodian people, and helped the residents near the garrison to rebuild their homes and resume production when they could. 】
In February 1993, the second batch of Chinese peacekeeping engineers to Cambodia took over the first batch of peacekeeping officers and soldiers and continued to complete the relevant project construction tasks, at this time less than 3 months before the Cambodian general election, The United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Engineer Chief Colonel Bedley demanded that all projects must be completed before the general election.
【Tense music】
At that time, violent terrorist activities between the parties intensified, and kidnappings and assassinations of United Nations officials were frequent. On phnom Penh's roads to the various districts, armed elements have even tried to prevent United Nations personnel from entering and leaving.
[Simultaneous Sound Nine: The main highways, roads and bridges are guarded by armed personnel, these sentries are carrying submachine guns and bazookas, all of which are live ammunition, their hands are on the trigger, they can be pulled at any time, and there is still a great threat to passing vehicles and personnel. 】
【Nervous Music Fall】
However, a surprising scene appeared, no matter which faction of armed personnel, when they saw Chinese soldiers wearing blue berets and the sleeves of their military uniforms were embellished with five-star red flags, they would take the initiative to release them.
As long as we declare that we are China's engineers, these sentries immediately put down their guns, sometimes salute us, never embarrass us, they say, other countries can't do it, Chinese engineers are very friendly to the Cambodian people, especially for women and children, so Cambodians also have a good impression of China's sappers. What they often say is that you are so good to us, and I want to be good to you. 】
On the eve of the Cambodian general election, all the projects were completed one after another, and the mood of the officers and men in the Chinese peacekeeping camp area was particularly relaxed. But just then, an unexpected event occurred.
[At 9:30 p.m. on May 21, the soldiers had rested after a hard day's work, about 11 o'clock at night.] Suddenly there was an explosion in the barracks, and it was the dormitory of the second squadron of our second squadron that was attacked, and the cadres of the second squadron immediately took their weapons and walkie-talkies, put on their clothes and directed the troops to quickly move to the underground bunkers. 】
As a result of the counting, Yu Shili, a soldier of the eighth squad, was hit by a rocket and died on the spot, and the whereabouts of Chen Zhiguo, a soldier of the same class who lived next door to him, were unknown at this time. The leader of the emergency detachment jumped out of the fortification with a soldier and ran desperately to the dormitory where Chen Zhiguo lived, only to find that Chen Zhiguo had been seriously injured and was lying under the bed.
At this time, the artillery attack outside was still in progress, and we immediately organized an emergency detachment to grope in that dormitory. 】
At that time, the Chinese peacekeeping camp was divided into the south camp and the north camp, and the two camps were attacked to varying degrees almost at the same time, and the gunfire lasted for about 40 minutes.
At about one o'clock in the night, a helicopter sent by the United Nations arrived in Skun, and since there was still an exchange of fire below, his helicopter did not stop at our camp, but landed in the Camp of India, two or three kilometers away from us. Then take our wounded away. 】
【Sad and heavy music gradually enters】
The unconscious Chen Zhiguo and several other wounded were urgently carried by their comrades to the helicopter sent by the United Nations, but due to the seriousness of the injuries, Chen Zhiguo sacrificed his 22-year-old young life on the way to Phnom Penh Hospital.
Comrade Chen Zhiguo, a native of Wanxian County, Chongqing, has not visited his relatives in three years as a soldier, and has never seen his parents from leaving home to the army until he died. Yu Shili, he came from a peasant family, joined the army in December 1991, only 21 years old when he died, Chen Zhiguo and Yu Shili have a more cheerful personality, usually very lively, is a very good warrior. 】
[Mixed sound (The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on the 22nd to strongly condemn the serious atrocities of cambodian forces shelling the Chinese engineering camp of the UN-Cambodia Provisional Authority on the night of the 21st, resulting in the death of two Chinese engineers and the injury of four others. All members of the Security Council and representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations expressed their condolences and condolences to the Government of China and to the families of the victims. ）】
On May 23, 1993, the first general election in Cambodian history kicked off, and participants safely walked over the bridge built by Chinese peacekeeping engineers to the polling point. 4.7 million Cambodians voted under the protection of armed personnel of the United Nations Interim Authority in Cambodia.
Li Jinyong recalled that in recognition of the outstanding performance of Chinese soldiers in this operation, Lieutenant General Sanderson, commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cambodia, personally awarded the United Nations peacekeeping medal to Chinese peacekeeping officers and soldiers.
Through participating in UN peacekeeping operations, this is a great exercise for our troops, and it is also an excellent opportunity for our army to learn from foreign forces. 】
After Li Jinyong returned from Cambodia, he successively served as the director of the Engineering Bureau of the General Staff Department and the dean of the Engineering College of the PLA University of Science and Technology, and was awarded the rank of major general, and retired honorably in 2005. Although he no longer engaged in peacekeeping work later, as a participant and witness to China's first peacekeeping operations, the peacekeeping model created by him and his comrades-in-arms has always continued and developed.
Since the reform and opening up, with the continuous improvement of China's national strength, the pace of our army going out has also gradually accelerated, from 1990 when we sent 5 military observers to participate in Un Peacekeeping Operations, so far, we have sent more than 37,000 person-times, we are the largest of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, during this period we have 13 peacekeepers died in the front line. 】
In 2013, our army sent peacekeeping and security forces for the first time; in 2014, our army sent peacekeeping infantry battalions for the first time; and in 2017, our army sent peacekeeping helicopter detachments for the first time. The Chinese armed forces' participation in UN peacekeeping operations has effectively safeguarded regional security and stability and effectively promoted world peace and development.
In September 2015, President Xi Jinping attended the general debate of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly and delivered an important speech, [President Xi Jinping also announced that China will join the new United Nations Peacekeeping Capacity Standby Mechanism, and decided to take the lead in establishing a standing peacekeeping police force and building an 8,000-strong peacekeeping standby force for this purpose. 】
At this moment, more than 2,500 peacekeepers in China are still fulfilling the tasks of UN peacekeeping operations in seven mission areas, including Darfur, South Sudan and Lebanon. They have marched forward in the face of danger and persevered in the midst of artillery fire, fully demonstrating the glorious image of our army's civilized division and mighty division, becoming a powerful driving force and a beautiful landscape for major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, and becoming a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of international order. 】
Just now you heard the third episode of the special program "Witnessing the Road to a Strong Army" of the Central People's Radio celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, "The Chinese Army Participates in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation for the First Time", Program Producer: Lu Xicheng Planner: Sun Li Coordinator: Tan Shuhui Reporter: Li Qinshuai Editor: Li Peng Broadcaster: Yu Fang, Su Yang, Xu Jiahui Audio Producer: Wang Min. At the same time tomorrow, you are welcome to continue listening to the fourth episode of "Witnessing the Road to a Strong Army", "The People's Liberation Army Enters Hong Kong".
(Produced by the Voice of China National Defense Time and Space, PLA News and Communication Center)