BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- China is set to send an infantry battalion, 700 male & Female soldiers, to South Sudan to take part in a United Nations peacekeeping mission. This will be the first time Chinese infantry soldiers are deployed as peacekeepers.
An oath-taking ceremony was held on Monday in Laiyang, in the eastern province of Shandong. The 700 peacekeepers will be deployed in South Sudan's capital of Juba to help protect civilians, offer humanitarian aid, and carry out patrols.
In the past, Chinese peacekeepers mainly dealt with mine-sweeping, transportation, medical aid and escorting personnel and civilians.
A first group, comprised of 180 men and women, will fly to South Sudan in January. The rest will follow in March.
A departure cermony & demonstration was held Monday, Dec. 22, 2014 in the city of Laiyang in east China's Shandong Province. The dispatch was approved by the Central Military Commission and its chairman Xi Jinping.