China’s Evolving Approach to UN Peacekeeping in Africa

Beijing’s peace and security discourse, including its emphasis on non-interference and sovereignty, has remained relatively constant over the last decades.
However, China’s practice in Mali and South Sudan, as well as in Africa more generally, has evolved significantly, CEDRIC DE CONING and KARI M. OSLAND in a new report published by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
China is supporting international efforts to improve the peace and security landscape in these countries. China is also bilaterally influencing developments through significant investments in infrastructure, agriculture, health and education, the authors state in the report titled ‘China’s Evolving Approach to UN Peacekeeping in Africa’.
“However, it is its active engagement in supporting international and regional mediation and the assertive way that Beijing has chosen to use peacekeeping that are the most telling indicators of how much its actual practice on the ground has evolved beyond its official rhetoric,” DE CONING and OSLAND write.
“At the same time China has been developing its own unique approach to peacekeeping and peacebuilding, based on a theory of change that sees peace as emerging from development. Taken together, these developments reflect turning points in how China chooses to contribute to international peace and security, and are indicative of how China is adapting to its new global power status.”