中国正提升其在国际维和中的角色

China is expanding its role in UN peacekeeping operations overseas at a time when the US is rethinking its global duties.

在美国反思其全球责任之际，中国正在扩大其在联合国海外维和行动中的作用。

Greater participation in peacekeeping gives more clout at the UN, where western countries often control prominent departmental posts. Some Chinese strategists even believe it will help give China a voice in any eventual settlement to the conflict in Syria, where Beijing has so far stayed on the sidelines.

更多地参与维和行动，将在联合国带来更大影响力；目前联合国的重要部门岗位往往由西方国家控制。一些中国战略家甚至认为，它将有助于中国在叙利亚冲突的任何最终解决方案中拥有话语权。北京方面迄今在叙利亚冲突中处于旁观地位。

Among the five permanent Security Council members, China is now the largest contributor to peacekeeping forces, deploying about 2,600 of the total 88,000 “blue berets”.

在联合国安理会(UN Security Council)的五个常任理事国中，中国现在是维和部队的最大贡献国，向8.8万人的“蓝贝雷帽”部队派出约2600人。

Beijing pledged last year to raise that number to 8,000. It is in contention to head the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which has been dominated by France for many years, according to Foreign Policy magazine.

北京方面去年承诺将这一数字增加到8000人。据《外交政策》(Foreign Policy)杂志透露，中国还在争取由其派员执掌联合国维和行动部，该部门多年来一直由法国人领导。

Beijing sees the sponsoring of peacekeeping missions as “both a responsibility and a chance to lift its international image”, said Shen Dingli, head of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. It “boosts China’s global status and is potentially helpful in antiterrorism missions outside China, so it is helpful to protect Chinese investment and people abroad”.

上海复旦大学美国研究中心主任沈丁立表示，在北京方面看来，支持维和任务“既是责任，也是提升自身国际形象的机遇”。这么做“提升中国的国际地位，潜在还有助于中国境外的反恐任务，因此有助于保护中国在海外的投资和人员”。

Taking the lead could position China for a greater voice in Africa — which hosts nine of the UN’s 16 peacekeeping missions — and, at some point, the Middle East. Beijing has watched in dismay as violence engulfs a region on which it relies for oil supplies.

发挥带头作用可以让中国在非洲具有更大的话语权（联合国目前16个维和任务中，有9个位于非洲），未来某个时间点还有望在中东具有更大话语权。当暴力活动肆虐中国依赖的一个石油供应来源地，北京方面迄今只能沮丧地看着。

“If eventually peacekeeping needs to be dispatched, we might see [UN] soldiers in Syria or Yemen,” said Victor Gao, a commentator on China’s foreign policy. “The US believes Pax Americana is responsible for world stability but we believe the international security order is assured by the UN.”

“如果最终需要派遣维和部队，我们可能会在叙利亚或也门看到（联合国）军人，”中国外交政策评论员高志凯(Victor Gao)表示。“美国认为世界稳定要归功于美国治下的和平，但我们相信国际安全秩序是由联合国保障的。”

China has ploughed money into upgrading its defence technology, investing in fighter jets and ships, while making efforts to recruit tech-savvy graduates as it trims its ranks of uneducated soldiers. But its military remains relatively untested, with no international combat since a border war with Vietnam in 1979.

近年中国投入大量资金升级防务技术，投资研发扩充战斗机和军舰，同时努力招聘掌握科技知识的毕业生，裁减未受过教育的军人。但中国军队仍然相对未经检验，自1979年在中越边境作战以来未曾投入国际交战。

Beijing first sent peacekeeping units to a conflict zone in 2013, dispatching troops to Mali. Last year it beefed up its global contribution by sending peacekeepers to guard Chinese-invested oil installations in South Sudan under the UN peacekeeping command. As part of its non-interference policy, China has not participated in US-led actions in Afghanistan, Iraq or elsewhere.

2013年，北京首次派出维和部队到马里的一个冲突地区执行任务。去年，中国加大了对全球维和的贡献，派出维和部队到南苏丹，在联合国维和指挥下保护该国境内的中资石油设施。作为其不干涉政策的一部分，中国从未参与美国领导的在阿富汗、伊拉克或其他地方的行动。

In July, two Chinese peacekeepers were killed during fighting between government and rebel forces near South Sudan’s oilfields. China’s defence ministry has denied reports that Chinese troops were disorganised or failed to protect aid workers that were attacked and raped.

7月，在南苏丹油田附近发生的政府军和叛军之间的战斗中，两名中国维和人员被打死。中国国防部否认有关中国维和部队组织混乱或未能保护遭到袭击和强奸的援助人员的报道。

A UN report found they had left their posts, and that there was a disorganised chain of command.

联合国的一份报告发现，此前中国维和人员离开了自己的哨位，而且存在指挥链混乱的问题。

China has an opportunity to lead internationally in peacekeeping in part because the US is “lukewarm” in its interest in contributing peacekeeping troops despite footing the largest share of the peacekeeping budget, according to Zhou Bo, honorary fellow at the Center of China-American Defence Relations at the PLA’s Academy of Military Science.

解放军军事科学院中美防务关系研究中心特聘研究员周波称，中国有机会在国际上领导维和行动，部分原因在于美国对于贡献维和部队兴趣不大，尽管美国为维和预算作出最大贡献。