China gives hero’s funeral to UN peacekeeper killed in Mali

BEIJING – A Chinese peacekeeper killed while serving with the U.N. mission in Mali was given a hero’s funeral in his home province on Tuesday, underscoring the importance China attaches to its involvement in the global body’s peacekeeping work.

State media reports said thousands of people lined the streets along the route from the funeral home to the cemetery for national heroes where the ashes of 29-year-old 1st Sgt. Shen Liangliang were interred.

Shen was killed in a May 31 car bomb attack while on sentry duty at the peacekeepers’ base camp in the northern town of Gao. Five other peacekeepers were injured. His body was flown back to China on a chartered flight and greeted by an honour guard at Beijing airport.

China considers its participation in U.N. peacekeeping missions an important symbol of its global engagement and commitment to conflict resolution. It also views its participation as a useful means of upgrading the skill sets of personnel in the People’s Liberation Army and an excellent exposure to the logistical challenges of operating far from home. More than 2,400 Chinese peacekeepers are currently assigned to U.N. missions in Mali, Liberia and five other African nations.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali is asking for more troops, equipment, armour and aerial surveillance in the wake of deadly attacks by Islamic extremists that have killed at least seven Guineans, five Chadians and five Togolese in addition to Shen.