AU official hails peace and security cooperation with China

ADDIS ABABA, FEB 11 — African Union (AU) Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui on Monday hailed the solid peace and security cooperation with China.

Speaking to Xinhua, Chergui said China is a good partner to the AU that helped the continental body face numerous peace and security challenges in Africa, ranging from efforts to end the civil war in South Sudan to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in conflict-hit Mali.

“China is a very good partner of the AU. China has made concrete contributions to the AU’s peace and security efforts,” said Chergui.
“The AU and China have many areas of cooperation ranging from the deployment of Chinese peacekeepers in conflict areas, to technical and logistical support for the numerous peacekeeping efforts in Africa,” he further said.

“China is an important partner for Africa and the AU in general,” said the commissioner on the sidelines of the ongoing 32nd AU summit here.
“I would like to extend my appreciation for the high level of cooperation and political dialogue we have and we will continue to reinforce this dialogue,” he told Xinhua.
China is the second largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the 11th largest provider of UN peacekeepers.

Chinese peacekeepers have served in several UN mandated peacekeeping missions across Africa, including those in South Sudan, Sudan’s Darfur region, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali.
Chergui emphasized that the relationship between the AU and China is not restricted to peace and security aspect.

“We have other domains of cooperation including health, energy, and infrastructure to mention some of the multifaceted relationship,” he told Xinhua.