Among UN peacekeepers known as the "Blue Berets" in the world's most troubled areas are thousands of Chinese servicemen. They have committed themselves to jobs of negotiation, supervision, rescue operation and rebuilding. They risk their own safety and sometimes their very lives, and have won the respect of the world for their work and dedication.

　　In this exclusive report, the Chinese blue berets talked about their work and experience. 　　

　　(By Li Bolin. Li was a UN military observer stationed in Cambodia.)

　　In 1992 the UN carried out a large-scale peacekeeping operation in Cambodia, and about 15,000 peacekeeping troops and 500 military observers, civilian policemen and other personnel were sent to the country. Around 800 person-times of Chinese engineers and over 100 Chinese military observers took part in the operation and I served as a military observer from 1993 to 1994.

　　The operation involved a lot of risk. Cambodia is a country with a total area of 180,000 sq km and a population of 8 million. Since 1970 it had been embroiled in war and there were 10 million landmines laid under the ground.

　　Once I drove out with some other military observers to conduct an inspection. We lost our way in a rubber plantation when we tried to take a shortcut. After nearly five hours in the woods, we found a narrow footpath and got out at last. Local farmers were very surprised to see us emerging from the woods. They told us later that they called that place the "death woods" because there were hundreds of landmines laid under the ground. No local villagers dared go near it. We thought we were lucky to be able to survive.

　　As the general election was drawing near in Cambodia, relations among different armed factions became tenser, and hostile activities against the blue berets also increased. In May 1993 barracks of the Chinese engineers were attacked, and two engineers were killed. As a result I was sent to probe into the incident.

　　One day when I was driving on a highway I saw some 20 local militiamen putting roadblocks on the way. I got off the car and tried to negotiate with their leader. Suddenly a militiaman behind me began to fire at a group of farmers who were trying to bypass the roadblocks to the other side of the highway. Five people were killed. "Are you crazy? They are your fellowmen!" I shouted to the leader. In a second, a gun was pointing at my head and a guy was shouting at me. My translator was scared. He told me that the militia would do the same thing to me if I uttered one more word. Then I was forced to turn back and made a detour.

　　Many military observers in operations had similar experiences. For us risk is our standing companion. 　　

A reliable commander

　　(By Liu Meng. Liu was a military observer and peacekeeper in Iraq-Kuwait Operation Region and the Middle East Operation Region.)

　　In the Iraq-Kuwait Region I served as a military observer and field officer. In the Middle East Operation Region I served as a commander of a peacekeeping troops in Egypt.

　　Operation in the Middle East has been going on for more than 50 years now. It is the longest and also the first UN peacekeeping operation in the world. Blue Berets in the Middle East Operation Region always tell a joke: The most important contribution we have made to the world peace is not the peace in the Middle East, but the template we've been making for other operations and lots of peacekeepers it has trained.

　　Many foreign servicemen knew little about China when I was the commander of the UN peacekeeping troops in Egypt. A US officer once worked with me. I could see that he was quite nervous to work with a Chinese superior. One day it was very hot and that officer looked unwell. I offered him some Rendan (A kind of traditional Chinese medicine pills, which smells like throat lozenge.) He refused to take them and said, "We American servicemen won't take any unidentified medicine."

　　One day a clash erupted along the border and an Egyptian officer was killed. I was at the HQs while the us officer was on duty at an observation post. After I received the report, I told my Danish field officer to send a fax to the observation post, stressing that patrol and other activities in that area to be stopped. Later the Danish field officer told me that the US officer had requested a 24-hour patrol in that area. I made a phone call to the post and told him, "I'm glad that you request a 24-hour patrol. You are a conscientious officer. But perhaps you don't understand the situation. Multinational force is in charge of that area according to the 1980 Agreement reached among Israel, Egypt, the UN and multinational forces. That's why we can't patrol there." He could see that I was telling him the truth, and then he agreed. Later I heard that he once told a colleague, "The commander is a kind serviceman. He's professional."

　　We withdrew all UN observation posts and transition stations in Sinai Peninsular when we streamlined our organization in Egypt Operation Region. But Egypt still expected us to continue to patrol in that region. Then we had to solve the communication problem. I happened to major in radio communication when I studied in Tsinghua University. So I worked with other UN experts and set up single-band radio transfer stations to cover the whole peninsular. Thus the communication of the region recovered.

　　 When it's my time to leave Egypt, I was decorated by the Egyptian Defense Department in a ceremony. A brigadier from the department told me, " You are the 16th commander of peacekeepers in Egypt. But you are the only one who has won this honor."

　　That American officer also came to see me off. He smiled and told me, "I thought that's some kind of narcotic when you once gave me the Chinese medicine. You used it to make me to blab military intelligence." I also smiled, "Don't be taken in by propaganda. We are good fellow peacekeepers." Before I left I sent him some Rendan and balm oil. 　

　　(By Yao Min. Yao was a military observer in West Sahara.)

　　Global Positioning System (GPS) was all we could depend on to found the exact locations when patrolling in the world's biggest desert. The US Army developed the system in 1973. The GPS we used then in West Sahara was a kind of advanced jeep-mounted system.

　　Chinese military observers had no practical experience on the system. But helped by their good command of English and repeated practice, Chinese military observers mastered every technical details recorded on the system's usage handbook, especially those about navigation in roadless terrain.

　　Later in a case that military observers were trapped in complex roadless areas, a Chinese military observer guided the jeep back to correct direction with the help of GPS. After that some Chinese observers were able to teach other observers to use the system. Someone may say that was because these Chinese people are smart. In fact, that was because we were active in learning and practice.