China's Troops Get Smoked in First Combat Disaster

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In July 2016, Chinese UN Peacekeeping soldiers found themselves in the middle of an all-out war in the South Sudanese capital of Juba. This is the first time Chinese troops were tested in combat in 4 decades so there’s a lot we can learn about the PLAs capabilities from this battle. After the fiasco the individual Chinese soldiers and commanders of the United Nations peacekeeping mission were criticized for failing to protect the citizens and millions of dollars worth of humanitarian resources. A Washington based Non profit analysis of the battle found Chinese soldiers had abandoned their posts and refused orders to return fire, but is this actually the case or is the fog of war more complicated than that?

Written by: Chris Cappy & Diego Aceituno
Edited by: Savvy Studios

What does the battle of Juba tell us about the way the People's Liberation Army fights? How have these little known events from 2016 changed the Chinese military and foreign policy today? And what strategic interests does China have in South Sudan that brought them there in the first place?

China has been a member of the UN security Council since 1971 but initially refused to contribute forces or budget to UN peacekeeping. Then in the 1990’s China began sending non combatant personnel to support United NAtions operations including engineers and agricultural advisors. But there was a major change to this policy in 2015. China’s new president, Xi Jing Ping, decided to send a combat infantry to support UN peace keeping. This proactive approach was a major change to Chinese long standing policy of non interference in foreign affairs. This change of heart was partly driven by China’s growing energy needs. South Sudan is the first international location of China’s state owned national petroleum corporation. They have a 40% stake in a joint venture that operates South Sudan's major oil fields.

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