New York (People's Daily) - Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Ma Zhaoxu on Tuesday called on the international community to enhance the support and engagement with Africa and help the African Union (AU) and African countries strengthen peace and security capacity building.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres briefs a Security Council meeting on peace and security in Africa, with a focus on strengthening peacekeeping operations. (People's Daily app)

Ma made the remarks at the UN Security Council open debate on "Peace and Security in Africa: Strengthening Peacekeeping Operations in Africa".

Ma said that China, as the presidency of the Security Council this month, supports the convening of this open debate on peace and security in Africa, which aims at convincing the international community to increase its attention and investment in the cause of peace and security in Africa and effectively help the AU and African countries strengthen peace-building.

Ma said African efforts are critical to building peace on the continent. Noting the progress made in the past few years in that regard, as well as the closer cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, he said that strengthening peacekeeping in Africa is indeed a shared responsibility and capacity on the continent must be built.

Ma reiterated that basic Charter and peacekeeping principles must be respected, including the sovereignty of the countries concerned, stressing the need to enable African countries to deal with African issues in an African manner. He expressed support for sustainable and predictable funding for AU peace operations under their own leadership, as well as for rapid-reaction and early-warning mechanisms.

“UN Secretary-General Guterres’ Action for Peacekeeping Initiative reaffirmed the need to deepen the partnership between the United Nations and the AU. Strengthening African peacekeeping operations and building African peace and security capacity are in the common interests of the international community and our common responsibility,” Ma said.

He added that the Chinese government and people have always supported African countries and people in their efforts to pursue peace and prosperity. China actively participates in UN peacekeeping operations in Africa, and has about 2,200 peacekeepers in Africa. In September, the China-Africa Cooperation Forum Beijing Summit identified China-Africa and security cooperation as one of the eight major cooperation priorities. 

Ma said China will continue to support Africa by strengthening peacekeeping capacity building, resolving regional hotspot issues sooner, achieving peace, stability and development on the African continent, and working together to build a community with shared future for China and Africa.