Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the Leaders' Summit on Peacekeeping at the United Nations headquarters in New York Sept. 28, 2015. (Photo: Xinhua/Li Tao)
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in New York on Monday that China is to join the new UN peacekeeping capability readiness system, and will take the lead to set up a permanent peacekeeping police squad, building a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops.[Special coverage]
Xi made the announcement when addressing the annual high-level general debate of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, where he said that security of different countries is interconnected and no country can achieve stability from others' instability.
The United Nations now has more than 120,000 peace keepers deployed in 16 missions around the world, costing over 8 billion U.S. dollars a year.
The following are other highlights from Xi's address.
-- China would provide $100 million in military assistance to the African Union in the next five years to support the establishment of an African standby force and to boost its capacity for crisis response.
-- China will never seek hegemony, expansionism or a sphere of influence.
-- China welcomes other countries to board China's express train to realize common development.
-- Xi urged developed countries to realize their emission-cutting promise and help developing countries deal with climate change.
-- Lessons have to be drawn from the World War II history so as to avoid repeat of past mistake.
Backgrounder: General debate of 70th session of UN General Assembly
The general debate of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly kicked off at the general assembly hall of the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.
The assembly is the main deliberative organ of the world body. Comprising all 193 members, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues.
The General Assembly meets in regular session intensively from September to December each year. At the beginning of each regular session, the assembly holds a general debate, often addressed by heads of state and government to express their views on pressing international issues.
About 140 heads of state and government are expected to attend this year's general debate, which is scheduled to last from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3. Each speaker has voluntary 15 minutes at the rostrum.
The theme of this year's general debate is "the United Nations at 70 -- a new commitment to action."
Brazil is always the first member state to speak in the general debate since the 10th session of the General Assembly in 1955; the United States as the host country is the second member state to take the floor. For all other member states, the speaking order is based on the level of representation, preference and other criteria such as geographic balance.
