20th batch of Chinese peacekeeping force is sent to Lebanon in July 2021 (Linked to Record ID#41114)

On July 28, 2021, the first of two echelons of the 20th batch of Chinese peacekeepers were sent to Lebanon as part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

In total, the 20th batch of peacekeepers consisted of 410 officers and soldiers, including a 180-member engineer unit, a 200-member construction engineer unit, and a 30-member medical unit.

The first echelon consisted of 205 peacekeepers and was tasked with mine clearance and detonation, engineering construction maintenance, sanitation and epidemic prevention, and humanitarian rescue. In August 2021, the second echelon of the 20th batch of Chinese peacekeepers arrived in Lebanon.

In May 2021, the 20th batch first received their mission and began training in mine clearance, blue line pile planting, emergency defense, trauma treatment, and simulated peacekeeping possibilities. On July 14, 2021, the 20th batch held a swearing in ceremony. On August 13, 2021, the nineteenth unit fully transferred its duties to the twentieth unit in a handover ceremony.

Their mission lasted one year, and the first batch of peacekeepers returned to China on August 10, 2022. China has sent UNIFIL peacekeeping forces to Lebanon every year from 2006 to the present.

The program was temporarily suspended due to COVID-19 on June 30, 2020, but reinstated in August 2020 to respond to the Beirut explosion. See Record ID#41114 for the full project.

For individual project descriptions, see these projects: 1st batch: #67581; 2nd batch: #67578; 3rd batch: #67580; 4th batch #71863; 5th batch #71869; 6th batch: #41110; 7th batch: #67582; 8th batch: #67584; 9th batch: #67587; 10th batch: #67588; 11th batch: #67579; 12 batch: #71901; 13th batch: #67589; 14th batch: #72070; 15th batch: #72071; 16th batch: #66366; 17th batch: #67576; 18th batch: #67574; 19th batch: #72082.