Peace Keeping: new advanced training course in China by Andrea de Guttry, full professor of International Law, to benefit the training center for police forces engaged in UN peacekeeping operations
The educational activities took place in Lanfang, near Beijing, and involved about 40 officers on topics such as approving a UN mission, defining its mandate, and legal issues that may arise in its deployment
Andrea de Guttry, full professor of International Law at the Sant'Anna School, has just completed a new advanced training course in China for Chinese police forces engaged in United Nations peacekeeping operations. China has been an active participant in the operations for nearly 15 years, and to prepare its personnel for the challenges of these missions, it has opened a large training center in Lanfang, near Beijing. The Chinese Police Peace Keeping Training Center-that has been organizing courses for its personnel for more than 12 years, which are also certified by the United Nations. This training has become increasingly important, not only because of the growing number of Chinese military and police officers sent on missions, but also because of the increasingly difficult and delicate tasks entrusted to UN peacekeeping missions.
For more than 10 years now, professor Andrea de Guttry has been conducting educational activities in Lanfang, at the "Chinese Police Peace Keeping Training Center, to strengthen the knowledge and skills of Chinese police officers, with particular reference to legal issues related to the implementation of a UN mission. The course that has just concluded was attended by about 40 Chinese police officers and was devoted to topics such as how to approve a UN mission, the definition of their mandate and legal issues that may arise in the implementation of the mission.
On the occasion of his visit to Lanfang, professor Andrea de Guttry was received by general Ma Jinqi, president of China Police University, and Wang Honghai, director of the Chinese Peace Operations Training Center. Both represented their interest in strengthening international collaboration on issues of training personnel engaged in UN missions to make them more effective.
"The invitation to once again hold a course at the prestigious center in Lanfang," professor Andrea de Guttry stressed upon his return to Italy, "confirms, on the one hand, China's appreciation for the research and training activities on UN missions conducted at the Sant'Anna School over the past 20 years and, on the other hand, China 's willingness to become more involved in UN missions together with other states, such asItaly, which have a long tradition of active participation in such missions. Professor Andrea de Guttry added that at a time of great tension between the world's super-powers such as the present, "these signals from China of openness to collaboration on concrete issues to promote international peace and security should be interpreted positively and it is to be hoped that they will not be left unheeded."
The opportunity and the possibility for enhanced collaboration on these specific issues between Italy and China had also emerged in a recent research carried out at the Sant'Anna School whose conclusions were codified in a volume edited by professor Andrea de Guttry and dedicated precisely to the prospects for cooperation between Italy and China in the area of UN peacekeeping missions.
