South Sudan: Here's Why China's Sending Hundreds Of Peacekeepers To Africa

Dec 3, 2014 | Sean J. Li, Business Insider
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hina announced in September that it would send a battalion of seven-hundred infantry soldiers to reinforce the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), a heretofore unprecedented move that triples its troop contribution.

It is suspected by commentators, such as Column Lynch at Foreign Policy, that this commitment was made to shield the oil industry — which both UNMISS and the Chinese Foreign Ministry have denied.

The increased international profile of Chinese national oil companies (NOCs) and other commercial interests, especially in Africa, has raised questions about whether China’s long-standing principle of non-interference will hold in the future.