THE CHINESE EMBASSY in Monrovia last Friday undertook yet another commendable gesture with the handing over of over several equipment and medical supplies to the Government of Liberia.
THE BATCH OF DONATION includes around 150 units of instruments and equipment for transportation, engineering, logistics and medical treatments. The Chinese envoy announced that all the equipment, which belonged to the Chinese Peacekeeper Contingents, will be transferred to Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of National Defense, National Police, Bureau of Immigration, National Fire Service, JFK Hospital, Jackson Fiah Doe Memorial Hospital and other departments and organizations of Liberia.
IN MAKING THE PRESENTATION, Chinese Ambassador accredited to Monrovia, Zhang Yue said the donation is a concrete gesture of China-Liberia Security Cooperation. “The donation we are making today is a concrete gesture of the China-Liberia security cooperation. As a country recovering from the civil war, Liberian people highly cherish the peaceful lives. In these days, with the help of international partners, Liberian Government and people have made great achievements in maintaining the nation’s security”, said Ambassador Yue.
THE GESTURES COME AS Liberia is preparing for life after the United Nations Mission in Liberia.
THE MONTH OF JUNE has been pencilled in as a turning point for Liberia to assume full responsibility for the country’s security by 30 June 2016, marking the resumption of the drawdown of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
REACTIONS HAVE been mixed about Liberia’s readiness to pick up the slack. Concerns about funding, logistics and Liberia’s ability to take over have drawn the ire of sceptics although the Ministry of Justice says it has developed the Government’s security transition plan with UNMIL’s support and extensive consultations with stakeholders, including civil society.
IN THE PAST YEAR, UNMIL drawdown have seen the withdrawal of 80 soldiers from Toe Town, Grand Gedeh County, and Pleebo, Maryland County and a drastic reduction of the number of UNMIL military and police personnel from about 3,600 and 1,500.
SECURITY FEARS have been boosted following a Quadripartite meeting held in March between Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire which is leading to the reopening of borders between the two countries.
THROUGH IT ALL, CHINA HAS BEEN a major contributor to Liberia’s post-war security and post-war Liberia has benefited from China’s ‘open and reform policy’ adopted in 1978 which has prompted Beijing’s foreign policy to become broader and more international in nature.
THE END RESULT HAS MEANT that China has been increasingly active in UN peacekeeping operations in Africa, particularly West Africa.
BEIJING HAS MADE MULTIPLE TROOPS’ contributions to Liberia, making immense contributions to transport, engineering and medical detachments with deployments in the capital Monrovia and Zwedru of Grand Gedeh County.
IN TOTAL, China has sent 18 bathes of peacekeeping contingents to Liberia and the total amount of the Chinese peacekeepers is nearly 10,000.
CHINESE PEACEKEEPERS have shouldered responsibilities such as transportation of materials, construction and health care and other tasks delegated by UNMIL.
MORE RECENTLY, a new team of 140 Chinese policemen arrived in the Liberian capital to carry out UN peacekeeping mission in the country where 85 percent of the population live below the international poverty line.
THE RIOT POLICE squad is tasked with maintaining security and order in Monrovia by patrolling, handling emergencies and guarding important figures. The team, formed principally of border police from east China’s Zhejiang province, have been trained in international law, weaponry application, body-guarding and English.
THIS IS WHY we are moved to praise Beijing for standing by Liberia in time of need.
WE AGREE WITH Ambassador Yue who said at the presentation last week, that considering the security risks in West Africa and the draw-down of UNMIL, China, as a reliable friend of Liberia, will continually render assistance to the peace-building process.
CHINA HAS not only contributed to Liberia’s security but also to health and agriculture. IN 2011, China built the US$10 million, the Jackson F Doe Memorial Regional Referral Hospital in Tappita, and provided training to 25 Liberian medical personnel in China for the effective use and maintenance of its modern equipment. Three shifts of medical teams were dispatched to other hospitals. China has also built an anti-malaria centre in Monrovia and renovated Liberia’s Ministry of Health headquarters building for $4.7 million.
IN AGRICULTURE, China undertook the construction of a $6 million China Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre in Maryland County in the far south, one of 10 such centres in Africa. It also provided $1 million in agricultural equipment and sent Chinese experts to the Booker T Washington Agricultural and Industrial Institute in Kakata to train Liberians in rice cultivation.
CHINA HAS ALSO undertaken a number of social and economic infrastructure projects, including a sugar factory and a sports complex. It has also provided hospital maintenance and medical assistance (having sent more than 60 Chinese medical staff to Liberia since 1984). It also put together the Gbedin rice development project in Saniquellie and founded the Liberia Sugar Corporation (Libsuco).
OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE projects include renovation of the $7.6 million Samuel Kanyon Doe multi-purpose sports stadium in Monrovia; the construction of Tubman cantonment, a military installation in Bong; and assisting in the establishment of countrywide network coverage for radio and television.
ADDITIONALLY, China has cancelled $16 million in debt while granting annual aid of $20 million to Liberia in the wake of the 2006 meeting of Focac. As a participant in the Liberian Reconstruction and Development Committee, an outcome of the UN Development Assistance Framework for Liberia, China had completed all its pledged obligations by 2011.
LIBERIA HAS COME a long way since witnessing political instability that ended decades of Americo-Liberian rule in1980 when a military coup overthrew the True-Whig Party leadership.
BY THE TIME SAMUEL DOE’S reign climaxed with a civil war in 1990, leading to the deaths of between 250,000 and 520,000 people and devastated the country’s economy, Liberia had lost infrastructures and hit with a brain-drain vacuum that remains a major bottleneck hampering post-war development.
THIS IS WHY it is important to recognized the contributions of countries like China who are going beyond boundaries to make meaningful contributions to Liberia in a bid to ensure that all is not lost from the scores of deaths, mayhem, chaos and confusion.
IT IS NOW LEFT with Liberians to put the brakes on hatred and strive for reconciliation so that we may never again return to an ugly past. Thanks to China and other international partners, light is at the end of the tunnel. A simple twist of fate and some goodwill will go a long way in helping Liberia complete its transition – from war to peace, hopefully without any more glitches.