ABSTRACT
To understand China’s change in position regarding UN peacekeeping, the country’s internal debates and policy towards the UN operations in East Timor from 1999 to 2002 comprise an essential case study. Despite its traditional concerns about the sanctity of state sovereignty, China was willing to support and contribute personnel to East Timor peacekeeping missions. This was a result of its growing confidence in addressing regional strategic issues, its development of the ‘New Security Concept’, which encourages cooperative solutions to strategic issues, and its desire to remake its regional identity to reflect a more conservative and pragmatic approach to regional peacebuilding. This change in policy not only allowed China to become more at ease with UN peacekeeping participation, but also contributed much to the country’s Asia-Pacific diplomacy, which increasingly stressed multilateralism and partnership.
