China donates vaccine doses to UN peacekeepers

Chinas UN ambassador says China is donating 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to UN peacekeepers, with priority given to those serving in Africa.

Ambassador Zhang Jun sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres informing him of the donation, Chinas U.N. Mission said Monday. It follows the announcement by Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi of Beijings intention to donate vaccines at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Feb. 17.

The mission said China attaches great importance to the safety and security of peacekeepers and the donation is a further step to make Chinas vaccines a global public good, and also a demonstration of Chinas firm and continuous support to the U.N. and multilateralism.

Last month, the U.N. thanked India for offering 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for U.N. peacekeepers.

The U.N. currently has a dozen peacekeeping operations, half in Africa with a total of about 100,000 peacekeepers.

There was no immediate word on what the U.N. plans to do with the two offers.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)