China's Troops Get Smoked in First Combat Disaster

In July 2016, Chinese UN Peacekeeping soldiers found themselves in the middle of an all-out war in the South Sudanese capital of Juba. This is the first time Chinese troops were tested in combat in 4 decades so there’s a lot we can learn about the PLAs capabilities from this battle. After the fiasco the individual Chinese soldiers and commanders of the United Nations peacekeeping mission were criticized for failing to protect the citizens and millions of dollars worth of humanitarian resources. A Washington based Non profit analysis of the battle found Chinese soldiers had abandoned their posts and refused orders to return fire, but is this actually the case or is the fog of war more complicated than that?

Written by: Chris Cappy & Diego Aceituno
Edited by: Savvy Studios

What does the battle of Juba tell us about the way the People's Liberation Army fights? How have these little known events from 2016 changed the Chinese military and foreign policy today? And what strategic interests does China have in South Sudan that brought them there in the first place?

China has been a member of the UN security Council since 1971 but initially refused to contribute forces or budget to UN peacekeeping. Then in the 1990’s China began sending non combatant personnel to support United NAtions operations including engineers and agricultural advisors. But there was a major change to this policy in 2015. China’s new president, Xi Jing Ping, decided to send a combat infantry to support UN peace keeping. This proactive approach was a major change to Chinese long standing policy of non interference in foreign affairs. This change of heart was partly driven by China’s growing energy needs. South Sudan is the first international location of China’s state owned national petroleum corporation. They have a 40% stake in a joint venture that operates South Sudan's major oil fields.

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Task & Purpose is a military news and culture oriented channel. We want to foster discussion about the defense industry.

[Colinpark]

This sounds like so many other UN peace keeping missions, they are told to leave heavy weapons at home and then get butt kicked everytime. When the Canadians first went to Bosnia, the Canadian General refused to leave their larger weapons behind, so had TOW, Carl G, HMG and mortars to provide fire support. It made a difference in how the belligerents treated the Canadians. Almost every UN mission is set up to fail, because a lot of the actors want it to.

[Marshal_Dunnik]

For me, the incident really says more about the UN than the PLA

[shevaankapuwatte]

I really appreciated the ending where you honored the soldiers who lost their lives. I’m not Chinese but it is wonderful that you mentioned their names besides having different ideological differences. Keep up the good work

[rayray]

If they did fail, their still brave for protecting a whole city and saving 9, 000 citizens while being heavily pinned down with no reinforcements as their first combat experience. that's actually really impressive

[paulwallis]

Something very similar happened to the Dutch and Australian troops on peacekeeping missions. These troops are typically under-equipped, undergunned, and under a regime of particularly vague rules and priorities which are unrealistic in real combat. Troops are also supposed to know who's giving them orders. UN should have properly equipped combat troops with the capacity to deal with actual warfare.

[wolf-xfhf]

I think it’s mostly a combination of a number of issues. The Chinese soldiers weren’t well trained enough nor was their command chain intact. But at the same time it’s hard to expect any regular infantry to try to go toe to toe with tanks and artillery when they have no anti armor capabilities and were massively outgunned.

[CCRoselle]

As a former RVN combat Grunt, I was moved by your homage to the two fallen Chinese Soldiers.
"Fitting and proper. "

[skinfluithero]

If you are outnumbered and out equipped without any air support. The odds you win that battle are next to none

[allenpradhan]

A very similar situation happened to Indian UN troops. Thousands of Indian troops were trapped in Sierra Leone because of the inability of UN to give proper information or allow heavy weapons in the hands of peacekeepers. Eventually the Indian government was so angered that they directly intervened in the conflict with British troops. Then only they were able to save the lives of civilians and UN PEACEKEEPERS. This showed how incompetent the UN officials were and that peacekeeping missions could be successful if under the right leadership

[jamesbannerman]

Class act, recognizing the Chinese soldiers' sacrifice. Not a fan of China's government, but a soldier on peace keeping duty is in a tough situation.

[augustinvanlakerveld]

I was there at Juba airport living within the Camp. The Japanese and the Chinese fought well. The Ethiopians stayed in their camp.

[gbodybala]

R.I.P Yang Shupeng and Li Lei . may you men rest in peace.

[jimbrogan]

I agree. A soldier who fights bravely, in defense of others deserves recognition. Thank you.

[ccramit]

From a former US infantryman, respect to them trying with what little they had. Outnumbered, outgunned, and I assume they had very little experience compared to the local militias. And ROE literally prevents them from really doing anything until they are already being ambushed pretty much.

[syfieldsjr]

Very honorable and noble of you to recognize the 2 fallen Chinese soldiers. Thank you!

[china_airguns]

I think the Chinese troops did the best they could in their inferior situation and bravely stood up to superior forces to protect civilians. China certainly cannot be blamed for the situation; it is the people who sit at the top of the UN and calculate troop allocations who are to blame.

[jgbeck]

Thank you for honoring those men who died during this mission. We may hate the leaders and their politics but the men who don uniforms deserve some respect.

[Jake-dhqk]

The Chinese UN troops had no anti-tank weapons and the heaviest vehicle they had was a machine-gun mounted APC that could barely protect against 50cal. The militia that attacked them had RPGs, recoilless guns, T-54/55s and outnumbered them probably 10 to 1. It’s highly doubtful any military can even survive that without the proper equipment.

[sifayun]

I remember hearing a YouTuber say that the 2016 Sudan event was the reason Wolf Warrior 2 was released in 2017.

[panzerpoodle]

Jeder der für in einer Un Mission sein Leben verliert gebührt Respekt, egal aus welchem Land er kommt