Published : 2025-01-12

On January 12, 2000, China deployed civil police officers for the first time to undertake a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

At the request of the United Nations, China decided to dispatch 15 civil police officers to the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor.

These officers were strictly selected from public security agencies nationwide and underwent specialised training, with fairly stringent conditions.

They had to pass at least five major tests: English proficiency, political assessment, business expertise, appearance, and age.

The first group of 10 civil police officers departed from Beijing on the same day, and the remaining five officers set off for the mission area at the end of the same month.

It was reported that one of the important tasks of the UN peacekeeping civil police in East Timor was to investigate the massacres that occurred during the country's occupation. The biggest threat faced during the investigation comes from the pro-Indonesian militias, who are heavily armed.

Upon arrival in East Timor, the 15 civil police officers were assigned specific duties.

Among them, six officers were dispatched to the capital, Dili, to serve as detention officers in a detention centre; three officers were assigned to the city police station as patrol officers, and the remaining six officers were dispatched to three other police stations.

To avoid having officers from one country concentrated in one police station, affecting the operations of the United Nations, each police station was composed of officers from different countries.