When the Chinese government recently announced that it would send 270 more engineering troops to the Darfur region of Sudan, it probably registered on few observers what a far cry this was from China's earlier position.

Over the years, the country's policy toward UN peacekeeping operations has evolved from "no involvement" to "full participation", as the country's growing understanding of UN peacekeeping operations underwent a fundamental change.

UN peacekeeping operations' achievements, from their start in 1948, constitute a remarkable chapter in the history of the world body. Today the number of UN peacekeeping personnel totals 100,000 throughout the world with an annual budget topping $4.5 billion.