2015年CRI 中国维和人员：维护和平，勇敢者的游戏

 

“You need some tact¹ to play the game of the brave.”

This is how Nan Yixu sums up the essence of his job – that of a military observer deployed² in Lebanon,

As a member of the UN Truce³ Supervision⁴ Organization (UNTSO) in Lebanon, Nan Yixu’s job was to supervise the ceasefire line in the volatile⁵ tri-border region of Lebanon, Israel and Syria. Place names of that region often appeared in breaking news at that time: Bekaa Valley, Golan Heights -- all about tension or conflicts. There are constant cross-border skirmishes triggered by illegal transfer of arms, crossing of combatants and the flight of refugees.

Nan Yixu’s mission was to observe what was happening on the ground, to look out for any unexploded ordnance⁶ like bombs, shells, grenades or land mines buried under the roads. His duty was to report what he saw and heard in a timely manner through the appropriate channels.

Military observers are the eyes and ears of UN. Higher level commanders need their input⁷ to understand the ground situation and make the right decisions.

Nan Yixu says even though they were only there to observe, there were constantly exposed to danger.

“When we were patrolling alongside the Blue Line, anything could happen. For instance, people from different forces might turn their guns at you simultaneously⁸. You looked up and saw all the red dots, the laser sightings, on your teammate’s face. Both of you rushed back to the car, found somewhere safe to hide and immediately reported what you’d seen. You never asked for these things to happen, but they did make you better teammates, closer friends.”

Dealing⁹ with such life-and-death situations was only one of the challenges that peacekeepers faced. Culture shock was another obstacle they must overcome.

Not only must you communicate with teammates from different nations, interacting with local residents from different ethnic¹⁰ groups and religious backgrounds could be quite tricky¹¹.

The tri-border region separating Lebanon, Israel and Syria, is also home to a dozens of different tribes who had been fighting with each other for decades. Even something as simple as the wrong greeting might end up offending the locals.

Nan Yixu then learned a useful skill of telling people’s religion by simply asking their names

“If one’s name contain words like Ali, Mohammed or Abdo, he’s most likely to be a Muslim, which means ‘Assalaamu Alaikum’is a good way to greet him. However, in Lebanon, there are also lots of Christians¹² from different branches, which you can also tell apart by their names. Another way to deal with this is to learn some local dialects. Greeting them with their own common language can also give you some brownie points.”

Like Nan Yixu, He Xing has also carried out some similar mission several months ago. He served under the UN flag as Force Engineer at Force Headquarters in the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in Western Sudan from May 2014 to June 2015. He was the Force Commander’s advisor¹³ on all engineering matters related to post-war reconstruction¹⁴ in a region that has undergone a bloody¹⁵ war.

He Xing was responsible for assigning engineering tasks to different teams, evaluating the performance of engineering companies in the mission; communicating with different sections and civilian¹⁶ organizations to prioritize engineering tasks; and monitor the progress made.

When He Xing was about to wrap up his mission in Darfur he was an outstanding recommendation by his Chief of Staff and Force Commander.

He reads the copy of his report with joy and fulfillment.

“I quote, ‘He exhibited a high level of leadership in an environment of rapid change and uncertainty¹⁷. He is one of the excellent leaders and planners who is always forthcoming, going the extra mile in the call of duty and indeed his contribution to UNAMID is highly commendable¹⁸. COL HE XING is a good Ambassador of The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and his country. I recommend him for the future and higher assignments in UN service, quote.”

He Xing is now back in China, teaching in a university in China’s eastern city of Nanjing.

He says he will always cherish the experiences he has gained as a peacekeeper

“In each and every peacekeeping mission, there’s always danger, security concerns. Accidents happen. I wish all the peacekeepers can finish their mission successfully and safely. And I wish during the mission they should learn from foreigners from their counterparts. And try to maintain a good relationship with local communities. ”

He Xing says he witnessed Chinese peacekeepers overcoming the challenges one by one and making steady progress in various aspects.

For CRI, I’m Niu Honglin.

1 tact   

n.机敏，圆滑，得体

参考例句：

• She showed great tact in dealing with a tricky situation.她处理棘手的局面表现得十分老练。
• Tact is a valuable commodity.圆滑老练是很有用处的。

2 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

3 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

4 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

5 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

6 ordnance   

n.大炮，军械

参考例句：

• She worked in an ordnance factory during the war.战争期间她在一家兵工厂工作。
• Shoes and clothing for the army were scarce,ordnance supplies and drugs were scarcer.军队很缺鞋和衣服，武器供应和药品就更少了。

7 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

8 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

11 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

12 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

13 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

14 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

15 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

16 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

17 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

18 commendable   

adj.值得称赞的

参考例句：

• The government's action here is highly commendable.政府这样的行动值得高度赞扬。
• Such carping is not commendable.这样吹毛求疵真不大好。