China began deployment of an infantry battalion of 700 soldiers in South Sudan to a United Nations peacekeeping force to help guard Chinese workers and installations there together with the area’s oil fields, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a government spokesman. The deployment of troops to the only oil fields still under the control of the Sudanese central government marks the first time Beijing has contributed a battalion to a UN peacekeeping force, according to UN officials. State-owned China National Petroleum Corp. holds a 40% stake in a joint venture that operates South Sudan’s vast oil fields.
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