One is the streets of Chongqing, full of fireworks, with traffic flow and crowds of people, and colorful neon signs are densely packed with the facade of the commercial building. The hot pot restaurant is open all night, with red soup bubbling and steaming.

The scenes of the two worlds appear in Wen Yueling’s memory.

One is the streets of Chongqing full of fireworks, with traffic flow and crowds of people, and colorful neon signs are densely packed with the facade of the commercial building. The hot pot restaurant is open all night, with red soup bubbling and steaming.

One is a sparsely populated savannah, low thatched huts, and the sound of gunfires from time to time, which can reach temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius, as well as the raging mosquitoes and the malaria and diseases they bring. There are only two seasons of rain and drought in a year. The long dry season of seven or eight months makes it difficult for crops to grow, and locals can only make a living by livestock. Wenyueling is extremely familiar with these two places. He has worked as a community police officer in , , security, and also has done entry and exit work. Today, he is the deputy captain of the Entry and Exit Management Detachment of the Dadukou District Public Security Bureau of Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau. As the first and eighth peacekeeping police force member of China's peacekeeping force to South Sudan, Wen Yueling has twice gone to South Sudan to carry out a one-year peacekeeping mission, and has won the "Medal of Peace" of United Nations twice. On May 25, 2022, at the National Public Security System Heroes and Models Commendation Conference, Wen Yueling won the honorary title of "National Outstanding People's Police".

. Photo provided by the interviewee

"Everyone else can do it, what can I do?"

When I first went to peacekeeping, I went from Chongqing to Egypt , and then flew to Juba , the capital of South Sudan, and then to Boer, the capital of Qionglai Prefecture. More than 20 hours later, Wen Yueling stood on the land of Africa and lived a life that was "unthinkable" when he was in China.

South Sudan, one of the least developed countries in the world, has a backward economy and a war. The slogan of "maintaining world peace" was full of glory, which strongly attracted Wen Yueling, supporting him to pass through more than 100 applicants through numerous selections and "death elimination", and eventually became an peacekeeping policeman . But when we arrived in South Sudan, the specific difficulties were as insurmountable as mountains.

Here is a city, but in fact it is just a low settlement in the vast savannah, and the locals still live in thatched huts. The outdoor temperature is nearly 50 degrees Celsius. Every time you go out to perform a task, Wen Yueling's back and shoulders seem to be burning. Vegetables are even more "scarce resources". Onions, potatoes, and tomatoes are the "three old things" in farmers' markets. There is also a kind of wild vegetable that is only available in the rainy season, but it is very expensive. The local climate is dry, so you can only smoke groundwater to drink, and it has a great stomach after drinking. There are even more cultural conflicts. According to local customs, it is a ritual to prepare ginger tea and coffee for guests, but the cups they handed over are always surrounded by flies.

Wen Yueling almost every night falls asleep under the fire of war. From time to time, he could hear the sound of gunshots one or two hundred meters away, like the sound of firecrackers. At first, he was scared and always thought, what if the conflict widens and the other party rushed into the camp? Gradually, he became accustomed to it, "You can't sleep, just do it." He stuffed his escape bag under his pillow, and prepared enough food, drinking water, a knife, a lighter, a certificate and cash.

Wenyueling took a photo with local elders while carrying out community policing work in South Sudan. Photo provided by the interviewee

"I was completely unaccustomed at first, but if I were not used to it, you couldn't do your job." Wen Yueling kept looking for ways to solve the problem. He gradually discovered that the local wild vegetables did not have the strange smell as they imagined. The groundwater boiled and cooled, so he would not have a stomachache when he got used to it. In order to better communicate with the local people, he also studied simple local languages, Arabic while working, "Abide by local etiquette, they will regard you as a friend."

completely adapted to local life, and it took Wenyueling half a year. Just because he was not adapted to the local environment, he had tormented him for two or three months. There were also diseases that followed. After coming to South Sudan, nearly half of the 14 Chinese peacekeepers scattered around the country suffered from malaria. That feeling impressed Wen Yueling, , dry mouth, , dizzy, cold sweat, chills all over, and his body seemed to float up and he kept shaking.In Sichuan and Chongqing dialects, this is called "dialising".

Because of poor medical conditions, Wen Yueling could only take artemisinin orally every day, but the condition still recurs. When he was the hardest thing, he cheered himself up: There was no precedent for Chinese police to return home early due to illness, and this honor cannot be broken by himself. "The other team members can stick to their work, what can I do?"

"Guardian" in the war

In South Sudan, Wenyueling always traveled through war and conflict.

One day in early summer, Wen Yueling and his colleagues went out for a long-distance patrol. Under the scorching sun, they saw seven or eight bodies lying along the road. The dark red blood stains everywhere emitted a odor, attracting huge mosquitoes unique to Africa. As soon as the vehicles passed, they scattered "buzzing".

That was the first time Wen Yueling saw a real corpse.

The odor choked into the nose, and Wen Yueling had a little hairy body. But he endured his nervousness, "Many foreign colleagues are with you. If you act too nervous or even timid, their impression of the Chinese police will be greatly reduced, and they will think that you have problems with your professionalism." Before they could think about it carefully, they quickly sent the injured to the helicopter and began to investigate. It turned out that there was a conflict between the two tribes, and almost no one survived in one of the villages.

Wenyueling suffered a great impact, "This is the real peacekeeping scene. Peacekeeping is the battlefield, and people will die when fighting."

Wenyueling (first from left) took a group photo after performing an aerial reconnaissance mission with foreign colleagues in South Sudan. Photo provided by the interviewee

In addition to being brave, being a peacekeeping policeman also requires mind. One afternoon, Wen Yueling was working in the camp and a call for help came, and the other party was two employees of China Construction Company. They were coerced by locals with guns and had been detained in the company's office for two days, and were hungry and thirsty. After putting down the phone, Wen Yueling and his colleagues rushed to the detention site.

Along the way, he was nervous. The United Nations has clear regulations that peacekeeping police do not have law enforcement powers and cannot directly participate in the handling of local incidents. Once they participate in the handling, they will face disciplinary sanctions and may even be risked to be repatriated. "But this is our Chinese citizens. I can't ignore it even if I have any problems."

car parked on an empty construction site, with no one around, only a narrow simple shanty town with the Chinese flag on the top. Wen Yueling speculated that this was probably the accommodation for Chinese employees. Through the broken shanty town, he saw two Chinese citizens squatting in the corner, with a black gun in front of him.

Wen Yueling's brain was spinning rapidly, and he quickly thought of a solution. Looking at the three hijackers in the room, he took off the blue helmets of the peacekeeping police and said, "I'm not here to rule on this matter, I'm here to be a translator." After a brief silence, a hijacker lowered the gun barrel in his hand and said in broken English: "Okay, translator, then tell them and let them give money!"

In more than two hours of communication, Wen Yueling learned that this Chinese construction company hired these three local policemen as security guards and paid their wages uniformly every quarter. This month, after the Chinese company paid the salary to the police station, the police station head did not transfer it to the security guard in time. They mistakenly thought that the Chinese company was in arrears, so they controlled two Chinese workers at the station to ask for money. Wen Yueling interpreted and persuaded him. In the end, the misunderstanding was resolved and the three security guards let the Chinese workers go.

When danger occurs, Wen Yueling has no time to think, he feels that he has just done what he should do. "Although it is hard and dangerous, I survived it and finally came back alive. These are valuable life experiences for me and a wealth."

Tell the Chinese story well with practical actions

0 went to South Sudan for the second time in 2020.

This year, Wen Yueling was 44 years old. When he first went to South Sudan to perform a mission eight years ago, he mocked himself for "I don't know anything and was confused." And this time, as an old member of the team, he took on more responsibilities. "To bring the team safely back, a lot of them come back, this is the most important thing."

That year, malaria hit again.Comrade Zou Yi began to sweat and have a high fever. He thought it was a common cold, but Wen Yueling looked at it more and more wrong. He experienced the same symptoms eight years ago.

dared not be careless, Wen Yueling quickly contacted the Chinese peacekeeping force medical team and sent Zou Yi there for treatment. In life, he also helped him as much as he did eight years ago as his comrades took care of him. Zou Yi had a bad appetite, so Wen Yueling cooked some porridge for him. "He saved my life." After returning to China, Zou Yi was always impressed by this experience. Just a month before he was infected with malaria, two UN peacekeeping police officers had just passed away due to malaria. "If it weren't for Wenyueling, I wouldn't have come back alive."

Aladdin was a child Wenyueling met while on duty in the refugee camp. He was 14 years old at the time and had lived in the refugee camp for five years. He studied for a few years and could speak English, so he helped the peacekeeping police as an interpreter, sometimes helping to run errands and get water, and gradually became familiar with Wenyueling. Wen Yueling then realized that Aladdin had to drop out of school because his family was poor. He was originally a native of South Sudan and went to North Sudan to take refuge in war. After South Sudan's independence, his parents brought him and seven or eight sisters back here. Unexpectedly, there was still constant conflict in the area and they had to stay in refugee camps.

Looking at this shabby child, Wen Yueling couldn't bear it. He gave Aladdin two years of tuition. "At that time, my child was as old as him. My child was studying, but he didn't have the chance to study." Wen Yueling hoped that Aladdin could continue reading, "He said he wanted to be a policeman, too."

Wen Yueling took a photo with the children after providing humanitarian help to children in a local village in South Sudan. Photo provided by the interviewee

In the second half of 2020, the domestic epidemic was under control, and Wen Yueling also promoted the "Chinese-style anti-epidemic" locally in Wawu.

Wuwu area has poor medical and health conditions, and residents have weak awareness of epidemic prevention and never wear masks when going out. Wen Yueling has learned from and refined China's practices during the fight against the epidemic, assisted in writing the "Guidelines for the Prevention of New Coronavirus in Wawu District" and promoted China's anti-epidemic experience in the mission area. At the same time, he regularly attends epidemic press conferences every week, informs all police officers of the region about the epidemic situation, and supervises the implementation of prevention measures.

He proposed to wear a mask in the office area, maintain a safe distance of 1.5 meters, wash hands frequently, and promote home office work, walkie-talkie contact, walkie-talkie meeting, health monitoring, etc. He also contacted the Chinese medical team of the Chinese peacekeeping force to provide gloves, disinfectants and other simple epidemic prevention materials for the Wawu mission area. Some people didn't understand and thought he was making a big fuss, so he patiently persuaded the other party: "There are so many people from countries here, and the possibility of infection is even greater. This is not only for your own good, but also for the safety of everyone's lives."

"As long as you say something makes sense, they will gradually accept it." Wen Yueling said, "This process is also a process of telling good stories about China and making Chinese voices. If Chinese people do good things, they will naturally increase the local people's favorability towards Chinese people and enhance China's influence." His approach also brought significant results - during his tenure as the person in charge of the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic in the Wawu Peacekeeping Police Branch, no peacekeeping police in the Wawu area was infected with the new crown virus.

In 2021, Wen Yueling returned to Chongqing from South Sudan and continued to stick to the entry and exit police post. Without the war and smoke, he still protects the security and harmony of society in his own way. Within the jurisdiction, Wen Yueling publicizes epidemic prevention and control measures and relevant laws and regulations to foreign personnel. In order to further strengthen the daily management of permanent foreigners in the jurisdiction, Wen Yueling also led the foreign-control police of the detachment to go deep into the residence of foreigners in the jurisdiction and conduct visa revisits one by one.

wenyueling handles residence permit business for foreign personnel. Photo provided by the interviewee

On May 25, 2022, Wen Yueling was named "National Outstanding People's Police". Although he was unable to attend the award ceremony in Beijing due to the epidemic, he still watched the whole show carefully, feeling full of excitement and honor. “This is the highest and heaviest honor I have personally received in 24 years as a police officer."

Wen Yueling said that as a peacekeeping police officer who participated in the implementation of peacekeeping missions twice, he was able to live up to his mission and successfully complete all the work assigned by the United Nations in an extremely dangerous and harsh environment, show the dedication and professional style of the Chinese police on the international stage, and win honor for the motherland. Although this memory is short, the spirit of the peacekeeping police has been engraved in his genes, "The times are changing and society is developing, and the original mission of the public security organs to serve the people will not change. "

Character profile:

Wenyueling, male, Han nationality , born in July 1975, a member of the Communist Party of China, a bachelor's degree, participated in public security work in 1998, currently the deputy captain of the entry and exit management detachment of the Dadukou District Branch of Chongqing Public Security Bureau, first-class police supervisor . He has successively won the first-class first-class 1 times, second-class 1 times, and commended 7 times. He won the "excellent" evaluation in the third UN assessment, twice won the war zone commendation, twice won the United Nations "Peace Medal", was awarded the 6th Chongqing Advanced Worker in 2021, and won the personal title of "Most Beautiful Chongqing Police Model of 2021".

Beijing News Reporter Xu Yang

edit Liu Qian

proofreading Wu Xingfa