Deprivation and dedication go hand in hand in the field

In December 2013, I escorted UN officials to investigate a massacre in a village in South Sudan. When we stopped at a checkpoint a man pointed an AK-47 at my head, but fortunately he let us through after we identified ourselves. When we arrived at the village, a half-dressed man put a machete to my neck and asked why we were there. I had to explain that we had come to help.

Dangerous situations like that often happened on deployments. When I was in East Timor, more than 30 militants surrounded the prime minister's residence, wanting to kidnap his wife and three sons, the youngest of whom was only 3. Along with three peacekeepers and two local policemen, I helped to hide the PM's wife and children under a bed. We used furniture to block the entrance until more peacekeepers arrived.

When I was in South Sudan, my son was just 6 months old. When the doctor asked my wife, "Where's your husband?" she replied, "He's busy keeping the world safe."

I'm proud of my work. Representing China and the Chinese police on missions is a great honor, but I don't tell my family about the dangerous moments I've had.

In the UN, competition for promotion is fierce. Once, I was chosen for a mission with 27 officers from several countries. After we trained for two weeks in Italy, seven people were eliminated. Nobody had told us that there would be a round of eliminations when the training camp was over. We thought all 28 of us were on the final list. It must have been very embarrassing to be kicked out at the last moment, so I'm glad I wasn't.

The situation in Haiti was tough. I saw a burning police car riddled with bullet holes. The driver and two officers were dead. The walls of our base, an abandoned factory, were also pockmarked with bullet holes.

In 2010, eight Chinese officers were killed in an earthquake in Haiti. I had worked with three of them, patrolling together, and taking turns to sleep because of the lack of beds. When I heard about the tragedy, I burst into tears, and whenever I closed my eyes their faces flooded into my mind.

When I was in East Timor, I really wanted to make a difference, so I applied for the position of district commander. As a leader, you have more opportunities to make progress, and to participate in the making of rules and regulations.

My work has mostly been about assisting the political process, reforming the judicial system, and training law enforcement and police officers. When I saw that the Afghan police had solved a major drug case after a few months of training with us, I felt a real sense of achievement.

Back in 2002, there were very few Asian peacekeepers, let alone any from China. As a result people tended to be skeptical at first.

One officer from New York City regularly questioned my decisions, but not in a constructive way. Back then, China wasn't as influential as it is now, but the NYPD was known all over the world through Hollywood movies.

However, I won people's trust and respect by being professional, and I made friends with a lot of foreign officers during every deployment.

Working overseas wasn't easy for me: I spent six Spring Festivals overseas. Sometimes I was alone in an office in the remote mountains. I will never forget the feeling of waking up in an empty room on the morning of the most important Chinese festival when it's a time people should spend with their families.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/30/2015 page16)