Members of China’s riot police squad wave goodbye before leaving Beijing on an eight-month UN peacekeeping mission to Liberia on October 21.

The 140-member force is the first such unit China has sent to Africa. According to the Ministry of Public Security， the squad was selected from field police officers in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province， and passed UN examinations after three months of training.

Since 2000， China has sent 1，946 police officers to other countries on similar peacekeeping initiatives.