Li Xiaofengs story: Rocks and sticks roared over our headsand past our shoulders. I knew it was time to resort to weapons.One of the windows had been broken open, and a young manbrandishing a meter-long iron bar was leaping onto the windowsill.I grabbed the bar and easily threw him down. Then I lifted the barand pretended to hit him. The young man scrambled away. With thisinitial success, I turned to other people with the iron bar. Myparmer had also put down an attacker. The crowd saw how- quick anddetermined we were. They knew it was impossible to get into theflat without defeating us. For a moment, nobody moved. (P40)
During a meeting with high-ranking officers, Lian Changgangissued four orders related to the security situation in East Timor.One officer named Pick said the second order was inappropriate andasked Lian to rescind it. Lian smashed his palm.on the desk andstood up:Nonsense! A newly appointed Deputy Commissioher bargedinto Lians office. He said that Pick was his good friend. If Lianhad any misunderstandings -with Pick, hed find fault with Lian.Lian replied coldly that he was the direct superior of Pick: If hewasnt fulfilling his duties, Lian had the full power to deal withhim and even sack him. He pointed out that the Deputy Commissionerhad raised an unreasonable request, which he couldnt carry out.The official froze and stared at the short Chinese, as if unable tounderstand how he could be so bold. Lian called in two secretariesto escort the disturber of his work out of the office. (P43)
Chen Xun, a policewoman, took up a domestic violence case, whichinvolved a member of East Timors cabinet. When sending the victimto give testimony in court, they were caught in heavy rain. Whenthey reached a right-angle turn, the car suddenly rushed down theslope like a horse out of control. Everyone screamed - except forChen. She yanked the wheel to one side and stood on the brake,stopping the vehicle on the edge of an abyss... After two rounds oftrials, the minister was punished according to law. The case had aprofound influence on the East Timorese society. From that verdicton, domestic violence cases declined. (P52)
Prelude
I Joining the Fight for Peace
1 Rites of Passage
2 Evil in Eden
3 A Place Like Hell
4 Home So Far Away
5 Mosquitoes Play Capture the Leader
6 Brushing Shoulders with Death
7 Every Day May Be the Last
8 Fighting for Respect
9 Thoughts and Actions
10 The First Emperor and Misspoken Fortunes
11 Five-Star Flag in Dill
12 Relocating the Prison and Stopping Bloodshed
13 When Peacekeepers Clash
14 After the Rape
15 Tough Roses
16 Digging Corpses and Kungfu Fighting
17 Sleeping with a Gun
18 Fate Smiles Again
19 Quelling Unrest From a Helicopter
20 Rebel Guns in the Police Dorm
21 Put the Thorn in the Iron Bucket
22 Behind Every Successful Man
23 Mission Accomplished
24 Fangs Flash in the Darkness
25 The Bali Blast
26 Holding the Frontline
27 All Humans Fear Death
28 The Prime Minister is Attacked
29 The Assassination Attempt
II Protecting Sarajevo-Chinese Peacekeepers inBosnia-Herzegovina
1 Battle in the Balkans
2 Maneuvering the Minefields
3 Under Pressure
4 Unarmed Police and Armed Civilians
5 Kungfu Cops Chop With Chopsticks
III Moving the African Rain Capital to Tears
1 Old Hands in New Lands
2 A Scratch Can Kill
3 A Womans Touch and Making Houses from Tombs
4 Breaking the Rules
5 Addicted to Peacekeeping
IV Chaos in the Caribbean
1 The Hell that was Haiti
2 Who Wants to Die in a Foreign Land?
3 Riot Squad
4 The UNs Deadliest Day
5 A Feather Carrying the Weight of Peace
6 A Cameraman with a Gun
7 A Hero Lost
8 Those Who Fell
9 A Nation Remembers
10 A Father Gone
Epilogue
Yu Yin was born in 1962. He had served in the navy and workedin the government before becoming a reporter and senior editor withNortheast Window magazine. He has published more than 3 millionwords in his features, novels, poems, prose and theses. Some of hisbooks on Chinas participation in the UN peacekeeping operationsinclude: Legends of High-Ranking Peacekeeping Officials; ChinasPeacekeeping Police; and Legends of the Chinese Peacekeeping PoliceForce.