China significantly increased its financial contribution to UN peacekeeping missions, becoming the second-largest contributor after the US. This rise occurs as geopolitical tensions increasingly challenge multilateral peace operations.

China was the second-largest financial contributor to the UN peacekeeping mission after the US last year, with its share rising “substantially” as geopolitical tensions increasingly paralysed multilateral peace operations, according to a Swedish think tank. In a report on multilateral peace operations in 2025 released on Monday, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said that 78,633 international personnel had been deployed with UN peace operations by December 31 – some 49...