II. Security Issues

    We endorse the Secretary-General's proposal concerning collective action against security threats and challenges. It is consistent with China's proposal for a new security concept that features "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination". To establish an effective, efficient and fair collective security mechanism, the key lies in adhering to mutilateralism, promoting democracy and rule of law in international affairs, sticking to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, strengthening the authority and capability of the UN and safeguarding the centrality of the Security Council to the collective security system.

    1.War and Conflict

    - Inter-state conflict should be addressed through peaceful negotiation and consultation on an equal footing in accordance with the UN Charter and international law.

    - Internal conflicts are complex. Whether they threaten world peace and security needs to be judged on a case-by-case basis. The resolution of internal conflicts should mainly rely on the efforts of the people of the State. External support should be given with caution and responsibility in compliance with the UN Charter and international law and should combine political and diplomatic measures with a prudent and responsible attitude to encourage and facilitate the resolution of problems through consultation and negotiation between the conflicting parties.

    2.Counter-terrorism

    - China stands for and supports the fight against terrorism in all forms and manifestations. International counter-terrorism efforts should give full play to the UN's leading and coordinating role, address both the root causes and symptoms and avoid politicization and double standards.

    - China supports a global comprehensive strategy against terrorism to be formulated as soon as possible and endorses the five pillars proposed by the Secretary-General as the foundation of such strategy.

    - China supports further improvement of the existing counter-terrorism conventions and legal framework. Countries ought to consider early signing and ratifying the existing international counter-terrorism conventions and reach agreement as soon as possible on the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in a coorporative and constructive spirit.

    - China hopes for a consensus on the definition of terrorism. The definition may draw on, as appropriate, the existing international conventions and related provisions of Security Council resolutions.

    - Member States and civil society must comply with the UN Charter and relevant norms of international law when participating counter-terrorism cooperation.

    - Acts of violation against human rights that arise in counter-terrorism activities should be addressed by fully utilizing the existing mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights, conventional institutions and supervision mechanism of international humanitarian law. At present, there is no need to set up a new mechanism.

    - China supports the strengthening of functions of the Counter-Terrorism Commission of the Security Council and the expansion of the mandate of its Executive Directorate, especially the reinforcement of developing countries¡¯ capacity against terrorism and the establishment of a capacity building trust fund for this purpose.

    - China believes it necessary to appoint a UN coordinator for counter-terrorism affairs.

    3. Disarmament and Non-proliferation

    - China has always stood for the comprehensive prohibition and thorough destruction of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and opposed any forms of proliferation of WMD and their delivery systems. China has been actively promoting the international nuclear disarmament process.

    - All nuclear weapon states should conclude a treaty on non-first use of nuclear weapons. They should also commit themselves unconditionally to not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon countries or regions and conclude a binding international legal instrument in this regard.

    - The international community should take effective measures in real earnest to maintain and strengthen the universality and authority of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). All signatories should adopt a constructive attitude and a balanced view towards the three major goals of the Treaty.

    - China supports the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and hopes that the Treaty will come into effect at an early date. China will maintain its moratorium on nuclear tests and work for the early ratification of the Treaty.

    - China supports the early launch of negotiation on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty on the basis of a balanced program of work to be agreed at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva.

    - China supports the important role played by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in preventing nuclear weapon proliferation and promoting peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with the purposes of its Statute. Under the current circumstances, it is necessary to discuss, through international cooperation and consultation, how to further strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime, which includes such an important issue as how to take appropriate measures to further strengthen the effectiveness of IAEA safeguards. China stresses the importance of IAEA Additional Protocol and hopes to see the strengthening of its universality.

    - China supports and actively participates in multilateral efforts aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and takes a positive attitude towards the immediate resumption of negotiation on a verification protocol of the Convention. China supports the conclusion of a new biological security protocol by the State Parties to the Convention through negotiations so as to classify dangerous biological agents and establish binding international standards for the export of agents of this kind.

    - China is in favor of strengthening the universality of the BTWC and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).- The States Parties to the BTWC should observe the consultation, cooperation and investigation mechanism of the Convention, which is a main means to deal with the alleged use of biological weapons. The Secretary-General mechanism has its own historical background and scope of application. If most States Parties agree, it may be completely reviewed through multilateral negotiations.

    - China encourages all States Parties to submit information on confidence-building measures as required by the Review Conference of the BTWC.

    - Countries that have chemical weapons should accelerate their efforts to destroy their complete storage of chemical weapons, old chemical weapons and chemical weapons abandoned in other countries. The verification mechanism of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) generally functions well. The States Parties can address concerns for breach through mechanisms of clarification, consultation and cooperation. If material breach happens, the Conference of the States Parties or the Executive Council may call the attention of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council to that question.

    - China opposes the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, supports the strengthening of the current international non-proliferation regime and calls for the resolution of proliferation issues within the framework of international law by political and diplomatic means. Any non-proliferation measures should contribute to international and regional peace, security and stability. Like many other nations, China is not in favor of the interceptive measures taken by the Proliferation Security Initiative beyond the international law.

    - The prevention of weaponization of outer space and any forms of arms race in outer space conduces to global strategic stability and promotes the process of arms control and disarmament. The international community should attach great importance to this and take vigorous and effective measures to forestall this danger. The Conference on Disarmament in Geneva should promptly set up an ad hoc committee for the negotiations and conclusion of relevant international legal instruments or work toward the objective of plugging the loopholes in the current legal regime of outer space and effectively preventing the weaponization of outer space and any forms of arms race in outer space.

    - The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons plays an important role in addressing the humanitarian concerns arising from war. China has always actively participated in all work related to the Convention. China hopes that the Protocol on the Explosive Remnants of War will come into effect at an early date and be implemented in real earnest. China will continue to support and participate in the work of Group of governmental Experts of the Convention; hoping progress will be made in related work.

    - China supports the international community's efforts in combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons and supports the negotiation for the conclusion of an international instrument on ¡°marking and tracing of the illicit small arms and light weapons¡±. The illicit trade in small arms involves many factors such as disarmament, security, development and humanitarianism and should be addressed through a comprehensive and appropriate approach. In this regard, states shall take on the  primary responsibilities and strengthen coordination and cooperation, and the UN should continue to play a leading role.

    4. Organized Crime

    - China supports the enhancement of international and regional cooperation to crack down on transnational organized crimes. Developed countries should fulfil greater obligations of providing resources.

    - China hopes to see effective implementation of international conventions on combating transnational organized crimes and corruption.

    - The UN Office on Drugs and Crime should strive to help countries comply with the conventions.

    - Provided that the existing international conventions concluded at the UN are effectively implemented, China does not object to the negotiation and conclusion of necessary new international conventions within the UN framework.

    5. Prevention and Mediation

    - China supports the establishment of the "prevention culture" by the UN and larger input into conflict prevention and mediation, especially the improvement of mechanisms and measures such as early warning and fact-finding mission.

    - The Member States should give full play to the leading role of the Security Council and support the Secretary-General's authorized good offices and mediation.

    6. Sanctions

    - China has always maintained that sanctions should be applied with prudence on the precondition that all peaceful means have been exhausted. Once the Security Council decides to impose sanctions, all countries are obliged to comply strictly.

    - China is in favor of improving the sanctions mechanism of the UN, setting a strict criterion, making it well focused, setting explicit time limits and minimizing the possibility of humanitarian crisis arising from sanctions and its impact on the third country. The committees on sanction should regularly evaluate the humanitarian impact of sanctions.

    - The international community should help developing countries build capacity for sanctions implementation.

    7. Use of force

    - Peaceful settlement of international disputes and non-use of force in international relations is an important principle of the UN Charter and a basic norm of international law. China consistently stands for settlement of international disputes by peaceful means and opposes the threat or use of force in international relations.

    - We are of the view that Article 51 of the Charter should neither be amended nor reinterpreted. The Charter lays down explicit provisions on the use of force, i.e. use of force shall not be resorted to without the authorization of the Security Council with the exception of self-defense under armed attack. Whether an urgent threat exists should be determined and handled with prudence by the Security Council in accordance with Chapter 7 of the Charter and in light of the specific situation.

    - Given the varying causes and nature of crises, it is both unrealistic and hugely controversial to formulate a "one -fits-all" rule or criterion on the use of force. Whether to use force or not should be decided by the Security Council in light of the reality of conflicts on a case-by-case basis.

    - The Security Council is the only body that can decide the use of force. Regional arrangements or organizations must obtain Security Council authorization prior to any enforcement action.

    8. Peacekeeping

    - UN peacekeeping operations should comply with the UN Charter and all the basic principles that are proven effective, including neutrality, consent of parties concerned and non-use of force except for self-defense, etc.

    - China supports the enhancement of the UN's peacekeeping capacity and welcomes the Secretary-General's proposal on the establishment of strategic reserves and civilian police standby capacity. China hopes that the Secretariat will specify and clarify the many aspects of the proposal as required by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping of the General Assembly. To establish a new mechanism entails cautious and thorough consideration so as to ensure its feasibility and effectiveness. Resources should be consolidated and limits of capacity respected and potential of the existing mechanisms fully tapped.

    - The limited UN resources on peacekeeping should be rationally and effectively utilized. The UN may provide support, where necessary, to peacekeeping operations conducted by regional organizations in Africa.

    - China supports stronger cooperation between the UN and regional organizations for better coordination and full utilization of each other's advantages. Peacekeeping operations undertaken by regional organizations should comply with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

    9. Peacebuilding

    - China supports the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission. The responsibilities of the Commission should focus on assisting the planning of the transition from conflict to post-conflict reconstruction and coordinating international efforts. China endorses the Secretary-General¡¯s view that the Commission is largely an advisory body without early warning or monitoring function.

    - The Commission will be responsible mainly to the Security Council, which is in the interest of its efficiency and effectiveness. China also supports the Economic and Social Council's full participation in the Commission's work.

    - The Secretariat should follow the principles of efficiency and effectiveness in setting up the Peacebuilding Support Office.

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