I. The Role of the United Nations (UN)

The world is undergoing tremendous changes and adjustments. Peace and development remain the call of the times. The pursuit of peace, development and cooperation is the common aspiration of all governments and peoples around the world. Interdependence among countries is increasing and the international situation has been stable on the whole. At the same time, however, the world is far from trouble-free. Regional conflicts and hotspot issues keep emerging. Imbalances in the world economy are worsening. The North-South gap is widening. Traditional and non-traditional security threats are intertwined. All this poses difficulties and challenges to world peace and development.

Multilateralism is an inevitable choice for countries to share the development opportunities, jointly meet various challenges and advance the noble cause of peace and development of humanity. The UN is an important platform to practice multilateralism, achieve win-win cooperation and build a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity. China firmly supports the UN in continuing to play a central role in international affairs and firmly supports efforts to uphold and strengthen the effectiveness and authority of the UN.

II. UN Reforms

China supports the UN in carrying out necessary and reasonable reform to enhance its authority and efficiency and better fulfill the responsibilities bestowed on it by the Charter of the United Nations. It meets the development needs of the UN itself and also represents the consensus of the entire membership. The outcome document adopted at the 2005 UN Summit has charted the course for the reform, and China welcomes its positive results. Security, development and human rights are the three pillars of the UN. Reforms in these three fields should proceed in a balanced way. Efforts should be made particularly to produce results in the field of development. Necessary guarantees in terms of institutional arrangement and resources should be assured for development to promote the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals for the benefit of developing countries.

China supports reasonable and necessary reform of the Security Council to enhance its authority and efficiency. We have always supported developing countries in playing a bigger role in the UN, including the Security Council. We maintain that priority should be given to increasing the representations of developing countries, especially African countries, in the Security Council. As reform bears on the future development of the UN and the common interests of all countries, extensive and democratic discussions should be carried out to take into account the interests and concerns of all parties and reach consensus. China is ready to work with all other parties to ensure that the reform of the Security Council will follow a direction that is conducive to the overall interests of the UN member states and upholds and enhances the solidarity of the member states.

III. Security Sector

1. UN Peacekeeping Operations

UN peacekeeping operations are an important and effective means to practice multilateralism and uphold collective security. The peacekeeping operations, with ever expanding scale and increasingly broader mandate, are facing more and more challenges. China supports reasonable reform of UN peacekeeping operations to further improve resources allocation and enhance the rapid reaction and deployment capability of peacekeeping operations. The reform should comply with the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and the universally recognized norms governing peacekeeping operations, strengthen communication and coordination among various UN departments and agencies and between the Security Council, the UN Secretariat and the member states, in particular, the states involved in the peacekeeping operations, and enhance cooperation between the UN and relevant regional organizations.

2. Peacebuilding

The task of peacebuilding involves the whole UN system. As an important link of efforts in the fields of peace and development, the Peacebuilding Commission should play its role to the full. China is of the view that the Commission should focus on the following three areas: First, it should not only launch quick-impact projects in the recipient countries but also take into consideration their long-term development; second, it should properly identify priority areas with full respect given to the opinions of the recipient countries; third, it should be a good coordinator among relevant agencies and step up cooperation with the General Assembly, Security Council and ECOSOC. China supports the Commission in playing a bigger role in peacebuilding and has pledged $3 million to the Peacebuilding Fund.

3. Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

China is deeply concerned about the security of life and property of civilians affected and threatened by armed conflicts and urges the parties concerned to faithfully observe the International Humanitarian Law and the relevant Security Council resolutions and give full protection to civilians.

The responsibility to protect civilians rests first with the government of the country involved in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the International Humanitarian Law. Humanitarian assistance should respect the principles of impartiality, neutrality, objectiveness and independence, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries concerned and refrain from interfering in local political disputes or impeding the peace process.

Civilian protection should focus on conflict prevention. The Security Council should step up its effort to prevent conflicts and keep peace. Civilian protection should also be given priority in post-conflict peacebuilding. Relevant UN agencies should strengthen coordination and forge synergy for this purpose.

4. Counter-Terrorism

China supports combating terrorism in all manifestations. The international community should act on the Charter of the United Nations and other universally recognized norms of international law in its fight against terrorism and give full play to the leading and coordinating role of the UN and its Security Council.

China welcomes and supports the adoption of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and supports the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee and the General Assembly Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force in playing an active role in coordinating counter-terrorism efforts among member states.

Both the symptoms and root causes of terrorism must be addressed. By making full use of its resources, the UN should play an active role in eliminating poverty and other root causes of terrorism, promote dialogue among civilizations and assist developing countries in counter-terrorism capacity building. China opposes the linkage of terrorism to certain countries, ethnic groups or religions and is against the practice of double standards.

China supports and takes an active part in the drafting of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, and hopes all parties will continue consultation with a constructive and cooperative attitude and reach consensus at an early date.

5. The Korean Peninsula Nuclear Issue

A Korean Peninsula that enjoys peace, stability, progress and prosperity serves the common interests of countries in the region, China included, and the rest of the international community. To further advance the Six-Party Talks and achieve the goals set out in the September 19 Joint Statement at an early date are the shared aspirations of the international community.

As the chair of the Six-Party Talks, China will continue to play a constructive role, strengthen consultation and coordination with other parties and work for the early, comprehensive and balanced implementation of the remaining actions of the second phase to move the Talks into a new phase.

6. The Myanmar Issue

China hopes to see Myanmar maintain peace and stability and achieve democracy and national reconciliation. The Myanmar issue is, in essence, a country's internal affair. The international community should provide constructive assistance to Myanmar. Imposing sanctions and exerting pressure will not help solve the issue. China supports the good offices of the UN Secretary-General and his Special Adviser. These efforts take time and require patience and persistence. China supports giving full play to the role of the tripartite mechanism involving the ASEAN, the UN and Myanmar in helping Myanmar complete post-cyclone reconstruction at an early date.

7. The Afghan Issue

The situation in Afghanistan has a bearing on peace and stability in the region and beyond as well as on the smooth progress of the international counter-terrorism efforts. Despite positive progress, the reconstruction process in Afghanistan still faces numerous challenges. To succeed, it requires first and foremost the determined efforts of the Afghan Government. It also needs the strong support from the international community.

China has consistently supported and actively participated in Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction. China applauds the formulation of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy, welcomes the Paris Declaration issued at the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan and supports further implementation of the Afghanistan Compact. We call on the international community to continue to take an interest and make inputs in Afghanistan and intensify coordination and cooperation. China supports the UN in continuing to play a leading role in resolving the Afghan issue.

8. The Iranian Nuclear Issue

China supports upholding the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. To properly resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiation and maintain regional peace and stability serve the interests of all parties.

The Iranian nuclear issue is at a critical stage. There is a rare opportunity for resuming talks. Parties concerned should step up diplomatic efforts and show flexibility, so as to facilitate early restart of talks and negotiations to seek a comprehensive, enduring and proper settlement of the nuclear issue. China remains committed to encouraging dialogue for peace and will continue to play a constructive role in pushing for the peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.

9. The Middle East Issue

It is China's long-held position that parties concerned in the Middle East issue properly solve their disputes through dialogue and negotiation on the basis of relevant UN resolutions, the principle of "land for peace," the Middle East Roadmap for Peace and the Arab Peace Initiative.

The International Conference on the Middle East held in Annapolis has achieved positive progress. We hope Palestine and Israel will seize the opportunity and steadily advance peace talks. China also welcomes and supports the efforts made by parties concerned to resume talks between Syria and Israel and between Lebanon and Israel. The international community should respect the religious and ethnic features of Arab countries, take into account the culture, history and reality of the Middle East and establish a balanced and effective peace mechanism to work for a just, enduring and comprehensive settlement of the Middle East issue.

10. The Iraq Issue

China holds that Iraq's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be maintained and supports its unity, stability and development. China supports the efforts of the Iraqi Government in stabilizing the security situation, promoting national reconciliation and carrying out reconstruction and has encouraged Iraq to build good-neighborly relations of mutual trust and cooperation with its neighbors.