7 May 2025
President:
I thank Assistant Secretary-General Kyary for his briefing and welcome the permanent representatives of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Japan to the meeting.
The current situation on the Korean Peninsula remains complex and tense, full of instability and uncertainty. I would like to make four points:
First, we must make every effort to maintain stability and prevent chaos. A peaceful and stable peninsula is in the common interests of regional countries and in line with the general expectations of the international community. China calls on all parties concerned on the peninsula issue to take a long-term perspective, focus on the overall situation, remain calm and restrained, avoid any words or deeds that exacerbate tensions and intensify conflicts, and strive to prevent the situation from deteriorating and promote cooling down. For some time, some countries have continued to conduct military exercises on the peninsula, with new tricks and strategic weapons appearing one after another, causing hostility among all parties to be at a high level and the risk of accidental shootings to increase. Accidents may occur if you are not careful. China strongly urges that such dangerous actions be stopped as soon as possible.
Second, we need to promote dialogue and engagement. Historical experience shows that if all parties are willing to engage in dialogue and maintain engagement, the situation on the peninsula will remain generally stable and the political settlement process will easily make positive progress. Otherwise, the situation on the peninsula will become tense and the confrontation between the parties will continue to intensify. We have noticed that relevant parties have recently sent out some positive signals on dialogue and engagement. China calls on relevant parties to seize the opportunity, meet each other halfway, actively interact, build mutual trust, and jointly push the peninsula issue back on the track of dialogue as soon as possible. In this regard, the United States should first show goodwill and take measures to implement its commitment to dialogue.
Third, we need to create favorable conditions. Under the current circumstances, the international community, including the Security Council, should strive to create a good atmosphere for resuming dialogue, rather than simply emphasizing sanctions and exerting pressure. China has always advocated that sanctions are a means rather than an end, and should serve the political settlement process from beginning to end. The resolutions on the DPRK adopted by the Security Council include both sanctions and political settlement and reducing negative humanitarian impacts. We cannot favor one over the other and engage in “selective implementation”. We support the international community to take some positive measures based on humanitarian issues, so as to create conditions and build momentum for the parties concerned to enhance mutual trust and resume contacts.
Fourth, we must abandon the Cold War mentality. The current situation on the peninsula is the result of the remnants of the Cold War that have been delayed to this day. To promote a political solution to the peninsula issue, we must get out of the vicious circle of zero-sum games and establish a correct security concept. In recent years, the United States has used the peninsula issue to promote the “Indo-Pacific strategy”, piece together military alliances, strengthen “extended deterrence”, and increase the deployment of strategic forces on the peninsula and its surrounding areas, intending to create camp confrontation and a “new Cold War”. This not only does not help the political solution of the peninsula issue, but also seriously damages the national security interests of the region, including China, and will only lead to a more serious security dilemma. We urge the United States to immediately stop such dangerous actions and stop using the peninsula issue as an excuse and tool to advance its own geostrategic strategy.
President,
As a permanent member of the Security Council and a responsible major country, China has been making efforts and playing a role in promoting a political solution to the Korean Peninsula issue and maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula. China has always stressed that the essence of the Korean Peninsula issue is a security issue, and the root cause lies in the lack of a peace mechanism and the lack of mutual trust among the relevant parties. We hope that all parties concerned will adhere to the general direction of a political solution, echo China’s efforts to maintain stability and prevent chaos, persuade peace and promote talks, accumulate mutual trust through dialogue, and promote the transformation of the ceasefire and peace mechanism at an early date. We are willing to continue to maintain close communication with all parties concerned and play a constructive role with the international community in promoting a political solution to the Korean Peninsula issue and achieving long-term peace and stability on the peninsula at an early date.
Finally, I would like to firmly reject the accusations and smears against China made by the US representative in his speech just now. I would like to emphasize that China has always strictly implemented the Security Council resolutions on the DPRK, and has assumed more than 90% of the international obligations and costs. To this end, we have overcome great difficulties, made great sacrifices, and suffered huge losses. I hope that the US side will clarify the facts before speaking, and I also hope that the US side will stop engaging in “accusation diplomacy” in the Security Council. This will only undermine the cooperation of all parties on the Korean Peninsula issue.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.