24 March 2025
President:
I welcome Foreign Minister Rasmussen’s presidency of this meeting and thank Secretary-General Guterres for his briefing. I also listened carefully to the suggestions made by Ms. Luther.
Peacekeeping operations and special political missions are important tools for the Security Council to maintain international peace and security. At present, the international and regional security landscape is undergoing profound changes, and peace operations are also facing unprecedented new situations and challenges. It is necessary for the Security Council to sum up experience, continuously enhance the adaptability of peace operations, and timely calibrate their direction of progress so that they can better fulfill the Security Council’s mandate. I would like to talk about the following points:
First, the three principles of peacekeeping should always be followed as the fundamental principles of peacekeeping operations. “Consent of the parties, neutrality, and non-use of force except in self-defense or in fulfillment of the mandate” are the principles summed up by the United Nations in its long-term practice and must always be the guiding principles of peacekeeping operations. Deviations from these principles may bring unexpected and complex consequences, thus deviating from the objectives of peacekeeping operations.
Second, we must maintain a stable cooperative relationship with the host country. This is the premise for the smooth implementation of peace operations and the key to their success, and it is also an important focus for improving adaptability. To this end, the mission must maintain constructive communication with the host country and maintain mutual trust and cooperation. We must strengthen communication and exchanges with the local people to promote their understanding and support for the mission’s mandate and means of performing its duties. Peace operations with relevant mandates should help the host country improve its independent development capabilities, improve governance, achieve sustainable development, further consolidate the foundation of peace, and enhance the people’s sense of gain, thereby winning their support.
Third, we must focus on the core mandate. Peace operations must serve a clear political process and cannot be a substitute for the political process. Peace operations cannot do everything. China welcomes the Secretary-General’s point in the New Peace Agenda that clear, prioritized and achievable mandates should be formulated for peacekeeping operations, and the mandates should be adjusted based on changes in the situation. It needs to be emphasized that no matter how the mandate is adjusted, it must focus on the core. It is necessary to break the strange phenomenon that each extension of the mission’s mandate will inevitably expand, and prevent the “mandate Christmas tree” from growing recklessly.
Recently, member states have been conducting informal discussions on “modular authorization”. We believe that whether “modular authorization” can bring about meaningful changes requires further study.
Fourth, we must continue to improve the overall performance of peace operations. Efficient use of resources is the responsibility of peace operations. Therefore, we must promote the culture of efficiency throughout the entire process and improve overall performance. We must start with planning to ensure that the deployment of troops is scientific and reasonable, and the mission transition and withdrawal strategies are clear and feasible. In terms of logistics, we must actively expand material procurement channels and improve cost-effectiveness. In terms of finance, we must strictly enforce financial discipline, eliminate waste of funds, and ensure transparency and accountability. In addition, we must actively and steadily play the enabling role of new technologies to improve the performance of peacekeeping operations.
Fifth, we must give full play to the unique role of regional organizations. The continued development of partnerships between the United Nations and regional organizations will help solve regional problems with the help of regional forces. China supports the continuous deepening of cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, supports the provision of sufficient, predictable and sustainable funding for the African Union’s independent peace operations, and looks forward to the early full implementation of Security Council Resolution 2719. In other regions, we must explore reasonable, feasible and effective cooperation models based on our own realities, rather than simply copying them. Chairman,
Realizing world peace is the common aspiration of all countries and China’s determined pursuit. As the second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations and an important troop contributor, China has been supporting relevant UN peace operations in all aspects with practical actions and actively fulfilling its responsibility to maintain international peace and security. This year marks the 35th anniversary of China’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations. China has participated in 25 UN peacekeeping operations and has sent more than 50,000 peacekeepers. Looking to the future, China will continue to be a supporter and participant of UN peacekeeping operations and make greater contributions to world peace and development.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.