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Statement by Ms. Lyu Xin the Chinese Delegation at the Thematic Discussion on Disarmament Machinery at the First Committee of the 71st Session of the UNGA

2016-10-26 04:17

Mr. Chairman,

Since the 21st Century, with the incessant transformation of international situation and rapid growth of science and technology, the international peace and security have been constantly faced with new challenges. The existing multilateral disarmament machinery has laid a solid foundation for upholding world peace and security and promoting international arms control and disarmament process, therefore, it is of great and historical significance for the revitalization of multilateral disarmament process. In this regard, China would like to share the following views:

First, the root cause of the current stalemate in the multilateral disarmament machinery lies in lack of political will, which has been endorsed by most parties and elaborated by China on many occasions. I'd like to emphasize that, the political will has never been isolated from other factors, as the disarmament process has never been developed in the vacuum. The absolute security, putting their own security above others’, and double standards imposed by some countries, have created negative impact on international security environment, aggravated security concerns of relevant parties, as well as undermined the confidence and political will of all parties to participate in disarmament process. Only by reversing this worrisome trend as soon as possible, can the multilateral disarmament machinery be brought to the path of healthy development fundamentally.

Second, the fundamental approach to break the deadlock of multilateral disarmament machinery is to seek for solutions within the framework of existing mechanism by consensus. The existing multilateral disarmament machinery is the most universal and democratic mechanism under the current circumstances, whose authority and credibility should be upheld. The approach to set up "new kitchens" pursued by some parties is by no means the right direction to solutions, as it will destabilize the foundation of international security mechanism. This approach is shortsighted in nature and will do nothing good to sustainable development of disarmament process but to create a hypocritical prosperity. Consensus, as the core of the rules of procedure for disarmament machinery, is vital to guarantee the security interests of all states, thus its role should only be enhanced rather than weakened.

Third, the fundamental way out to revitalize the disarmament machinery is to give full play to the creative thinking of all parties and to move in a positive direction. China has made great efforts to this end. For instance, China has made the proposal in the CD's plenary this year that, the CD could take the issue of no-first-use of nuclear weapons as its priority to conduct substantial work, which is not only conducive to greatly pushing forward the nuclear disarmament process, but also to breaking the deadlock in the CD and bringing vigor to the multilateral disarmament machinery. We would like to conduct further discussion and communication with all parties in this regard. Besides that, in light of the development of international situation on security and arms control, we can also think about introducing and reviewing new topics in the CD, or discussing and dealing with emerging issues within the CD’s traditional agenda items, such as cyber security. We believe that solutions are always more than problems as long as we keep the confidence and determination.

Mr. Chairman,

Since this year, new proposals have been made to push the CD to restart its substantive work, and comprehensive and in-depth discussions have been conducted on major issues in the field of disarmament. China appreciates the positive efforts made by all relevant parties, and hopes that all parties could forge consensus to reach a comprehensive and balanced Program of Work of the CD at an early date.

China welcomes the efforts made by Vanuatu, the Chairman of the UNDC, on promoting the discussion of relevant topics of the UNDC. We hope that all parties could take a rational and practical attitude towards the status and the role of the UNDC, and conduct work in a positive and pragmatic manner, so as to make positive progress in this round of review.

China is ready to work with other parties to contribute its share in revitalizing the existing multilateral disarmament machinery under the framework of the United Nations.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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