New York, 20 October 2005

Mr. Chairman,

At the outset, the Chinese delegation wishes to extend its gratitude to Ambassador Wenaweser, Chairman of the working group, for his efforts in drafting the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, and also would express its appreciation to all delegates for their expertise manifested in the negotiations. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nations, and enhancing the role of the United Nations is the common will of all member states of the United Nations. In such circumstances, the Chinese delegation believes that to improve the mechanism for protecting the UN and associated personnel will be of great help to the maintaining of international peace and security as the august goal of the United Nations.

Mr. Chairman, with regard to the Optional Protocol, we believe that the main purpose of this Protocol is to render legal protection to the UN and associated personnel engaged in the UN operation, which entails particular risks. To this end, we agree that the Protocol shall be applied to the UN operations of delivering humanitarian, political or development assistance in peacebuilding. Meanwhile, we also agree that the Protocol shall be applied to the UN operations for the purpose of delivering emergency humanitarian assistance with certain restrictions. That is, for the UN operations conducted for the sole purpose of responding to a natural disaster, a State may declare that this Protocol shall not be applied to such operations conducted in its territory. Such a declaration may be made when the State becomes party to the Protocol and till the moment prior to the deployment of the above-mentioned operations.

The Chinese Delegation insists that the Host State has the right to make such declaration. This is not of the intention to relieve the obligation of the Host State to protect the UN and associated personnel, but of the hope to indicate that the above-mentioned operations are not certainly of particular risks. To make such a distinction is of two purposes, while one is to alleviate the pressure and burden of the UN and the contributing States on organizing and deploying such operations, the other is to encourage more States to be parties to the Protocol.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.