President, 

I thank Deputy to the High Representative Adedeji Ebo for his briefing. 

On the chemical weapon-related issues, China’s position is consistent. We firmly oppose the use of chemical weapons by anyone, under any circumstance, for any purpose. We hope to see a world free from chemical weapons at an early date. 

China calls for dialogue and negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues related to the initial declaration of chemical weapons in Syria. We encourage the OPCW technical secretariat and the Syrian Government to continue to head toward the same direction on the basis of mutual respect and cooperation on an equal footing, and communicate on conducting the 28th round of technical consultations, so as to resolve the outstanding issues.

The OPCW investigation of and accountability for any alleged use of chemical weapons should be conducted in strict accordance with the CWC and the relevant verification annex to ensure compliance with the established procedure, reliability of evidence, and credibility of its conclusions. At the same time, we hope that all parties will jointly uphold the technical nature of the OPCW and refrain from bloc confrontations and political antagonism.

Thank you, President.