President,  

The UN Charter clearly provides that the Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. China has always maintained that the Council is not the proper place to address human rights issues, and it should not intervene in country-specific human rights issues. We have always opposed the politicization of human rights issues or using human rights issues as a pretext to exert pressure on other countries.

We are living in an increasingly volatile world, where various crises and challenges are constantly emerging and conflicts and confrontations of all kinds keep cropping up. The Council should discharge its responsibilities mandated by the Charter in earnest, and devote its limited time and resources to dealing with major and pressing issues that have a genuine bearing on international peace and security, with a focus on silencing the gangs in Africa, putting an end to conflicts in the Middle East, and restoring peace in Europe. 

President, 

The current human rights situation in the DPRK does not constitute a threat to international peace and security. Pushing the Council to intervene in the human rights issue of the DPRK will not help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula. On the contrary, it will intensify antagonism and aggravate confrontation. China opposes the Council's consideration of the human rights situation in the DPRK and calls for a vote on the provisional agenda for the current meeting. 

Thank you, President.