Mr. President,

We have been deeply shocked by and strongly condemn the serious terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan have already sent telegraphs to President Bush and Secretary of State Powell respectively, expressing profound sympathy with the American government and people as well as condolences to the bereaved families. Yesterday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan and President of the Security Council Ambassador Levitte both made statements in a similar fashion, which we support.

International terrorism, which has caused enormous losses of lives and property to innocent civilians as well as great damages to the political and economic order of all countries and humanity as a whole, is a major threat to international peace and security. The Chinese government has always condemned and opposed all forms of terrorism. The terrorist attacks against the United States yesterday, that have stunned the whole world, were an open challenge to the entire international community. We support the United Nations to strengthen its work of preventing and combating terrorism and stand for continued and strengthened cooperation among Member States in an effort to earnestly implement international anti-terrorist conventions and bring the perpetrators of terrorism to justice. As the organ that shoulders the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, the Security Council should play its due role in this regard.

Thank you, Mr. President.