Mr. Chairman,

At the outset, I wish to congratulate Ambassador Mbanefo of Nigeria on his reelection to the chairmanship of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. I also congratulate you and other members of the Bureau on your reelection. I am confident that under your able leadership, this session of the Special Committee will achieve success. Here, I wish to thank the Secretary-General for submitting the report and Under-Secretary-General Guehenno for updating us with his detailed briefing.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this opportunity to make the following comments.

As the Chinese saying goes, "an army is as strong as its logistical support." In other words, whatever the task is, sufficient material supplies constitute an important precondition for any action. The creation of a strategic deployment stock is among the important recommendations made by the Brahimi panel report for strengthening the rapid deployment capacity of UN peacekeeping operations. We look forward to the early presentation of the Secretary-General's budget report in this regard. Last October the Secretariat held a dialogue with Member States on this issue in preparation of the budget proposal. Such good practice should continue in the future. At the same time, we believe that no matter what shape the final plan may take, it must follow the principle of living within our means, fully tapping the potentials of the existing mechanisms and optimizing the existing resources within the United Nations system to the maximum.

The Chinese Delegation will continue to support the reform of the DPKO of the Secretariat, in an effort to improve the efficiency and quality of its work through the increase of human resources as well as institutional adjustment and optimization, so as to give a fuller play to the command and control capacity of the UN headquarters. For now, the review of the Brahimi panel report has almost come to an end. The first phase of the DPKO's reform and expansion has also been concluded and the second phase is now in the pipeline. Here I must point out that in the recruiting process of the first phase of its reform, the Secretariat has not done quite enough in terms of transparency and observance of the principle of equitable geographic distribution. Therefore, we will continue to pay close attention to the outcome of the adjustments made at each of the reform phases. It is our hope that the Secretariat can draw lessons from past experiences with a view to doing a better job in the times to come. In the recruiting process, the Secretariat should make an earnest effort to increase transparency, observe the principle of equitable geographical distribution and take into special account the concerns of those Member States unrepresented and underrepresented in relevant departments. We hope that the DPKO can keep close and timely communication with Member States concerning the progress of institutional adjustments as well as recruitment. The Secretariat should learn from both the merits and demerits of all phases of the reform and listen to the views of Member States. The Special Committee should, when time is ripe, conduct a review of the results of the reform of the Secretariat.

Mr. Chairman,

The success of the UN peacekeeping operations depends on the support and cooperation of the countries and parties concerned, for one. For another, which is also important, it hinges on whether Member States can provide sufficient political support and resources. Therefore, it is crucial to strengthen the communication and coordination between the Security Council, the troop-contributing countries and the Secretariat and to pay more attention to the views of the troop contributors and the parties concerned. Security Council Resolution 1353 has provided great details as to how to improve the consultation meetings with troop-contributing countries, whose implementation relies on the concerted efforts of Council Members and the troop-contributing countries as well. On this basis, the Security Council decided after careful deliberations, at the beginning of this year, to establish the mechanism of a joint-meeting of Security Council Working Group on Peacekeeping operations and the troop-contributing countries, as a supplement to the mechanism of Resolution 1353. This will not only help make a fuller use of the potentials of the existing mechanisms within the Security Council but also enhance interactions with the troop-contributing countries. For the next step, the Security Council Working Group will set out to establish and improve the new mechanism. The Chinese Delegation, as always, will adopt a proactive and practical attitude to participate in its work.

A better Standby Arrangements System (UNSAS) is a critical link in the efforts to strengthen the peacekeeping capacity of the United Nations. We support the Secretariat to adjust and improve UNSAS in accordance with the development of the situation and to enhance the rapid deployment capacity of peacekeeping operations. In addition to contributing engineering corps, military observers, civilian police and civilian personnel to relevant peacekeeping missions over the past years, the Chinese Government has decided to upgrade its participation in UNSAS by designating non-combat formed units to take part in UNSAS. The first batch will include one Engineering Unit, one Medical Unit and two Transport Units. We are willing to work together with other Member States to make an active effort to strengthen the peacekeeping capacity of the United Nation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.