Mr. President,

At the outset, Mr. President, I would like to congratulate Morocco on assuming the presidency of the Council for this month. I believe that under your leadership our work this month will be very fruitful. I also wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and congratulations to Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, the Permanent Representative of India, and his team for the wonderful work they accomplished during India’s presidency in November. I would like to thank Special Adviser Benomar for his briefing.

More than a year ago, the parties in Yemen, through dialogue and consultation, succeeded in signing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative and Implementation Mechanism. This is a political transition process completely led by the Yemeni people. In view of Yemen’s political, security, development and humanitarian situation, and based on respect for the will of the Yemeni Government and people, the Security Council has issued multiple presidential statements on the situation there and has adopted resolutions 2014 (2011) and 2051 (2012).

The political transition process in Yemen has made progress, and the people are carefully implementing the Council’s relevant resolutions and the GCC Initiative and Implementation Mechanism. A supreme commission for the election referendum has been established, and the National Dialogue Conference will be launched soon. The Yemeni Government has drafted a national strategy and development transition plan outlining steps for future development. China welcomes this.

Meanwhile, the future development of Yemen still faces many challenges. As to how to deal with the issues I have mentioned at the next stage, I would like to make the following four points.

First, Yemen should be supported in its efforts to uphold peace and move forward with the political process. The Yemeni people should continue to lead that process. The international community should fully respect Yemen’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, as well as the rights of the Yemeni people to choose their own development path. China supports various parties in Yemen in carrying out, in accordance with the relevant Council resolution, the GCC Initiative and Implementation Mechanism, and in resolving their differences through dialogue and consultation, as well as in launching the National Dialogue Conference on time.

Secondly, we should support Yemen’s efforts to maintain State security and stability. The international community should continue to support the Government in strengthening capacity-building for the security sector, guarding against and containing the spread of terrorism and safeguarding State security and territorial integrity. The international community should work more closely with the Government, adopt a holistic approach in dealing with the security threats Yemen faces and help to eliminate breeding grounds for terrorism, with the aim of achieving long-term stability and security.

Thirdly, we should help Yemen to speed up its economic and social reconstruction. The international community should honour its aid commitments to Yemen, help it overcome the current serious economic and social development challenges and alleviate its humanitarian needs. Substantive progress in Yemen’s social and economic reconstruction would also be conducive to smooth completion of the political process.

Fourthly, we should continue to support the good offices of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Mr. Benomar, the Special Adviser. China welcomes the GCC’s continuing important role in seeking an appropriate settlement to this issue. The international community can coordinate its help and support for the Yemeni Government through the Friends of Yemen.

The Chinese Government has consistently supported the Yemeni Government’s efforts to promote domestic political, economic and social reforms. Over the years, we have provided assistance, within our capacity, to Yemen’s economic and social development and its endeavours to improve its people’s wellbeing. That assistance has been used for economic and social development programmes, to improve the humanitarian situation and to help the Government and people overcome their difficulties. China will continue to provide what assistance it can through various means, and to work with the rest of the international community to carry out positive efforts to help Yemen move forward with its political transition process and economic reconstruction, in order to achieve long-term stability and development.

Thank you, Mr. President.