Mr. President, 

China appreciates Russia’s initiative to hold this meeting. I also thank UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Secretary-General Stanislav Zas of Collective Security Treaty Organization for their briefings, which have brought important inspirations to today’s meeting. I also welcome representatives of the CSTO member states at our meeting today. 

The promotion of cooperation in the field of peace and security between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations under Chapter Eight of the UN Charter is conducive to strengthening the universality and effectiveness of collective security mechanisms, and to the better maintenance of international peace and security. As a regional security organization with significant influence, the CSTO has played an important role in safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of its member states, and in preventing and responding to new threats and challenges to regional security. China appreciates the cooperation in recent years between CSTO and the UN in the fields of counter-terrorism, combating drug trafficking and organized crime, and peacekeeping. We support CSTO in continuing to leverage its advantages and forming synergy with the UN's efforts to maintain international peace and security. On April 21, 2021, the 75th Session of UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the CSTO, which highly recognizes the cooperation outcomes between the two organizations and sets out the planning for the future cooperation. The resolution is of great significance.

Mr. President, 

This January, large scale anti-government violence broke out in Kazakhstan, causing heavy casualties and loss of life and property. China is highly concerned about this. China supports all measures that are conducive to restoring stability in Kazakhstan. At the same time, China is firmly opposed to the attempt by any force to undermine Kazakhstan’s stability and threaten its security. China is against the attempts of external forces to create turmoil and the so-called color revolution in Kazakhstan. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent an oral message to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, expressing in clear terms China’s support for Kazakhstan in maintaining its stability and ending violence. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a telephone conversation with Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, and reiterated China’s position. 

It was at the request of the Kazakh Government that CSTO deployed peacekeeping forces in Kazakhstan to assist in maintaining law and order in the country. At that critical moment, CSTO has played a positive role in stabilizing the situation in Kazakhstan. As a friendly neighbor and permanent comprehensive strategic partner of Kazakhstan, China looks forward to lasting peace and stability in Kazakhstan, and supports its efforts in restoring stability, developing economy and improving people’s livelihoods. We believe that the Kazakh authorities are capable of resolving the problem properly, and keeping the country on the path of steady and healthy development. We also hope that the international community can fully respect Kazakhstan’s sovereignty, and play a constructive role in maintaining stability and development in Kazakhstan and in the region. 

Mr. President,

The world is entering a new period of turbulence and change. Regional hotspot issues pop up one after another, while conventional and non-conventional security threats are intertwined. The threats of terrorism, extremism and separatism continue to rise. Problems such as transnational organized crime and drugs are becoming ever more prominent. Compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, they pose severe challenges to the security and development of all countries. Certain country, in particular, pursue unilateral hegemony policies, power politics, and harms the security and development interests of other countries through improper means and by provoking a new Cold War and geopolitical rivalry. It has severely undermined the international order and global strategic stability. Faced with complex and grave situations, the international community needs to practice true multilateralism, and oppose bloc politics and the forming of cliques. It needs to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and oppose confrontation and exerting pressure. It needs to promote equality and mutual trust, and oppose bullying by power. Only by keeping to the right direction, can we join hands to build a more prosperous, stable, equitable and just world.

China and the CSTO member states, including Russia, are important partners with longstanding friendship and mutual trust. Against the new backdrop, China stands ready to work with the CSTO member states to deepen cooperation in promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative, and in fields such as economy, trade, security, and people-to-people and cultural engagement, to improve our connectivity, and promote the economic integration process. We will explore effective means to fully unleash the cooperation potentials of such mechanisms as the CSTO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to firmly crack down on terrorism, promote enduring peace and common prosperity in the region, and build a closer community with a shared future. In the interventions, some Council members refer to the situation in Afghanistan. The top priority for the international community now is to go all out to avoid a humanitarian crisis. To this end, massive efforts must be made to provide humanitarian relief. The overseas assets that belong to Afghanistan should be returned quickly and in full to the Afghan people. China will also step up foreign policy communication and coordination with the CSTO member states, and carry out close cooperation on multilateral platforms such as the UN, so as to make positive contributions to maintaining the international order based on international law, and safeguarding the leading coordination role of the UN in international affairs. 

I thank you, Mr. President.