Mr. President,

Just now, the briefers shared their views about the phenomenon of Russophobia and its relationship with the Ukraine crisis.

The Ukraine crisis has been dragging on for over a year since its outbreak. The increasingly protracted and expanding conflict is deeply worrying. Since day one, China has been emphasizing that dialogue and negotiation are the only feasible way to resolve the crisis. The international community should stay on the right course of promoting peace talks, and supporting Russia and Ukraine in resuming dialogue as soon as possible and without any precondition, so as to achieve relaxation and deescalation of the situation and help the parties to the conflict swiftly open the door to a political settlement of the crisis and jointly maintain peace in Europe.

Not long ago, China issued a paper on China’s position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis that contains 12 propositions of respecting sovereignty, ceasing hostilities, resuming peace talks, and stopping unilateral sanctions, among others. Building on that, we are ready to continue playing a constructive role in pushing for a political solution to the Ukraine crisis.

Mr. President,

Engraved on the stone wall in front of the UNESCO headquarters is a statement in multiple languages that reads “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defense of peace must be constructed”. To stop wars, we must eliminate estrangement, prejudice, and hatred, and sow the seeds of peace, solidarity, and friendship in people’s hearts.

Regrettably, however, there are a plethora of phobias against given countries, religions, and races in the world today. Some of these phobias stem from the sense of civilizational superiority and a narrow historical outlook, while others are the products of geopolitical clashes and ideological confrontations. These phobias often become the logical premise and policy pretext with which certain countries create imaginary enemies, concoct threat theories, pursue containment and suppression, and stoke division and confrontation. Driven by such phobias, which are misguiding in first place, differences are magnified artificially, disagreements are hyped up to the neglect of commonalities, and tensions are reinforced and perpetuated. As a result, the world is dragged into the quagmire of conflicts and disputes.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that for some time now, politicians in a certain country seem to have contracted the conditions of Sinophobia. They are full of prejudice and paranoia about China, peddling anxieties, and instigating tensions. Such Sinophobia is a misunderstanding of China, a strategic misjudgment, and political manipulation. Any policy towards China that is kidnapped by such phobia of China will only harden the zero-sum game mentality, perpetuate the policy of containment and suppression, and lead to conflicts and confrontations. The world has already been thrown into chaos by the Ukraine crisis. Do they want to create another one to change the world beyond recondition?

Mr. President,

With the development of human society to where it is today, we should be mature enough to be able to listen to different voices and embrace different ideas and different civilizations. The world is big enough for all countries to grow together and achieve progress together. We believe that humanity is wise and capable enough to overcome various phobias and find a way of getting along with each other through dialogue instead of confrontation, and inclusiveness instead of exclusion. Together, we can build a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation. China is ready to make unremitting efforts with all other countries to this end.

Thank you, Mr. President.