Madam President,

I wish to thank Special Representative Abdoulaye Bathily and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan, Chair of the Libya Sanctions Committee, for the briefings. I welcome the Permanent Representative of Libya to today's meeting. 

Like many colleagues, we are saddened by the recent tragic events involving refugees and immigrants in the waters of Libya. It should be noted that some European countries, which have long been deflecting responsibility for protecting refugees without any concern for serious human rights violations, cannot evade blame for the recurrence of such tragedies. This incident once again reminded us that the situation in Libya and its neighboring countries has been volatile for quite some time, which makes it a major breeding ground for the issues of refugees and immigrants. Thus, we need to have more sense of urgency in resolving the Libyan issues. In the light of the Secretary-General’s report, I wish to make the following observations. 

Recently, parties in Libya have engaged in dialogue on the roadmap for the elections, and have reached consensus on many issues. These are hard-won results. SRSG Bathily recently invited the main parties to conduct dialogues on outstanding issues. China would like to see that the Libyan parties would build on the results of the dialogue to dispel the differences, so as to make further progress in the political process. 

The prolongation of the Libyan issue and the continuing stalemate in the political process warrant our deep reflection. External interference and imposed solutions will not bring peace or stability. The only viable path is to respect Libya’s sovereignty and ownership and to help the Libyan parties explore a path of development in line with their own national conditions. China supports a constructive role by UNSMIL as it continues to promote dialogue and consultation to address the legitimate concerns of all parties. 

Madam President, 

The outbreak of armed conflict in Tripoli, Gharyan, Benghazi, and many other places, together with the fragile security situation in Libya, remain causes for concern. China calls on all parties to abide by the ceasefire agreement, and implement the outcome of the 5+5 Joint Military Committee in order to safeguard the hard-won peace. External forces and mercenaries should withdraw from Libya as soon as possible in a stable and orderly manner. Recently, security incidents along the Libya-Chad border and conflict Sudan have impacted the situation in Libya. The Security Council should support stronger cooperation among regional countries in response to security challenges and maintain common security. 

China noticed that with the resumption of oil production in Libya, its economy is gradually stabilizing and growing, with expected growth this year reaching 14%. This deserves full recognition. At the same time, flood in Libya has brought about severe humanitarian crisis. The task of post-disaster reconstruction in many areas is arduous. China welcomes the efforts made by the Libyan authorities and all parties, and calls on the international community to increase humanitarian assistance to Libya. The Libyan authorities have repeatedly expressed concerns about the freezing of their assets abroad. The Security Council should attach great importance to this issue, and take positive steps to address the legitimate concerns of Libya. 

Thank you, Madam President.