President，

I thank France for organizing this open meeting. I have listened carefully to the briefings by Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro, and Lieutenant General Ulisses De Mesquita Gomes. Taking this opportunity, I would like to pay my tribute to all peacekeepers who are serving in their respective areas of operations.

In today's turbulent and changing world, conflicts and hotspot issues keep flaring up. The maintenance of international peace and security faces new situations, tasks, and challenges. Against such a background, the role of UN peacekeeping operations has become even more prominent and important. On the basis of respecting the three peacekeeping principles, we need to adapt to the changes to continuously improve and strengthen UN PKOs, especially their ceasefire monitoring capabilities, so as to create conducive conditions for the eventual resolution of hotspot issues. Drawing on recent peacekeeping practices, I would like to make the following four points. 

First, we should constantly learn from experience and improve what we do. Peacekeeping operation is an important tool of the Council in maintaining international peace and security. Ceasefire monitoring, designed to ensure that all parties comply with ceasefire agreements, is an initial task of UN PKOs and remains an important mandate of many missions such as UNIFIL and MINURSO. Over the decades, UN PKOs have gained a wealth of experience in ceasefire monitoring with both positive and negative examples. It is important for us to comprehensively review the experience, identify good practices, draw prompt lessons, and make constant improvement to keep enhancing the role and contribution of peacekeeping operations. 

Second, ceasefire monitoring should serve political processes. All conflicts are ultimately settled at the negotiation table, and all disputes should be resolved by political means. The goal of ceasefire monitoring is to win time and space for political settlement. Without a parallel political process, ceasefire monitoring may degenerate from a peace stabilizer to a conflict freeze agent, and will not help achieve the desired goal. Currently, some member states are pushing to discuss the role of the MONUSCO in monitoring ceasefire in eastern DRC. On that, it is imperative to fully heed the views of the countries concerned and regional organizations. The pressing priority is to implement Council Resolution 2773 to achieve an early ceasefire. Otherwise, there will be no ceasefire to monitor. 

Third, technology should be used to empower ceasefire monitoring for better performance. With the development of science and technology, armed conflicts evolve constantly in their forms, methods, and means. Ceasefire monitoring also needs to stay current and update its capabilities to better fulfill its missions and tasks. Efforts must be made to unlock the potential of emerging technologies, explore the integration of more technical means into the whole process of ceasefire monitoring, improve situation awareness and quick response capabilities of missions, and enhance PKO comprehensive performance. We must strengthen the sharing of early warning and intelligence information related to ceasefire monitoring, enhance risk assessment and emergency responsibilities, and protect the safety and security of peacekeepers. It should be stressed that technological means such as drones should be used in a way that respects the sovereignty of the host countries and takes their views into account. 

Fourth, we should effectively address the influence of disinformation and misinformation. Recent years saw a rising trend of rumors and slander against UN PKOs, causing serious disturbances to their work. Host countries and other relevant parties must fulfill their duties and crack down on the spread of misinformation and disinformation. The relevant missions must also increase the transparency of their work, proactively strengthen communication and engagement with hosted countries, especially local communities, to further mutual understanding. They should harness technology to strengthen the screening and verification of peacekeeping-related information, make timely clarification on misleading information, and contain spread of disinformation. 

President, 

This year marks the 35th anniversary of China's participation in UN PKOs. Over the past 35 years, Chinese peacekeepers have undertaken many ceasefire monitoring tasks and made important contributions to facilitating compliance with relevant ceasefire agreements, maintaining regional peace, and advancing political processes. Looking to the future, China will continue to participate actively in UN PKOs, support the UN in strengthening ceasefire monitoring capacity building, and contribute China's strength to the maintenance of international peace and security. 

Thank you, President.