China welcomes the presence at today’s meeting of His Excellency Mr. Sebastian Kurz, Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria, and we thank him for his briefing.

The world today is filled with various types of challenges. Countries are interdependent, and their security is interconnected. While the United Nations is at the core of the international collective-security architecture, regional and subregional organizations enjoy unique advantages in resolving hot-spot issues in their respective regions. China supports enhancing the cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, so as to jointly safeguard international peace and security.

The cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations should, while steadfastly upholding the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, seek vigorously to promote dialogue and consultation aimed at addressing regional hot-spot issues, actively engage in preventive diplomacy, resolve disputes through peaceful means and defuse conflicts. All relevant actions by the regional and subregional organizations concerned should observe the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, in particular respect for the principles of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of States.

The OSCE is an important partner of the United Nations. In recent years, the OSCE has been actively engaged in preventive diplomacy, promoting mutual trust among countries in the region and in endeavoring to settle disputes through mediation. China expresses its appreciation to the OSCE for its efforts.

We welcome the priorities set by Austria as the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office aimed at defusing armed conflicts, countering violent extremism and building mutual trust. China supports effective and pragmatic cooperation between the Security Council and the OSCE in the fields of peace and security, and it is our hope that the OSCE will continue to play an active and constructive role in upholding regional peace, security and stability.

With respect to the question of Ukraine, the parties concerned, including the OSCE, have made some positive efforts, which China welcomes. We hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve as soon as possible. We also hope that all parties concerned will fully implement resolution 2202 (2015) and the Minsk agreements and seek a comprehensive, lasting and balanced solution to the question of Ukraine through dialogue and consultation.

The international community should keep up its support for the diplomatic efforts of the parties concerned aimed at finding a political settlement of the question of Ukraine and at joining forces in contributing to the achievement of peace, stability and development in the country at an early date.

(Photo by LI Muzi, Xinhua News Agency)