President,

At present, with a ceasefire achieved in Gaza and the easing of the situation in the Middle East, the settlement of the issues of Yemen and the Red Sea is seeing a turn for the better. China consistently advocates settling the Yemeni issue through political and diplomatic means, and calls upon all parties concerned to seize the current opportunities, resume dialogue and negotiations without delay, and restart the peace process in Yemen. The international community should foster enabling conditions to this end and actively promote talks for peace. 

The Security Council sanctions regime related to Yemen will expire on November 15. We support the normal renewal of the regime. However, a relevant country, 10 days before the expiry, suddenly put forth the proposal of maritime interdictions, which will authorize member states to inspect vessels in the Red Sea and surrounding waters on the basis of so-called reasonable grounds. The relevant measures are unclear in their standards, have no supervision over their implementation, and are quite arbitrary. In particular, they run counter to the exclusive jurisdiction of flag state over vessels flying its flag. In practice, there are many defects that are highly susceptible to abuses by a certain country. This will severely affect the freedom of navigation and maritime transport, and even impact the normal international trade order and infringe upon the rights of countries to engage in international trade in accordance with international law. Although the draft resolution just put to vote has weakened the relevant content, the specific language is clearly directional and still makes promoting the establishment of maritime interdictions as the ultimate objective. China has serious reservations over this, and had to abstain in the vote. 

President, 

The panel of experts of the 2140 sanctions committee will present a report on improving information sharing and flag state capacity. We hope that the panel will strictly observe their mandate, follow an objective, impartial, professional, and responsible approach, produce the report on the basis of carefully drawing on the lessons from relevant maritime practices and taking into account fully the views of Council members, and formulate constructive views and recommendations. The recommendations should be conducive to the political settlement of the Yemeni issue, instead of escalating tensions or provoking confrontations. 

Thank you, President.