China takes UN Security Council helm with eye to marking 70th anniversaries

UNITED NATIONS - China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Liu Jieyi who just assumed the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of February, announced on Tuesday a special commemorative debate in the 15-nation council for Feb 23 to be chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

"The council will hold a ministerial level open debate on maintenance of international peace and security to reflect on history, reaffirm the commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations," Liu said at a press conference here.

"This year is a very important year for the United Nations and also the international community," he said. "The United Nations will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the organization and also the international community will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory over Fascism."

"It is time for the United Nations to look at how it can best work to maximize the opportunities we face to foster a new type of international relation, based on cooperation (and) how to address the new challenges we face ... on the horizon and new manifestations of existing challenges that international communities face," Liu said.

"It is high time ...to reinforce multilateralism and also to reaffirm our commitment to peace and security and to working together to make this world a better place," he said.

The Chinese envoy said he sees the Feb 23 Security Council debate as an event leading up to the "important commemorative events" of the anniversaries in September when all member states are called to send the highest level representatives possible to the annual General Assembly General Debate.

It will also be an occasion for the council to "reaffirm the commitment to (UN) charter principles," for "stock taking" and a chance to be "forward looking," he said. "The maintaining of peace and security forms a very important part of the work of the United Nations and it has such an important bearing on the destiny of the international community as a whole."

Liu said the open debate will be for members states to "commit ourselves to peace and security in the world, to promote international fairness and justice and also to foster a new model of international relations based on cooperation and win-win" solutions.

"Such important principles would include sovereign equality, non-interference in eternal affairs, equal participation in international affairs and ownership of solutions by the countries and people of those countries in question," he said. "It's going to be a very important occasion to look at how best for the United Nations to achieve peaceful settlements of disputes."