China Wednesday called on the United Nations to play a leading role
in the international effort to prevent and combat terrorism, saying
that terrorism poses "a serious threat to international peace and
security."
The statement came as Wang Yingfan, the Chinese permanent
representative to the United Nations, was speaking to an open
debate at the 56th General Assembly session.
"The United Nations, which is the important forum for States to
cooperate with each other in combating terrorism, should play a
leading role in the international effort to this end," Wang
said.
"The main organs and other relevant agencies of the United Nations
should step up their coordination and cooperation in preventing and
combating international terrorism," he said. "The Security Council
should play its due part and establish an international
anti-terrorism mechanism."
"Terrorism, which endangers innocent lives, causes losses of social
wealth and jeopardizes state security, constitutes a serious
challenge to human civilization and dignity as well as a serious
threat to international peace and security," he said.
"The international community, therefore, must pool wisdom together
and strengthen international cooperation against terrorism," he
said.
Since the 1994 adoption by the General Assembly of the Declaration
on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism, commendable
progress has been made in strengthening measures to combat
international terrorism, as represented by the adoption of the
International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombing
and the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing
of Terrorism, he said.
The formulation of an International Convection for the Suppression
of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism and a Comprehensive Convention on
International Terrorism is under way, he said.
The week-long General Assembly debate, which opened here Monday, is
the first international forum on terrorism since the September 11
terrorist attacks on the United States, which have claimed more
than 6,000 lives.
"The fight against international terrorism, which will be a
protracted as well as complicated task, should be guided by the
purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and
other well-established norms of international law," he said.
An
integrated approach involving political, diplomatic, economic,
legal and other means should be adopted in this regard, he said.
"We are strongly against linking terrorism to a certain religion or
ethnicity."
"In order to eliminate international terrorism, efforts must be
made to address both the symptom and its underlying causes," he
said. "In the international fight against terrorism, the diversity
of civilization should be respected and the issue of development be
addressed vigorously so as to enable people of all levels in all
countries to benefit from globalization."
"The international community should strengthen its efforts to solve
regional conflicts in a more positive manner and seek just and
reasonable solutions on the basis of the purposes and principles of
the UN Charter," he added.
(Xinhua News
Agency 10/05/2001)