Remarks by Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of China’s Permanent Mission to the UN Ambassador Sun Lei at the UN Security Council Briefing on Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts
President,
I thank Executive Director Natalia Gherman, Director Ehab Omeish and Ms. Naureen Chowdhury Fink for their briefings.
Twenty-five years ago today, appalling and devastating terrorist attacks in New York and Washington areas dealt a massive blow to the global security landscape. Since then, counterterrorism has become a central issue for the international community. Whilst we pay tribute to the victims and honor the rescue workers, we must further strengthen our resolve and determination in counterterrorism.
Over the past 25 years, international counterterrorism cooperation continued to deepen and the global counterterrorism framework centered on the UN has been gradually established. With increasing awareness and capabilities, countries are advancing prevention and combating terrorism with positive progress. China commends the contributions by CTED and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism established during this process.
At the same time, the threat of international terrorism persists and is taking on new forms and new challenges. Terrorism is intertwined with regional conflicts. Terrorist activities are characterized by decentralization and fragmentation, emerging technologies are misused for terrorist purposes, and some countries are adopting selective counterterrorism measures and double standards. Against this backdrop, the international community should strengthen solidarity and cooperation, uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, give full play to the central coordinating role of the UN, and jointly confront terrorism—the common enemy of mankind.
Let me propose four points.
First, focus on both the symptoms and root causes. Counterterrorism should not only strengthen security strikes, but also pay attention to eradicating the root causes of terrorism. Underdevelopment easily gives rise to extremism. The lack of education weakens people's ability to discern extremist ideologies and conflict and instability create power vacuums. All of these may allow terrorist forces to exploit vulnerabilities, take advantage of chaos and grow stronger. To this end, the international community must assist the countries concerned with their economies, people's livelihoods, education and employment, support them in pursuing development paths suited to their national conditions, implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and break the vicious cycle of terrorism born of poverty. The Council must promote political solutions to hotspot issues, resolve differences through dialogue and negotiation, and eliminate the breeding ground for terrorism, while opposing the politicization and instrumentalization of counterterrorism, and avoid linking terrorism to specific countries, ethnic groups or religions.
Second, intensify efforts to combat terrorism. At present, terrorist organizations such as Islamic State and ETIM are still waiting for opportunities to restore operational capabilities. In West Africa, the Sahel region, Syria and Afghanistan, there are still a large number of terrorists. Active counterterrorism is an international obligation that all countries must fulfill. The Syrian transitional government should resolutely combat all terrorist organizations designated by the Council, including ETIM, and strictly prevent foreign terrorist fighters from establishing safe havens or crossing borders. The Afghan government should effectively combat all terrorist forces in Afghanistan including ISKP, TTP and ETIM, and resolutely prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a breeding ground for terrorism. Terrorist activities remain frequent in some parts of Africa. Regional countries should strengthen cooperation in border control, intelligence sharing and joint counterterrorism, and guard against the trend toward closer convergence between terrorists and terrorist organizations and separatist armed groups. It is necessary to implement the Council counterterrorism resolutions and the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, make good use of the 1267 and 2713 sanctions mechanisms, and include terrorist organizations such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade in the sanctions list as soon as possible to form a strong deterrence.
Third, enhance our capacity to respond. Effective international counterterrorism requires concerted efforts at national, regional and international levels. All countries must refine their counterterrorism policies, laws and regulations, enhance law enforcement capabilities, adopt preventive counterterrorism and deradicalization measures, strengthen citizens' ability to resist the infiltration of violent extremist ideologies. The international community, whilst respecting the sovereignty of countries concerned, must help developing countries, in particular those in Africa, to enhance their autonomous capabilities to respond and implement counterterrorism sanctions by providing substantial support in funding, technology, equipment and training. The cooperation with regional organizations such as the AU and SCO must be strengthened using their geographical advantages and coordinating capabilities to forge a united front against terrorism. Entities under the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact should enhance coordination and leverage each other's strengths, and balance the four pillars of the Strategy to promote efficient multilateral counterterrorism work.
Fourth, address the risks from emerging technologies. The international community should step up the refinement of rules and regulatory frameworks to govern emerging technologies, accelerate the use of such technologies to enhance counterterrorism capabilities of early warning, monitoring and operational capacities. China supports the UN in actively implementing the Abu Dhabi Guiding Principles, encouraging all countries to include drone attacks in their national counterterrorism strategies and risks assessment, and enhance their capabilities in detection, identification and countermeasures. At the same time, we must narrow the digital divide and assist developing countries with higher terrorism risks in strengthening their technical infrastructure and professional talent development, enhance their capacity for emerging technologies such as AI in counterterrorism, and build a forward-looking defense against terrorism.
President,
China always stands firmly on the frontline of global counterterrorism. The Global Security Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping provide important guidance for strengthening international counterterrorism cooperation. We will continue to implement in good faith these initiatives and actively participate in the efforts the frameworks of the United Nations, the SCO and BRICS, among others, to share experience with the international community and help relevant countries strengthen their capacity building. China is ready to work with all parties to actively contribute to a world without terrorism.
Thank you, President.
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