China UN envoy: 'abandon Cold War mentality'

A senior Chinese envoy called for the international community to carry forward the UN Charter and its principles, build a new type of international relations with cooperation and mutual benefit as the core and promote a shared future at a Security Council meeting in New York on Wednesday.

"The Charter carried the hope of all nations for peace and development," said Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the UN, at the council briefing on "purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter in the maintenance of international peace and security".

Countries need to establish partnership based on equality, discussion and mutual understanding, said Ma.

"Sovereign equality was an important norm for all countries, and the international community should support multilateralism and abandon a Cold War mentality," he said.

Countries also should strive for universal security, taking a holistic approach in the face of traditional and new threats, he said, while emphasizing that nations must also respect efforts for mediation and the work of the Security Council as it acts upon the Charter in the peaceful settlement of dispute.

"As the first signatory of the Charter and a founding member of the United Nations, China was ready to shoulder its responsibility in helping to foster world peace and international cooperation," Ma said.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the importance of preventing crises and called for a "rebalance of approach".

The international community spends far more time and resources responding to crises than in preventing them, Guterres said at the meeting.

"We have to rebalance our approach to international peace and security," he said.

"Our goal must be to do everything we can to help countries avert the outbreak of crises that take a high toll on humanity. And this vision extends beyond wars and conflicts, to natural disasters, fragility and other kinds of stress."

Today, the Charter's Principles — non-use of force, peaceful settlement of disputes, non-intervention, cooperation, self-determination and the sovereign equality of member states — remain the foundation of international relations.

Guterres said crisis prevention is primarily the responsibility of member states, adding that the UN is there to offer support to states in resolving their disputes and preventing the emergence of crises.

wanglinyan@chinadailyusa.com