Foreign minister to preside at UN

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will preside over the UN Security Council's open debate on Monday that commemorates the 70th anniversary of the founding of the world body. The special debate will focus on maintaining international security by "reflecting on history"and reaffirming the commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

The debate topic was chosen by China, which is serving as this month's president of the 15-member council. Five of the countries are permanent members and have veto power; 10 are non-permanent.

Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said when he assumed the presidency that the purpose of the debate is to commemorate 70th anniversary and the victory over fascism.

"It is also an occasion to commit ourselves to peace and security in the world, to promoting international fairness, and also to foster a new model of international relations based on cooperation and win-win," Liu said at a media briefing on Feb 3. "We need to make sure that the charter principles and purposes are upheld. Such important principles include sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, equal participation in international affairs and people in those countries in question."

Liu said that the debate will be an opportunity for the countries to look at how the UN can best achieve peaceful settlement of disputes, and how to involve regional organizations and concerned countries in resolving disputes through dialogue, negotiation, and other peaceful means.

The debate will be time for "stock taking and forward looking," Liu said, leading up to the UN's commemorative events taking place in September.

"It is also very important platform to foster the notion of integrated solutions to conflicts and to disputes. In so many areas, conflicts are a result of deep-seated, socioeconomic problems, so it is important to foster the notion of seeking integrated solutions to conflicts by incorporating the developmental aspect of conflict resolution.," he said.

"We will of course work with other countries so that the council plays a constructive and effective role in maximizing the impact on the issues under its review or discussion in different parts of the world. And of course, China will, as we have done in the past, engage the other members, the Secretariats, outside the Security Council, to draw upon their perspectives, advice, and proposals, so that the council's work will be more broad-based in dealing with various issues," he added.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com