UN envoy stresses sustainable peace

Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said peace and sustainable development are a shared aspiration around the world and the lofty goal and mission of the UN.

China firmly defends the international system at its core, resolutely safeguards the basic norms governing international relations, builds upon the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and vigorously supports multilateralism, said Ma at the General Assembly high-level meeting on peace building and sustaining peace at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday.

The UN peace-building architecture has supported post-conflict nation-building and played a role in helping consolidate peace and strive for sustainable development.

Ma then made three suggestions on behalf of Wang Yi, state councilor and foreign minister.

First, respect the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations.

Ma said sovereign equality is a basic principle enshrined in the UN Charter, "in view of the differences among countries in terms of national condition and level of development".

"Peace building needs to respect the sovereignty, will and the leaderships, and the specific situation of the countries should be concerned as well," he emphasized.

Second, equal weight should be given to development and security and eliminate the sources of conflicts by addressing both symptoms and root causes.

Ma said the international community needs to establish a global governance concept characterized by extensive consultation, joint construction and benefit sharing; comprehensively advance the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development; strengthen global development partnerships;fulfill assistant commitment to help the developing countries improve people's livelihoods; explore paths of development suited to their national conditions; strengthen their own development capabilities; lay a solid foundation for sustainable peace; and promote sustainable peace with sustainable development.

Third suggestion was to strengthen the UN system's integration and coordination-capability and deepen partnerships, including those with regional organizations.

"In carrying out their peace building, the relevant UN agencies must strictly follow their respective mandates and form synergy," he said.

Ma said China is willing to share with other countries opportunities and fruits of development and provide more public goods for the realization of world peace, stability, development and prosperity.

xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 04/26/2018 page2)