Unofficial Transcript

Thank you Mr President

First of all I would like to congratulate you Mr President by the assumption of the President of the first period of the session on the Conference on Disarmament for 2008.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank your predecessor, distinguished Ambassador of Syria, for the outstanding efforts he has made as the last president of the CD in the past year. 

Mr President, I would like to thank you for the kind words you have just said about my coming to attend the CD conference.  This is indeed the first time that I am taking part in the formal plenary of the conference in my capacity as the new Ambassador of China to the conference on disarmament.  I am clearly aware of the heavy mandate I am faced with.

At present traditional security threats are still with us while non traditional security threats such as terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are presenting new challenges to international peace and security at the sole multilateral forum for arms control. The Conference on Disarmament has a heavy mandate in trying to revitalize the process of multilateral arms control. To that end the international community should further seek to build on the past consensus and work collectively to bring new vigour to the conference on disarmament so that it can play its full role in meeting its various forms of challenges in our security and in promoting international peace and security.

Mr President, we have taken note of the address made by the Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, in the opening session of our Conference in which he appealed for spirit of consensus and compromise from all parties in order to advance the work of our conference.  And on the basis of past work, we should work together to make this year a year of breakthrough for the conference.

In the view of my delegation, the number one task at hand for the Conference is that we should all work on the basis of the previous achievements and seek to narrow our differences through dialogues and consultations so as to reach a work program which is on the whole balance and which is acceptable to all parties. 

We believe that if we can continue with our past tradition of showing mutual respect to each other and treat each other as equals and especially respect the concerns of various parties, we can surely see a brighter prospect for a successful adaptation of our program of work.  As a matter of fact, thanks to the joint efforts of all members of the conference in the past two years, all parties are narrowing down on their differences on the relevant agenda items. We have every reason to be optimistic and confident on the future of our conference. 

Mr President, China is firmly committed to supporting and taking part actively in the work of the conference. We sincerely hope that the consensus can soon be reached among the members of the Conference so that substantive progress can be made, and we can embark on substantive work on the core agenda items involving the interests of all parties so as to make new contribution to promoting the process of disarmament and promoting world security. 

There is a say in China that for 100km journey, 90 km counts as a half. That means that no matter what kind of enterprise we are going to take, the closer we are to the goal, the more difficult it will come.  We can also say that the more difficult it is the closer we are to our goals.

To break the present deadlock in our conference, there are three things we must bear in mind.  Firstly we must remember patience and step up our efforts to consulate and communicate with each other.  Secondly we should respect the concerns of all parties and see flexibility from all sides.  Thirdly, we must faithfully abide by the rules of procedure and keep transparency and openness.  I believe that if we can follow those few points, we can surely re-launch the substantive work of the Conference at an early date.  My delegation will continue to work with other parties in a constructive spirit and we will do our best to reach that goal.

Thank you Mr President.

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