STATEMENT BY TANG JIAXUAN
FOREIGN MINISTER

CHINA FOREIGN MINISTRY

February 5, 2003

Mr. President,

I would like to begin by congratulating Germany on its assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month. It’s a great pleasure to see Foreign Minister Fischer chair today’s meeting. I wish to take this opportunity to express my deep condolences for the tragic deaths of astronauts aboard space shuttle Columbia and convey my heart-felt sympathy to the bereaved families.

I wish to thank Secretary Powell for his presentation. Now I would like to share the following views on Iraq:

I. The fact that foreign ministers from most of the Council members are present at today’s meeting shows the importance all parties attach to the authority and role of the Security Council and their support to the resolution of the Iraqi issue within the framework of this world body. The Security Council has basically  maintained unity and cooperation on this issue. This is of crucial importance to its appropriate resolution and represents the desire of the international community.

II. China welcomes the US move to provide the United Nations with its information and evidence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which we believe is consistent with the spirit of Resolution 1441 and could help increase transparency. We hope that various parties will hand over their information and evidence to the UNMOVIC and the IAEA. This will help them with more effective inspections and through their on-the-spot inspections, these information and evidence can also be evaluated. The two agencies should report their findings to the Security Council in a timely way.

III. The inspections have been going on for more than two months now. The two agencies have been working very hard and their work deserves our recognition. It is their view that now they are not in a position to draw conclusions and they suggested continuing with the inspections. We should respect the views of the two agencies and support the continuation of their work. We hope that the upcoming trip to Iraq by Chairman Blix and Director-General El Baradei on the 8th would yield positive results. The two agencies pointed out not long ago some problems in the inspections. We urge Iraq to adopt a more proactive approach, make further explanations and clarification as soon as possible and cooperate with the inspection process.

IV. The Security Council has a common stand on the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This is fully reflected in relevant Security Council resolutions, particularly the unanimously adopted Resolution 1441. The most important aspect at present remains the full implementation of this resolution. As for what would be the next step, the Security Council should decide through discussions by all members on the basis of the results of the inspections.

V. It is the universal desire of the international community to see a political settlement to the issue of Iraq within the UN framework and avoid any war. This is something the Security Council must attach due imprtance to. As long as there is still the slightest hope for political settlement, we should exert our utmost effort to achieve that. China is ready to join others in working toward this direction.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.