Statement by H.E. Ambassador Tan Jian, Head of the Chinese Delegation, During the General Debate of the 103rd Session of the Executive Council of the OPCW

(The Hague, July 11, 2023)

Mr Chairman,

Please allow me, on behalf of the Chinese delegation, to begin by congratulating you on your election as the Chairman of the Executive Council. The Chinese delegation will actively support you in your work, cooperate with the Bureau and representatives of other delegations, uphold the principle of consensus and bring this session to  success.

The Chinese delegation appreciates the statement made by the Director-General and the reports by the Vice-Chairpersons of the Council. China associates itself with the statement made by H.E. Ambassador Rahman Mustafayev of Azerbaijan on behalf of the States Parties of the Non-Aligned Movement and China. Now, please allow me to elaborate on China’s positions further.

Mr Chairman,

Currently, profound changes unseen in a century are evolving at an accelerated pace. Regional security hot spots keep flaring up and local conflicts and turbulence occur from time to time. The international community is facing unprecedented challenges. Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward the Global Security Initiative, advocating the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and encouraging the international community to uphold the spirit of solidarity and a win-win mindset. The Initiative calls on all parties to join hands in improving global security governance, overcoming security challenges, eliminating the peace deficit and realizing durable peace and development in the world.

Recently, the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states issued the New Delhi Declaration, calling for a full implementation with the Chemical Weapons Convention (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”) as an effective instrument in disarmament and non-proliferation. The Member States appealed for the early destruction of all declared CW stockpiles, reaffirmed their support for the OPCW, and advocated for concerted decision-making to divisions within the Organization, so as to ensure its integrity and effective operation under the Convention.

Under the guidance of the Global Security Initiative, China will continue to work with all States Parties to practise the true multilateralism, firmly advance the objectives and purposes of the Convention, and jointly safeguard its authority and effectiveness. I would like to further elaborate on China’s positions:

First, we should adhere to the original aspiration of the Convention, and speed up the destruction of chemical weapons. The complete and thorough destruction of CWs constitutes the core objective of the Convention. With the completion of the destruction of CW stockpiles, the CWs abandoned by Japan on the territory of China (JACWs) has become the most realistic challenge in realizing the vision of a world free of chemical weapons. The past few years have witnessed some progress of the destruction of JACWs. However, the overall process still lags far behind the schedule. Currently, only less than one fifth of the currently-known JACWs have been destroyed. Meanwhile, the JACW destruction process has already failed to meet the deadlines for four times. Based on Japan’s current destruction efficiency, the destruction of JACWs would only be completed in the very distant future. At the same time, the relevant work is facing grave challenges, including the lack of burial information and clues, and the serious contamination to the soil and water caused by the JACWs. Before the completion of destruction of JACWs, a “post-chemical weapons destruction era” will never come, and the vision of “a world free of chmical weapons” will never be realized. China urges Japan to implement the new destruction plan in a comprehensive, complete and faithful manner, complete the destruction of JACWs at an early date and properly dispose the soil contaminated by JACWs. China commends the international community and the OPCW for their efforts for promoting the destruction of JACWs. China hopes that the OPCW will stick to its nature as a disarmament and arms control organisation, and redouble its inputs in the supervision and verification of the JACWs destruction.

Second, we should safeguard the authority of the Convention, and bring the resolution of hot spot issues back to the right track. The Convention is an important pillar of the global security governance system, and the verification and investigation mechanisms under the Convention constitute the basis and yardstick for dealing with issues related to chemical weapons. In recent years, out of their own geopolitical interests, some States Parties disregarded the clear-cut provisions of the Convention and its Verification Annex, ignored the well-established mechanisms and investigation procedures under the Convention, and forced a vote on the adoption of the so-called “Decision on Addressing the Threat Posed by Chemical Weapons Use”. They moved on then to push for the establishment of the  “Investigation and Identification Team”, which exceeds the mandate of the Convention, and released a series of  Investigation reports, which was devoid of corroborated evidence and based on an incomplete chain of custody. All that was aimed at further pressing for the so-called attribution of the responsibility. Such practices have caused a severe political confrontation with the OPCW and undermined the authority and effectiveness of the Convention. The root cause of the current situation is not that the Convention is outdated, but that it is politicized by the outdated Cold War mentality, which has seriously affected its effective implementation. China stands ready to work with all parties to return the investigation of the alleged use of chemical weapons back to right track, regarding the Convention as the yardstick and facts as the basis, and reach conclusions that can stand the test of history and time.

Third, we should promote dialogue and consultation and return to the tradition of consensus. Global governance in any field should uphold the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and international organizations cannot run smoothly without dialogue, consultation, and cooperation. As the intergovernmental organization for CW arms control and disarmament, the OPCW shoulders the responsibility of improving security governance in the field of CW arms control. However, in recent years, certain States Parties have frequently extended the wrong practice of forcing votes to the work of OPCW, even the discussions on technical and routine topics have been hindered by geopolitics, undermining the basis for dialogue and cooperation. China calls on all parties to return to the tradition of consensus, bridge differences through dialogue and consultation, work together to resist political manipulation, and the mentality of blocs, ideologization and confrontation in resolving international and regional issues, so as to avoid further damage of the international CW disarmament and arms control regime.

Fourth, we should invest more resources and inject new momentum into international cooperation. The United Nations General Assembly adopted for two consecutive years the resolutions on Promoting International Cooperation on Peaceful Uses in the Context of International Security. During the Fifth Review Conference this year, China submitted, on behalf of 15 States Parties, the working paper entitled “Promoting International Cooperation on Peaceful Uses Under the Framework of the Chemical Weapons Convention”. The above-mentioned resolution and document emphasize that the peaceful use of science and technology for sustainable development is of vital importance, and that, under international law,  the right to peaceful uses of chemical science and technology is inalienable for every country. China urges relevant countries to lift undue restrictions imposed on the developing countries, calls on the OPCW to continue to improve its international cooperation mechanism and framework, enrich its international cooperation toolbox and redouble the inputs, so that scientific and technological achievements in the field of chemistry can truly benefit the developing countries. China commends the Director-General and the Technical Secretariat for the great efforts in the Centre for Chemistry and Technology. China will give full play to its strengths and actively participate in the relevant cooperation programmes.

Fifth, we should seize the momentum of dialogue and open a new chapter of cooperation. Despite that the outcome document hasn’t been adopted at the Fifth Review Conference, the preparatory process of nearly one year has witnessed the fruitful exchanges of ideas and opinions among States Parties, and the efforts to seek consensus amid position differences. This provides us with an important chance to think about the current situation and new challenges in the field of international CW disarmament and arms control regime. In particular, after extensive and in-depth discussions, States Parties have reached broad consensus on several issues such as industry verification, organizational governance etc, which can serve as a basis to promote the work under the Convention and of the OPCW. On industry inspection, China advocates the principle of not placing additional burdens on the industry and ensuring the balanced allocation of inspection resources. China stands ready to play a constructive role in the process of adjusting the inspection mechanism, supports States Parties to reinforce the research on the impact of the scientific and technological developments on the scheduled chemicals, and supports further discussions on issues such as reducing the inspection backlog and addressing the “tipping point” for the OCPF inspections. On organizational governance, China believes that ensuring a broad geographical representation is an important organizational governance principle under the Convention. China has consistently supported the improvement of the geographical representation of the developing countries in the OPCW, and is looking forward to all States Parties attaching more importance to and redoubling inputs in ensuring the effective implementation of the above-mentioned principles.

The Chinese delegation requests that this statement be circulated as an official document of this session and published on the OPCW's public website and intranet.

Thank you, Mr Chairman.