Mr. Chairman,

I would like to congratulate you on your election as the Chairman of the Twenty-Eighth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Chinese delegation is prepared to cooperate fully with you and other delegations in an effort to bring this session to a positive outcome. China associates itself with the statement made by Venezuela on behalf of the NAM States Parties and China. I would like now to elaborate on China’s positions further.

Mr. Chairman,

In the face of profound changes unseen in a century, China advocates adhering to a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept, practising the global governance notion of extensive consultation, joint construction and shared benefits, keeping to true multilateralism, promoting the democratization of international relations, bringing the global governance to develop in a fairer and more reasonable direction, and jointly building a global community with a shared future for humankind.  The Chemical Weapons Convention is one of the significant pillars of global security governance and an important international legal basis for promoting the development of the chemical industry and technology. China calls on the States Parties to take this session as an opportunity to uphold the objects and purposes of the Convention, maintain unity and cooperation, improve the governance mechanisms, and avert greater challenges posed to the authority of the Convention.  China wishes to express four propositions as follows:

Firstly, we should forge a greater momentum for building a “world free of chemical weapons”.

Although the global CW stockpiles have been destroyed, the international community still faces grave challenges in moving towards the goal of a world free of CWs, the most prominent one of which is Chemical Weapons Abandoned by Japan in China (ACWs). Japanese ACWs have been buried for decades.  In enormous quantities, their burial locations remain even unknown. Most of them found so far were accidentally discovered in the process of the activities of production and daily life. The real harm that they pose and the urgency of their destruction are far greater than those of CW stockpiles.

This year, the ACW destruction has picked up its pace, and the number of the items destroyed throughout the year has exceed 20,000. The TS has fully resumed its on-site inspections. A total of 12 inspections were carried out this year, covering excavation and recovery operations and destruction and storage facilities. The number of inspections will further increase next year. China highly commends the TS and the States Parties for their support. China is ready to discuss with Japan about inviting the DG and a Council delegation to visit China again in 2024, in order to witness the progress of the ACW destruction.

In order to advance the ACW destruction as quickly as possible, China agreed to their destruction in the territory of China. Over the past 26 years, China has put a tremendous amount of human and material resources in this undertaking. They include the land for the destruction facilities, the supportive operations and construction personnel, and the assistance and support for the customs clearance of the Japanese personnel and equipment, and for those personnel’s transportation, food, accommodation and medical care in China. Taking this year as an example, as many as 3,000 Chinese personnel participated in the on-site operations alone. Those personnel and resources could have been used for more productive purposes such as the economic development and the improvement of the people’s livelihood.

The destruction of ACWs is an international obligation and a historical responsibility of the Abandoning State Party. In the face of political debts and a real harm pose, it is feckless for the abandoning state to talk about its so-called investment and contribution. In the past 26 years, the States Parties have completed the destruction of 72,304 tons of CW stockpiles, which fully shows that the crux of CW destruction was not a technical matter. Japan should display a stronger political will and make more solid inputs for implementing the destruction plan and resolving difficult issues.

Secondly, we should take more substantive actions for the development of the chemical industry and technology.

Security and development are the two major attributes of the CWC and should be promoted in a coordinated way. Since the entry into force of the Convention, the States Parties and the TS have done a whole lot of work in fostering peaceful uses and international cooperation, and made remarkable achievements.  The commissioning of the ChemTech Center is a quite milestone, which China highly commends.  This month, China sent four experts to the CCT to conduct a customs laboratory training there for the personnel from the developing countries, which has yielded good results.

On the other hand, the peaceful uses in the chemical field still faces severe challenges. Certain states have generalized the concept of security, abused export controls and flagrantly imposed unilateral sanctions, thus hindering the peaceful uses of science and technology in various fields such as chemistry, and hampering normal economic and trading contacts. The developing countries’ call for an action plan to implement Article XI of the Convention has not been answered. And since 2011, the Conference has not been able to adopt a new decision on the implementation of Article XI. This fully demonstrates that peaceful uses is still a weak spot in the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Convention. I wish to emphasize that the “compliance-capacity-building” is only one aspect of international cooperation. The States Parties should, as per the provisions of the Convention, adhere to an issue-oriented approach, accord priority to the major requirements of the developing nations, focus their attention on peaceful uses and take practical measures therefor.

In last May, China and 14 other States Parties jointly submitted a working paper on Promoting International Cooperation in Peaceful Uses within the Framework of the Chemical Weapons Convention to the Fifth Review Conference. The paper calls for forging a new consensus on and injects a new impetus into the peaceful uses in the chemical sphere, in conjunction with the implementation of the resolution on “Promoting International Cooperation on Peaceful Uses in the Context of International Security” adopted by the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly.  In the First Committee of the 78th Session of the UNGA this year, China and the co-sponsoring states made a joint statement, which reiterated that peaceful uses is an inalienable right of all countries and urged the relevant states to implement the requirements of the resolution and remove excessive restrictions. China and the co-sponsoring states will submit a draft resolution again to the 79th Session of the UNGA in 2024.  All the States Parties are welcome to take an active part in the follow-up process of the UNGA.

Thirdly, we should find the right ways to resolve hotspot issues.

In last February, China issued the Global Security Initiative Concept Paper, which expounds the core ideas and the course of action of the initiative. As regards international and regional hotspot issues, China has always advocated the principal approaches of promoting peace and urging talks for making peace. They are reflected in the adoption of a fair and pragmatic attitude and the primary mindset of addressing both the symptoms and the root causes of the issues, while persisting in dialogue, negotiation and political solution.

The fundamental way for the “prevention of the re-emergence of CWs” lies in the effort to uphold the authority of the Convention, make good use of the verification regime under it, take into account the reasonable and legitimate concerns of all parties, solve issues duly through dialogue and consultation, and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture. The “Investigation and Identification Team” is a product of political manipulation.  Facts have proven that it is incompatible with the Convention. And it is neither conducive to resolving issues nor capable of attaining the goal of the “prevention of the re-emergence of CWs”.

The crux of the protracted Syrian CW dossier does not rest with the fact that the Convention has become outdated. It is exactly for the reason that its authority has not been effectively preserved. Since the beginning of this year, there has been positive progress in the cooperation between the Syrian government and the TS. China welcomes this progress and encourages both parties to continue their constructive cooperation in order to create favourable conditions for finding a solution. China supports a greater role played by the countries in the region concerned in the process of solving this issue, out of the overall consideration of improving relations and jointly building peace and seeking common development.

Fourthly, we should inject positive energy into the unity and cooperation among the States Parties.

Unity and cooperation are the key to the OPCW’s stable functioning on a long-term basis. China welcomes the decision on geographical representive adopted by the Council at its 103rd Session by consensus.  The decision supports promoting geographical representation among international staff and increasing and enlarging the representation and voice of the developing states, thus instilling new positive energy into the work of the OPCW.

In the recent years, driven by their selfish interests, certain states had used the issue of CWs for their political manipulation, which badly impeded the healthy and sustainable development of the OPCW. China is gravely concerned that some states ignored the positive progress made, insisted, without prior consultation, on submitting a new draft decision on the Syrian CW issue to the Conference at this session, and planned to push for a vote on it.

The Executive Council is an important decision-making organ of the OPCW. As per the Convention, the States Parties with the most significant national chemical industry in each regional group shall, as a rule, be the members of the Council. The attempt of certain states to override this basic principle will seriously undermine the objects and purposes of the Convention, while deviating from the shared interests of the States Parties.

China firmly opposes the inclusion by the United States in 2020 of China’s Academy of Military Sciences in its Military End-User List. The US’ unlawful unilateral sanction has badly affected the normal operation of the Chinese Designated Laboratory concerned, and greatly disrupted the relevant work of the OPCW and the UN Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons. China urges the US to rectify this wrongful action immediately by lifting its unlawful unilateral sanction.

In short, an international organization hijacked by the political manipulation by certain states is an organization which is not sustainable.  China calls on the States Parties concerned to take a responsible approach and seek a proper solution to the relevant issues through consultation and on the basis of consensus.

Mr. Chairman,

As the state with the largest chemical industry, China has always attached great importance to the implementation of the Convention. In 2023, China will receive more than 30 inspections, including about 17 schedule 2 inspections, or 35% of all conducted worldwide, which makes it the most inspected State Party. For 26 years, China’s national implementation office has continuously carried out and strengthened the OPCW-awareness-raising activities by holding implementation knowledge contests and online exhibitions, and organizing implementation trainings for regional governments and facilities. The central government has provided guidance to the governments of the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Region on constantly improving implementation legislation, timely submitting declarations and enhancing the management of the trade of the scheduled chemicals.

Mr. Chairman,

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the proposition of President Xi Jinping’s significant vision of building a global community with a shared future for humankind. Over the years, President Xi also proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. They have enriched the content and the way of implementation of the vision of a global community with a shared future for humankind. In adherence to this vision, China will continue to work with the TS and other States Parties in an unremitting effort to attain the goal of building a world free of CWs.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.