China playing key global role as UN marks 75 years

Middle East resolution

In August, the United States administration officially asked the UN to restore sanctions against Iran after it said the latter violated an agreement to limit its nuclear program – a deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, from which the US walked away in 2018.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a news briefing that a letter sent by the Permanent Mission of China to the UN already stated China's position and added that pertinent participants, including China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Iran had sent letters to the Security Council chairman. British, French, and German foreign ministers also issued a statement expressing opposition to the US move.

To uphold the JCPOA and the authority of the UN Security Council resolution, maintain the international non-proliferation regime, and safeguard regional peace and stability, China stands ready to work with other parties to find a proper solution and move forward the political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue, Zhao added.

China has always been committed to peace and stability in the Middle East, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said at a Security Council session last August.

"China has always paid close attention to peace and security in the Middle East and has always adhered to an objective and impartial position and actively advocated for the establishment of a new security concept featuring common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable elements in an effort to build a community with a shared future for mankind," Zhang said.

He underlined that it is necessary to increase political solutions to regional hotspots, support the UN's role of mediator, promote dialogue and negotiations, and insist on upholding the legitimate rights and interests of all parties.

China-EU cooperation

China and the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement in a joint statement in 2018 after the 20th EU-China Summit held in Beijing, expressing full support for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP24), which was scheduled to take place in December of that year in Katowice, Poland.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission at the time, said: "We have underlined our joint, strong determination to fight climate change and demonstrate global leadership. It shows our commitment to multilateralism and recognizes that climate change is a global challenge affecting all countries on Earth. There is no time for us to sit back and watch passively. Now is the time for decisive action."

China and the European Economic Community, the predecessor to the European Union, founded diplomatic relations 45 years ago and have cooperated many times since then.

During a China-Germany-EU leaders' meeting, the leaders of China, Germany, and the EU agreed to uphold multilateralism and jointly address global challenges.

China proposed that they participate constructively in the global multilateral process of tackling climate change and protecting global biodiversity, support each other in running the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and on promoting the 15th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biodiversity in Kunming, in order to achieve positive results, and contribute to global sustainable development.