"The Security Council’s work would include action on peacekeeping and political mandates, as well as holding two open debates and a briefing on Syria. The 30 meetings on the schedule would be dealing with issues in the Middle East, Africa, Latin American and the Caribbean and Europe. More specifically, the Council would focus on Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Colombia, Haiti and Cyprus," Liu said Monday.
According to the Chinese ambassador, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is expected to brief members of the UNSC on the latest developments in Syria. He stressed that the 15-member Security Council would continue to promote political dialogue and try to encourage a Syrian-led, Syrian-owned process, adding that the Council encourages whatever positive developments that may emerge from the Astana and Geneva processes.
"On Syria, the Council would focus mainly on three dimensions: the political process, chemical weapons, and humanitarian conditions," Liu said.
The fifth round of peace talks on resolving the Syrian conflict, brokered by Russia, Turkey, and Iran, is taking place in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana on July 4-5. A new round of UN-mediated talks on Syria will be hosted by Geneva on July 10-15.
Regarding the situation in Yemen, Liu expressed hope that the Council would help bring the parties to the negotiating table in order to resolve outstanding issues through political means and abandon the notion of a military solution. A briefing on Yemen is scheduled to be held on July 12.
In addition, on July 10, the Council was scheduled to establish its second special political mission for Colombia to monitor implementation of the final peace agreement. On July 17 and 24, it would extend the mandates of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), respectively.
Regarding to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Liu said China's focus during its UNSC is expected to be on three elements: denuclearization, ensuring security, and resuming negotiations.
"If tensions continued to rise at the current rate, the consequences could be disastrous," he warned.
The Chinese ambassador stressed that applying sanctions was not the only way to deal with the crisis, expressing China has always been opposed to unilateral sanctions.
