China Reiterates Willingness to Combat Terrorism

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 02, 2001

China Reiterates Willingness to Combat Terrorism

China stands ready to make its contribution along with the international community to the fight against all forms of terrorism, a senior Chinese diplomat said Friday in Vienna.

China stands ready to make its contribution along with the international community to the fight against all forms of terrorism, a senior Chinese diplomat said Friday in Vienna.

China opposes and condemns terrorism of all forms and calls for the strengthening of international cooperation at all levels in the struggle against terrorism in accordance with the spirit and principle of the U.N. Charter, Zhang Yishan, China's U.N. ambassador in Vienna, told the November board of governors session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington are not only attacks on the United States, but also challenges to all peace-loving nations and peoples of the world, said the Chinese ambassador.

"Terrorism has become a common evil of the world and a common enemy of the entire humanity. Any form of terrorist activities, including nuclear terrorism, poses a serious threat to world peace and stability," Zhang said.

"Quite a number of countries, including China, have been victims of terrorism. The terrorist forces of the so-called 'East Turkestan,' which have close links with international terrorism, have long been recipients of training, financial assistance and support from international terrorist groups.

"To achieve their aim of splitting China, they have created a lot of incidences of terror and violence on the Chinese territory, causing huge losses of civilian lives and property."

Zhang pointed out that terrorist attacks by biological, chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction are no longer fictional. They are real threats to the international community which must be taken seriously. "We must do whatever we can to prevent nuclear terrorism."

In regard to protection against nuclear terrorism and protection of nuclear material and nuclear facilities, Zhang said China supports an appropriate role of the IAEA in accordance with the objectives and principles of the statute.

The Chinese ambassador said the root cause of terrorism must be carefully studied in order to tackle the problem fundamentally.

On November 12, the ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council adopted the "Declaration on the Global Effort to Combat Terrorism," which call for the international community to continue its efforts to enhance understanding between different cultures and promote solutions of regional conflicts in hotspots and various other global issues including the widening gap between the South and the North and extreme poverty of the developing countries. All these will contribute to stemming international terrorism, said Zhang.

"In addition to actively developing relevant measures against (nuclear) terrorism, we should also take technical cooperation as an effective measure for the final eradication of terrorism and increase technical cooperation and assistance to developing countries so as to improve their capacity of sustainable development."

"Only in this way, can we be truly effective in protecting against and preventing the emergency of nuclear terrorism," Zhang stressed.

The Vienna-based IAEA, set up in 1957, is an inter-governmental organization responsible for atomic energy issues.

The two-day board of governors session, which opened here Thursday, was attended by representatives from 35 IAEA member states, 62 non-member countries and four international organizations.

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