Colleagues,

China abstained from voting on the draft resolution that was just put to vote. I would like to hereby state China’s position on it. 

The panel of experts is an integral part of the sanctions regime authorized by the Security Council, with a mandate to assist in monitoring the implementation of sanctions measures and to make recommendations to the Council on sanctions. The kind of sanctions in place would require a corresponding panel of experts. Therefore, the mandate of the panel being aligned with the cycle of sanctions is both a logical arrangement and a common practice for the existing 14 sanctions regimes of the Council. 

The only exception is the sanctions regime on Darfur of Sudan, which is the subject of today’s vote. The current sanctions on Darfur are due to expire in September this year, and today’s resolution extends the panel’s mandate beyond September till March of next year. This is clearly against common sense. It is first of all pre-judging the inevitable extension of sanctions after September this year. Additionally, should the Council adjust the sanctions measures in due time, it will have new requirements on the panel’s composition and its professional background, which may, in turn, make it challenging for the current panel to carry out its newly authorized mandate. 

The misalignment in the cycles of the two mandates has been there for a relatively long time, and China and many other members have been calling for it to be resolved. The solution is quite simple. We only need to extend the panel’s mandate for six months once, then we can achieve the cycle alignment once and for all. If some country claims that a panel’s mandate cannot be extended for less than a year, then we only need to extend the sanctions regime for six months once. That can resolve the problem as well. 

This unique anomaly has been there, left unresolved for some time, not because of the complexity of the issue, but fundamentally because of a lack of political will. The penholder is unwilling to make efforts and seek the broadest possible consensus or to improve the Council’s working mechanisms and methods from a technical point of view. During the next phase of the Council’s work on Sudan sanctions, this anomaly must be addressed and resolved. We urge the penholder to take up its responsibility on this matter. 

Colleagues, 

The conflict in Sudan has dragged on for nearly two years now, resulting in devastating humanitarian consequences. China has taken note of the recent discussions on Sudan at the African Union summit. We call on all parties to the conflict to stop the fighting as soon as possible, support the United Nations in synergizing good offices with the African Union, IGAD, and others to bring the parties back to the track of political dialogue, and call on the international community to increase its assistance and help Sudan restore peace at an early date.