UNITED NATIONS - A Chinese envoy on Tuesday stressed the central role of the United Nations in international affairs.

Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said the purposes and principles of the UN Charter provide guidance for handling international relations, and are an important cornerstone for stabilizing international order. 

He said the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization is the only standing meeting mechanism within the UN framework devoted to the discussion of the UN Charter.

China supports the special committee in continuing its work within its mandate and making greater efforts and contributions to safeguarding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and strengthening the role of the organization, he told the opening of the 2021 session of the special committee

China supports the special committee in continuing its work within its mandate and making greater efforts and contributions to safeguarding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and strengthening the role of the organization, Geng told the opening of the 2021 session of the special committee.

In recent years, the special committee has made useful explorations on issues such as UN sanctions and the prohibition of the use of force, an effort that has China's appreciation, he said.

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On UN sanctions, Geng said China wished to reiterate that sanctions are a means rather than an end, and should serve the purpose of the political settlement of related issues. 

He said the Security Council should take a prudent and responsible attitude toward sanctions. 

Second, sanctions should be imposed only at the exhaustion of all other peaceful means, and should be carried out in keeping with the UN Charter and relevant principles of international law, so as to minimize the impact on the general public and third countries, Geng said.

He said China maintains that all parties should strictly abide by and implement the Security Council resolutions concerning sanctions. 

China opposes the imposition of additional unilateral sanctions that are inconsistent with the UN Charter and that undermine the effectiveness and authority of UN sanctions, Geng said.

On some countries' proposal to ask the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the use of force by states without the authorization of the Security Council, Geng said China is of the view that this proposal will help further clarify the rules about the use of force as contained in the UN Charter. 

He added that China supports further discussion within the special committee on this issue.

On the peaceful settlement of disputes, China has always maintained that parties to a dispute should properly resolve it through peaceful means, Geng said. 

In the case of mediation, arbitration, judicial and other dispute settlement means, the countries' right for independent choice should be respected, he added.

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Geng noted that the special committee was set to discuss arbitration as a means of dispute settlement. China would like to take this opportunity to stress that, arbitration, like other peaceful means to settle disputes that involve the intervention of a third party, has a fundamental premise -- the voluntary acceptance of arbitration by all parties to the dispute, he said.

International arbitration bodies should strictly follow this principle and work within strict parameters to make arbitration successful, he added.