‘UCMs violate principles of UN Charter’
BEIJING. — The Chinese permanent mission to the UN jointly held a webinar with permanent missions of Russia, Venezuela and other countries affected by the Unilateral Coercive Measures (UCMs).
The virtual meeting was entitled “The Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures (UCMs) on the Global Fight against COVID-19: Supporting the UN Charter, Promoting International Cooperation and Ensuring that No One is Left Behind in Times of Pandemic”.
The virtual meeting was chaired by María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. Remarks were made by representatives of participating countries’ permanent missions to the UN and some member states, as well as experts of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNCTAD and
Columbia University.
All parties believe that UCMs seriously violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, run counter to the norms of international law, undermine sanctioned countries’ right to development and ability to achieve sustainable development goals, and turn innocent civilians into biggest victims.
The international community should stay united to effectively tackle the impact of unilateral sanctions, and help developing countries defeat the virus and achieve inclusive, sustainable development.
In his speech, Ambassador Zhang Jun of China’s permanent mission to the UN said that the international community should respond positively to secretary-general’s appeals, make every effort to tackle the impact of unilateral coercive measures, and help sanctioned countries overcome the difficulties. The UN and other international organisations should provide sanctioned countries with timely and effective support to help them address the economic and social impact of the pandemic, and ease people’s difficulties.
China has provided a large amount of assistance to countries in need and will continue to do so.
“Once again we urge the certain country to immediately lift UCMs and work together with the international community to combat the pandemic. China will continue making concerted efforts with others to practice multilateralism, uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and foster a favourable international environment for all countries to defeat the virus and realise rapid recovery and sustainable development,” he said. — China Youth Daily.