(The Hague,6 October 2020)

Mr. Chairman,

Please allow me, on behalf of the Chinese delegation, to begin by welcoming you back to the Chair of the EC session. The Chinese delegation will cooperate closely with you and other delegations, in a concerted effort to make the proceedings of this session a success.

The Chinese delegation has listened carefully to the reports presented by the Director-General and the Vice-Chairpersons just now. This delegation associates itself with the statement made by H. E. Fikrat Akhundov, Representative of Azerbaijan on behalf of the NAM CWC States Parties and China. Now, I would like to elaborate China's views further on the following issues.

The destruction of chemical weapons (CWs) is a core object of the Convention. China has taken note of the progress made in the destruction of the CW stockpiles in the recent years, and urges the only remaining CW possessor state to fulfil its obligation under the Convention dutifully and complete its destruction by the newly specified deadline, in accordance with the decision on the destruction beyond the final deadline by the CSP.

The destruction of abandoned chemical weapons (ACW) constitutes an important component of the Convention and touches on whether a fundamental objective of the Convention can be attained. Now that 75 years have passed since the end of Japan's War of Aggression Against China, the Japanese ACWs on the Chinese territory still pose a real threat to the lives and properties of the people and the environmental safety in China. As a result of the joint efforts by China and Japan, some progress in the destruction has been made. However, the pace of the destruction as a whole is yet lagging far behind the schedule. China urges Japan to fulfil its obligation as the Abandoning State in earnest, increase its inputs to press ahead with the destruction process, and deal properly with such prominent issues as the contaminated soil. At the moment, due to the impact of Covid-19, the Japanese ACW destruction operations have been deferred. Meanwhile, China has overcome plenty of difficulties and done a large amount of work, so as to ensure the normal operation of all the construction projects at Haerbaling. On September 23, China, Japan and the Secretariat held a trilateral meeting on-line and exchanged opinions on the current and next steps of work. China will maintain its communication and enhance its coordination with Japan and the Secretariat, in the hope to have the destruction operations resumed at an early date. And China will continue to provide its assistance as appropriate.

On the issue of the elimination of Syria's CWs, China has noted the relevant reports circulated by the DG and by Syria. China understands that owing to the situation caused by Covid-19, the planned deployments and relevant activities have been put on hold. China supports the continued engagement and dialogue between Syria and the Secretariat, so that when conditions permit, the deployments and activities will be resumed, in order to forge positive progress in solving such issues as the clarification of the pending matters in connection with the initial declaration on Syria's CWs.

China has always stood against the use of CWs by any state, organization or individual under any circumstance and for any purpose. With regard to the incidents of alleged use of CWs, facts should be used as the basis and the Convention be taken as the yardstick in carrying out an impartial and objective investigation and treatment. And the conclusion should be based on facts and able to stand the test of time and history.

China proceeds in its approach towards the issue of the attribution of the responsibility for the use of CWs all for the purpose of maintaining the authority and integrity of the Convention. This is a principled matter bearing upon each State Party's own security and interest. This issue should not be allowed to become a geopolitical tool for some states with which to hold down other states. China calls once again on all parties to bridge their disagreements, avert the further attempt to create division and confrontation among States Parties, and bring a halt to the politicization of the work of the OPCW, with the object of preserving the Convention's authority ad integrity.

The Chinese delegation has actively engaged itself in the budget consultation, and hopes that the TS will take full account of all the aspects of the Covid-19 impact and conduct a reasonal and flexsible distribution of the resources, so as to ensure the implementation of this Organization's core programs. China is ready to join other parties in jointly reviewing and improving the relevant programs and guarantee the normal functioning of the OPCW.

On the issue of the aerosolized use of central nerve system-acting chemical agents for law enforcement purposes, China stresses once again that this is as much a technical as a legal matter. It is something of importance to the Convention itself and to the States Parties' obligations under it, and should thus be taken with caution. At this stage, States Parties should carry on with their thorough discussion and have an in-depth exchange of views, in order to seek a broad-based consensus.

China has noted the statement made by certain parties on the incident of the poisoning of Russian citizen Navalny. China calls on the parties concerned to have due communications and cooperation on the basis of the principles of mutual respect and consultation held on an equal footing, and address this issue properly. No conclusion should be jumped at before the actual facts are found out, so that a politicization and measures for further worsening the dispute will be avoided.

In closing, China would like to encourage the Chair, the Vice-Chairs and all the facilitators to keep playing their positive roles in bringing the facilitation mechanisms to adopt measures for improving the working methodology, with a view to advancing the work in all aspects under the Convention in a comprehensive and balanced way.

The Chinese delegation requests that this statement be circulated as an official document of this session and uploaded to the public and internal website of the OPCW.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.