Revitalizing disarmament talks

Wang highlighted the importance of revitalizing the work of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) so as to take forward multilateral disarmament negotiations.

"We are of the view that CD's position and role are irreplaceable," he said.

In this regard, Wang stressed the three essential principles in advancing the work of CD -- enhance CD's authority and position; respect CD's rules of procedure, particularly its consensus rule; and treat the legitimate security concerns of each member state as equal and address them in an earnest manner.

"China, for its part, has all along been active and supportive of CD's work," he said.

"In the meantime, it is also imperative that CD reactivate its substantive work on such core issues as the prevention of an arms race in outer space, nuclear disarmament and security assurances for non-nuclear-weapon states," he added.

Safeguarding global common space

The ambassador also called for the "active pursuit of a preventive diplomacy in safeguarding a global common space," including outer space and cyber space.

"Outer space is the common wealth of mankind, and the peaceful use and exploration of outer space is in the interest of the whole human-being," he said, urging the early conclusion of a new legal instrument on the prevention of weaponization in outer space.

Cyber space constitutes a new dimension of multilateral arms control diplomacy, Wang said.

"States should exercise effective administration over cyber space and maintain its security, and avoid it from becoming a new battlefield and a tool of interfering in other countries' internal affairs," he said.

China hopes that the international community will work on the basis of a first UN report on the issue of information security to "explore effective ways of combating cyber threats and preserving the sound international cyber order," Wang added.