Security Council – Work assessment under China presidency (March 2011) – Letter from China (excerpts)

Letter dated 18 April 2011 from the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council 

 I have the honour to transmit herewith a report on the work of the Security Council during the presidency of China in March 2011 (see annex). 

 The document was prepared under my responsibility, after consultation with the other members of the Security Council. 

 I should be grateful if you would have the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the Security Council. 

(Signed) Li Baodong
Ambassador
Permanent Representative of the
People’s Republic of China to the United Nations 

Annex to the letter dated 18 April 2011 from the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council 

   Assessment of the work of the Security Council during the presidency of the People’s Republic of China (March 2011) 

   Introduction 

 Under the presidency of China in March 2011, the Security Council considered a wide range of issues. The Council held 32 meetings, including 16 consultations, 8 briefings, one open debate, one debate and one private meeting. One informal interactive dialogue was also convened. The Council adopted five resolutions and one presidential statement, and issued three statements to the press. 

The Council observed minutes of silence at the start of its meeting on 16 March in tribute to the loss of lives in the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on 11 March. 

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Middle East

The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question 

 On 22 March, the Council was briefed by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. He reiterated the urgency to break the current impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and urged the parties to demonstrate leadership and go back to negotiating the final status issues towards implementing the two-state solution. He expressed concern about the increase in violent incidents and tensions on the ground and called on all parties to exercise restraint and to respect international humanitarian law. He condemned the murder of five members of an Israeli family that took place at the settlement of Itamar in the occupied West Bank, while recalling the United Nations position that any settlement activity by Israel in the occupied territory is illegal under international law and detrimental to efforts to resume negotiations and achieve the two-state solution. 

 In the consultations of the whole that followed, Council members expressed their concern over the current impasse in the peace process and called on the parties to rapidly resume direct negotiations. In this regard, some Council members stressed the importance of the efforts made by the Quartet towards that goal. Most Council members expressed their concern at the increase in violence and tensions during the reporting period and called for peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflicts. Council members expressed concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and some reiterated their calls for Israel to end all settlement activities. 

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