Credit: Gary Raynaldo / © Diplomatic Times  /  Ambassador ZHANG Jun, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of March, speaks to reporters on the Council’s programme of work for the month of March at UN world headquarters in New York City Mar. 2, 2020.

By Gary Raynaldo        DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  NEW  YORK  – Ambassador ZHANG Jun, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations said the Coronavirus will not be an issue of discussion on the UN Security Council’s March agenda.   CHINA officially took over the rotating Presidency of the UN Security Council this week.  The presidency of the council is held by each of the members for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states’ Names.  China  follows Belgium which held the presidency the month of February.  There have been more than 93,000 cases of  COVID-19 around the world – the overwhelming majority in China with nearly 3,000 deaths reported in the Asian nation alone.    Meanwhile, China’s UN Ambassador pleaded for calm, saying there is no need to panic over the coronavirus epidemic and that Beijing does not plan to discuss the situation in the Security Council during its March Presidency.

“We don’t have any plans to discuss the coronavirus before the Security Council. It is really beyond the scope of the Security Council. It is a public health issue.”

-Ambassador ZHANG Jun, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the UN

Beijing’s UN ambassador said that “while we watch closely the situation, especially the new development, we do not need to go panicky about that epidemic.”   Zhang made the remarks during Monday’s UN  press conference.

Several African Country Issues On  Security Council’s March Pogramme 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo / © Diplomatic Times  /  Ambassador ZHANG Jun,  (Center) Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of March, speaks to reporters on the Council’s programme of work for the month of March at UN world headquarters in New York City Mar. 2, 2020.

DIPLOMATIC  TIMES Video /   Ambassador ZHANG Jun,  (Center) Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of March, speaks to reporters on the Council’s programme of work for the month of March at UN world headquarters in New York City Mar. 2, 2020.

 China has  chosen to hold three discretionary events this month in UN Security Council. The first will be a debate in early March on “Countering terrorism and extremism in Africa” featuring briefings by Chef de Cabinet Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti and AU Permanent Observer Ambassador Fatima Kyari Mohammed.  The second event is an open debate on “Upholding multilateralism and promoting political settlement of disputes”, which will take place mid-month. Secretary-General António Guterres, General Assembly President Tjjjani Muhammad-Bande and the President of the International Court of Justice, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (via VTC), are expected to brief.  The third event, a debate on “UN peacekeeping operations: Better capacity building, more safety and security”, will take place later in the month. Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support Atul Khare are the anticipated briefers.

Several African country issues are on the Council’s programme this month. The Council will hold a meeting with troop contributing countries to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). 

The Council expects to receive a briefing on the special report of the UN Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the AU Commission on the UN/AU Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). 

There will likely be an adoption of a resolution establishing a follow-on presence to UNAMID by 31 March in accordance with resolution 2495. In addition, the chair of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee Ambassador, Ambassador Sven Jürgenson (Estonia), will provide the quarterly briefing on the committee’s work.  There will be a briefing, followed by consultations, on the activities of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) this month.  A briefing, followed by consultations, is also anticipated this month on the Secretary-General’s most recent report on the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). The mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) is due for renewal before its expiry on 31 March.

China Ambassador Confident About  Chinese economy Amid Coronavirus Credit: Gary Raynaldo / © Diplomatic Times  /  Ambassador ZHANG Jun,  (Center) Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations. 

Ambassador Jun said he is confident China will be able to weather any negative financial impact “because of the strong resilience, enormous domestic consumption and the domestic market and because of the solid foundation of the Chinese economy.”  The ambassador added that China will still achieve its economic goals.