Nov.21 - The Chinese Ambassador for Disarmament has affirmed that China supports the complete destruction of biological and toxin weapons, and firmly opposes their proliferation.

 

Cheng Jingye reaffirmed China's opposition to biological weapons at the 6th Review Conference of Biological Weapons in Geneva. Delegates from 155 UN member states are currently meeting to strengthen controls against biological weapons at the conference, which is held once every 5 years.

 

Cheng Jingye said the conference should review the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention over the past 5 years and draft follow-up measures to strengthen the multilateral agreement.

 

He added that China is urging more states to voluntarily submit reports on their work under the Convention in a time effective manner. He said China will actively engage in discussions on how to improve confidence-building measures.

 

In recent years, biotechnology has played a more important role in improving people's health, as well as the natural environment. But the threat arising from misuse of the technology has also grown. Cheng Jingye said the international community faces the common challenge of developing the beneficial aspects of biotechnology, while comprehensively enforcing the Convention.

 

The Conference will run for around 3 weeks.

 

Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Masood Khan, has been elected President of the 6th Review Conference of Biological Weapons.