China supports Kazakhstan stability, UN envoy says

China's ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday firmly opposed any attempt to destabilize Kazakhstan and called for countries to practice true multilateralism and oppose group politics.

As a regional security organization with important influence, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, has played an important role "in safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of its member states, and preventing and responding to new threats and challenges to regional security", Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said at a Security Council open debate on cooperation between the UN and the CSTO.

"China appreciates the cooperation between the CSTO and the UN in the fields of counterterrorism, combating drug smuggling, organized crime, and peacekeeping in recent years," said Zhang.

"China supports the CSTO to continue to play to its own advantages and form a synergy with the UN's efforts to maintain international peace and security."

Zhang pointed out that the large-scale violence against the government in Kazakhstan has caused heavy casualties and property losses, and China is "highly concerned about this", he said.

"China supports all measures that are conducive to the restoration of stability in the domestic situation in Kazakhstan," he said.

At the same time, Zhang said: "China firmly opposes any attempt to destabilize Kazakhstan and threaten Kazakhstan's security, and opposes external forces deliberately creating turmoil and 'color revolutions' in Kazakhstan."

At the request of the Kazakh government, the CSTO went to Kazakhstan to assist in maintaining domestic order, and "at a critical moment, it played an active role in stabilizing the situation in Kazakhstan", Zhang said.

"As a friendly neighbor and permanent comprehensive strategic partner of Kazakhstan, China expects Kazakhstan to achieve long-term stability and supports Kazakhstan in restoring stability, developing its economy, and improving people's livelihood," he said.

Constructive role

"We believe that the Kazakh authorities can properly solve the problem and maintain the country's stable development. We also hope that the international community can fully respect Kazakhstan's sovereignty and play a constructive role in maintaining the stability and development of Kazakhstan and the region.

"A few countries pursue unilateralism and hegemonic policies, engage in power politics, harm the security and development interests of other countries through improper means, provoke a new Cold War and geopolitical competition, and seriously undermine international order and global strategic stability," the envoy said.

Faced with a complex and severe situation, Zhang said, the international community "needs to practice genuine multilateralism and oppose bloc politics and cliques; it needs to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and oppose confrontation and pressure; it needs equality and mutual trust, and opposes using power to bully others," he said.

Under the new situation, he said: "China is willing to work with the member states of the CSTO to deepen cooperation in the Belt and Road, economy, trade, security, people-to-people, and cultural engagement and other fields, improve the level of connectivity and promote the process of economic integration."