Working Together to Address Terrorist Threats and Build a New Middle East of Peace, Tolerance and Self-Advancement
——Speech at the 19th Eurasian Economic Summit on “Terrorism and the Refugee Issue”

YU Hongjun,CPAPD Vice President and Member of the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the 12th National Committee, CPPCC

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Working Together to Address Terrorist Threats and Build a New Middle East of Peace, Tolerance and Self-Advancement
——Speech at the 19th Eurasian Economic Summit on “Terrorism and the Refugee Issue”

YU Hongjun,
CPAPD Vice President and Member of the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the 12th National Committee, CPPCC

Mr. Chairman,

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

It is a great honor for me to share thoughts and ideas with all participants on Working Together to Address Terrorist Threats and Build a New Middle East of Peace, Tolerance and Self-Advancement.

The situation in the Middle East region is serious. Differences among nations, religious sects and ethnic groups aggravate one another. Wars and conflicts, terrorist threats, migrant crisis and humanitarian disasters are interwoven. The image of the drowned Syrian boy challenges human morality and questions the conscience of the international community. It is not only keen expectation of nations and peoples of the Middle East, but also responsibility of the international Community, to reflect on the root causes of the Middle East’s turmoil, terrorist threats and refugee crises, and strive to seek a feasible and effective solution.

I. Terrorism is a common scourge ofmankind.

In struggles against terrorism, we must avoid double standards. Combating violent terrorism in all its manifestations should be the shared responsibility and priority for countries in the region and the international community.

At the moment, the international community is facing a resurgence of terrorism. Conflicts in the Middle East draw terrorists and extremists into the region from all over the world like a magnet functioning. At the same time, regional terrorism is working to aggravate its “spill-over effect” and accelerate the“reverse flowing effect”, which will pose serious threat to the security and stability of many countries, regions and indeed the world as a whole.

Not long ago, Ankara and Istanbul both witnessed successive terrorist attacks in large scale, which caused heavy casualties of innocent civilians. China is also the victim of terrorist and extremist forces, thus the misery is shared by peoples in different countries, including Turkey having suffered from terrorism. Confronted with terrorism, all countries have found their destinies bound together. It is important for them to put aside their differences, and work in closer coordination.

First, we must follow a consistent standard. Any act of terrorism, in whatever form it may be, whenever and wherever it is committed, and whomever or whatever are targeted, must be cracked down. Terrorist activities are all the same in nature, and should be countered without double standards, still less should terrorism be identified with any particular ethnic group or religion.

Second, we must ensure sound coordination.The United Nations and the UN Security Council have to play the leading role in the global war on terrorism. All nations should not carry out this global war on terrorism completely and independently without communication at all among them. If not, we will see the strange phenomenon of “the more the anti-terrorism actions, the more the terror grows”. Only by unity, cooperation, effective coordination and concerted actions, can we achieve tangible effects.

Third, we must adopt a multi-pronged approach. The global war on terrorism should be fought with an integrated approach that includes measures taken in the political, security, economic, financial, intelligence and ideological fields with a view to addressing both the symptoms and root causes of terrorism. Military actions must comply with the UN Charter and the relevant Security Council resolutions.

II. International counter-terrorism cooperation must be conducted under the UN framework.

Faced with the new trends and new developments of terrorism, we need to come up with new thinking and new measures in response. Furthermore, we need to take an integrated approach with a view to address both the symptoms and root causes of terrorism, especially to remove its root causes and breeding ground.

In this era of the Internet, social media has become a battlefield for terrorist and extremist groups to propagate their ideology, a tool to plot terrorist attacks and a platform to recruit members. With rising inter-connectivity, terrorist financing has become more covert and easier to shape international corridors for terrorists and extremists to move across the world. In the era of information technologies, some young people are susceptible to extreme ideas and demagogy by terrorist forces. We must stay alert, and win absolute victory in the battle to compete with terrorist organizations and extremist ideologies for our future generations.

First, we should step up information gathering and sharing. We should bring to full play the advantages of the United Nations and relevant international institutions on such matters as establishing a counter-terrorism database and information exchange platform, so as to accelerate sharing of intelligence resources and intelligence analysis.

Second, we should strengthen counter-terrorism on the Internet. Resolute measures should be taken to stop the use of social media to spread extremist ideas, especially to upload the audio and video materials of violence and terror. Cyber network companies and operators should exercise self-discipline. To this end, it is imperative to formulate as soon as possible a code of conduct for the global cyber industry.

Third, we must block the channels of terrorist movement and financing terrorism. All countries, particularly those adjacent to ongoing conflicts, ought to fulfill international obligations for effective border control. We must enhance cooperation in financial regulation, cracking down on illegal underground banking activities, and blocking terrorist financing.

Fourth, we should promote de-radicalization. While taking actions in accordance with law to crack down on and outlaw venues and personnel that are engaged in advocating and spreading extremism, we should protect normal religious activities, promote public awareness, and give greater play to the role of local communities, thus injecting more positive energy in society.

In addition, it is of ultimate importance to take an integrated approach with a view to address both the symptoms and root causes to fight against terrorism. The instable and unbalanced development of the region is the breeding ground of terrorism, while separatism and conflicts among different ethnic groups and religious sects lead to emergence of extremism. We believe that only by appropriate settlement of regional disputes, restoration of regional stability, enhancement of governing capacity of different countries and improvement of people’s tangible well-being through economic development, can all forms of problems contributing to terrorism be removed from breeding grounds.

III. The only way out to settle terrorism and refugee issue is to build a Middle East ofPeace, Tolerance and Self-advancement

, so that the vicious cycle of incessant turbulence in the region could be broken up.

The frequent terrorist attacks and refugee issues can all be traced back to the turmoil in the Middle East. We believe that if the international community, countries and peoples of the region can work together towards a New Middle East of peace, tolerance and self-advancement, we will finally extinguish the fire head- source of terrorism and migrant crisis in all forms.

First and foremost, we need a Middle East of peace. Stability is a blessing while turmoil brings peril. The 70-year history of the UN has all along witnessed the gun-smoke of the region and the displacement of innocent civilians. The history of the Middle East tells us time and again that violence cannot fully bring the problem to an end and hatred will only shatter hope. Only by respecting each other can people live together peacefully, only by adhering to dialogue can problems be resolved, and only by promoting friendship can a better future be created.

Second, we need a Middle East of tolerance. The Middle East region, once a cradle of human civilization, boasts a glorious history with major contribution to human progress. Its flourishing civilization and cultural self-confidence has made this region an important platform for exchanges and integration of Eastern and Western civilizations. In the 21st century, co-existence of civilizations requires the spirit of harmony without uniformity more than before and progress of the society calls for inclusiveness and broad-mindedness. Different religions should tolerate and learn from each other and various ethnicities should live in harmony.

Last but not the least, we need a Middle East of self-advancement. The Middle East is the home for all the peoples in the region. Therefore, its future and destiny should be determined by countries in the region through consultations. Countries outside the region may provide help but should avoid interfering in the internal affairs of the regional countries or, needless to mention imposing a specific model on them. Regional order should be shaped by the regional countries on the basis of the UN Charter and in light of the regional reality on the ground and the needs of the people there.

Political settlement is the only way out for the Syrian crisis. To achieve this, parties need to find a middle way that draws on workable practices of other countries and regions, suits Syria's national conditions, and accommodates the interests of all parties. The resurgence of violent and terrorist forces and the spread of migrant crisis have further driven home to all parties the necessity and urgency of seeking a political settlement to the Syrian issue. China calls on all parties to seize the opportunity arising from a growing desire for political settlement, give positive consideration to the convening of the Geneva Conference on Syria, and push for the restart of an inclusive political transition process that does not set preconditions or pre-determines results, but involves all parties to the conflict. May the Syrian people decide for themselves the future of their country willingly and independently with the help of the international community and the support of the UN Security Council. We sincerely hope the next round of peace talks on Syrian Issue will be a new starting point for the political settlement of Syrian crisis, and from here to open up a new prospect of peace and security in the region, so that positive contributions could be made to build a New Middle East of Peace, Tolerance and Self-advancement. Thank you.