Chinese envoy demands convincing explanations on Nord Stream incident

A Chinese envoy on Tuesday demanded convincing explanations from relevant parties on the destruction of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in September 2022 and called for an international investigation.

"Recently, we have come across a lot of details and relevant information concerning the Nord Stream incident, which are alarming," said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

"Faced with such detailed materials and comprehensive evidence, a simple statement of 'utterly false and complete fiction' is obviously not enough to answer the many questions and concerns raised around the world. Finding a way to dodge today's meeting does not mean that truth can be concealed," he said, referring to Tuesday's Security Council briefing on the Nord Stream issue. "We expect convincing explanations from relevant parties. Such a request is entirely legitimate and reasonable."

It is increasingly clear that what happened to the Nord Stream pipelines was by no means an accident, but rather a deliberate act. From the perspective of physical conditions, it is hard to imagine that any non-state actor would be capable of carrying out such destruction alone, said Zhang.

At a Security Council meeting last September, many countries called for an investigation into the incident to uncover the truth and identify those responsible. This is also China's position. China supports speeding up the investigation, so as to swiftly find out the truth, he said.

In an era of globalization, when cooperation among countries in energy, transportation, and communication is increasingly close, and transboundary construction spans across continents and oceans, any deliberate sabotage of transboundary infrastructure is a malicious act. Failure to find out why it happened and who is behind the destruction will send a wrong signal to those with ill intentions and make them believe that they can get away, said Zhang.

"An objective, impartial and professional investigation into this matter, releasing the findings and pursuing accountability as soon as possible are not only for the sake of the incident itself, but also bear on the security of global transboundary infrastructure. Moreover, they are also closely related to the interests and concerns of every country," he said.

As the most authoritative and representative international organization, the United Nations can play an active role in conducting an international investigation and ensuring the security of transboundary infrastructure. China welcomes the Security Council draft resolution tabled by Russia, and believes that it is of great significance to authorize an international investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, he said.

The Nord Stream incident reminds us that security threats in the modern world are increasingly interlinked, transboundary and diversified. This calls for the establishment of a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security concept and concerted efforts to explore multiple channels and develop a holistic solution to meet various security challenges, said Zhang.

China is willing to work with all parties to firmly support the core role of the United Nations in security governance, strive to promote coordination and sound interaction among major countries, actively support dialogue and peaceful resolution of hot-spot issues, effectively respond to traditional and nontraditional security challenges, and continuously strengthen the global security governance system and capacity-building, in order to create a better future for humankind, he said.