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China Urges Strengthening of Biological Weapons Convention
Chinese Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs Hu Xiaodi expressed deep regret on Friday that no substantive negotiations took place during the 24th Session of the Ad Hoc Group of State Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention.
The 24th Session, which started on July 23 and is scheduled to close today, was expected to conclude a Protocol through multilateral global negotiations to strengthen the Convention.
However, the Protocol negotiations are now suffering a serious setback. The reason for this situation is well known, said Hu.
The position of one country, which possesses nearly half of all the bio-industry and bio-defense facilities in the world, is making substantive negotiations impossible, Hu added.
He said the Chinese delegation remains convinced that a balanced and effective protocol concluded through multilateral negotiations is of critical importance to strengthening the effectiveness of the Biological Weapons Convention in a comprehensive manner.
The Chinese ambassador said that no matter what decision will be made in the future, this mandate should serve as the basis and operational direction for our work.
"We noted that the country concerned claimed that it has not abandoned its commitment to strengthening the Convention," said Hu, "We sincerely hope such rhetoric will soon be translated into concrete action."
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