Jeffery Sachs and Ray McGovern at the U.N. on the Nord Stream 2 Sabotage

Professor Jeffery Sachs and former CIA intelligence analyst Ray McGovern presented at the U.N. Security Council Feb. 21. Professor Sachs presented via Zoom and McGovern appeared in person. McGovern spoke off the cuff and even sang to the council. Following their presentation, the representatives from Russia, Mozambique, Ecuador, and Gabon all spoke in support, while the ambassador from the UK accused Russia of trying to distract from the issue of the war in Ukraine, echoed by the representatives from the United States and France. The U.S. ambassador denied any involvement in the destruction of Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The council was considering whether the United Nations should initiate an independent investigation of the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline, since the three countries now investigating–Germany, Denmark and Sweden–are all U.S. allies. The Chinese representative spoke last, and was logical, made complete sense and mentioned the China Global Security Initiative which calls for resolving disputes through dialogue and rejecting power politics. We felt his remarks were important and have included them below. – the editors

Remarks by Ambassador Zhang Jun at the UN Security Council Briefing on the Nord Stream Issue
2023-02-21 17:40

President,

I thank Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, and Mr. Ray McGovern for their briefings.

The Nord Stream gas pipelines are major transboundary infrastructure and energy transportation arteries. The sabotage of the pipeline in September last year had a major negative impact on the global energy market and the ecological environment. It also caused energy shortages for businesses and households in many European countries this winter.

It is increasingly clear that what happened to 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. At an open meeting of the Council held 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.

We live 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 with whatever they do. An objective, impartial, and professional investigation into this matter, releasing the findings and pursuing accountability as soon as possible are not only related to 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.

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

Recently, we have come across a lot of details and relevant information concerning the Nord Stream incident, which is alarming. Today, the briefers have also shared with us important information and their reasonable analysis. 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. We expect convincing explanations from relevant parties. Such a request is entirely legitimate and reasonable.

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 so as to meet various security challenges. Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a Global Security Initiative, which provides a new direction and ideas for eliminating the root causes of conflicts, breaking security predicaments, and maintaining common security. The Global Security Initiative concept paper released by China today elaborates on the core concepts and principles of the Initiative, and provides an important path to the implementation of the Initiative, with 20 key cooperation areas which are action-oriented. We are willing to work with all parties to firmly support the core role of the UN in security governance, strive to promote coordination and sound interaction among major countries, actively support dialogue and peaceful resolution of hotspot issues, effectively respond to traditional and nontraditional security challenges, continuously strengthen the global security governance system and capacity building, in order to maintain peace and tranquility on the Earth, and create a better future for humankind.