China has taken over the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for March 2020. China will fulfill its responsibility as the presiding member, be responsive to the expectations of the international community, and contribute more to world peace and development, said Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the UN, when briefing on this month's work of the Security Council on March 2. 

According to Zhang, China will give priority to five areas: strengthening multilateralism and upholding international cooperation; supporting Africa in promoting peace and development; tackling challenges in peacekeeping more effectively and fully leveraging the crucial role of UN peacekeeping operations; promoting political settlement of regional hot issues and maintaining international fairness and justice; and upholding impartiality, transparency, efficiency and a pragmatic approach and ensuring the positive role of the Security Council.  

China intends to convene an open debate on March 19 with the theme of "Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Upholding Multilateralism and Promoting the Political Settlement of Disputes". All member states are invited to the meeting. The Security Council will also convene a debate themed "Peace and Security in Africa: Countering Terrorism and Extremism in Africa" on March 11 and another one on "United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Better Capacity Building, More Safety and Security" on March 24. Hotspot issues such as Syria, Libya, Palestine, South Sudan and Yemen will also be discussed by the Security Council this month. 

The Security Council has 15 members: the five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. The presidency of the Security Council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member-state names. Last time China held the rotating presidency was in November 2018. 

Copyedited by Madhusudan Chaubey 

Comments to yushujun@bjreview.com