New York, United States - February 10, 2025 China on Monday called on the United Nations Security Council to make efforts to promote international counter-terrorism cooperation, as terrorism is on the rise which poses complex and grave threat to the international community. Speaking at a Security Council meeting, Fu Cong, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, urged the Security Council to prioritize counter-terrorism on its agenda, uphold a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism, oppose application of double standards and selective counter-terrorism, and promote enhanced international counter-terrorism cooperation. A UN report pointed out that as a result of the recent sudden changes in the situation in Syria, terrorist groups may take advantage of the chaos to become more powerful, and weapons arsenals may fall into the hands of terrorists, to which the international community should pay close attention, Fu said. Fu said that Syria has recently granted senior military ranks to foreign terrorist fighters, including the head of a Security Council-listed terrorist organization, the Turkistan Islamic Party, also known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), stressing that China is greatly concerned about this development. At present, terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida and ETIM are very active in Afghanistan and are collaborating with one another, which not only undermines the security situation in the country, but also poses a threat to regional and international peace and security, Fu said, noting that China urges the Afghan interim government to take visible and verifiable actions to dismantle and eliminate all terrorist organizations based in Afghanistan. He also pointed out that Africa is becoming a new frontier of international counter-terrorism. The lack of counter-terrorism capacity is a problem faced by many African countries, he said, adding that the international community should increase its support in terms of funding, equipment, intelligence, human resources and logistical supplies, and the United Nations and its partners should strengthen cooperation with regional organizations such as the African Union and support the continent in strengthening its capacity-building and institution-building for counter-terrorism. Fu said that China has always been a champion of and contributor to international counter-terrorism cooperation, has long been helping other developing countries, especially African countries, to strengthen counter-terrorism capacity-building through bilateral and multilateral channels, and has provided support to the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) for counter-terrorism projects through the China-United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund. China will continue to work hand in hand with all parties to combat terrorism in all its forms and contribute to the realization of a world of lasting peace and universal security, Fu said. Shotlist: UN headquarters, New York City - Feb 10, 2025: 1. Various of UN Security Council meeting in progress, attendees speaking; 2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to UN: "China urges the Syrian authorities to fulfill their counter-terrorism obligations and to prevent any terrorists from using Syrian territory to threaten the security of other countries. The prolonged stay of a large number of foreign terrorist fighters in Syria poses a serious security risk. China supports acceleration of the process of repatriating them and calls on the countries concerned to take back their own personnel."; 3. Fu speaking; 4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to UN: "China supports Central Asian countries and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in strengthening their cooperation with Afghanistan to jointly address security challenges related to terrorism, help Afghanistan integrate into regional economic cooperation, and eliminate the breeding ground for terrorism."; FILE: UN Headquarters, New York City - June 29, 2023 5. UN headquarters building; FILE: UN headquarters, New York City - Date Unknown 6. UN emblem; 7. UN flag. [Restriction - For news purpose only/No archive/Not for other production use, No access Chinese mainland]