The United Nations Security Council voted on Thursday to extend the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until April 30, 2026. The resolution was passed with 12 votes in favor, none against, and three abstentions from China, Russia, and Pakistan. Following the vote, China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Sun Lei, explained the country's position. Emphasizing China's continued support for South Sudan's peace process, Sun pointed out that the current draft resolution went beyond the scope of the mandate, forcing China to abstain. Sun criticized the penholder country for delaying consultations and forcibly pushing to vote while disagreements remained unresolved. He urged the penholder to to take an objective and a fair approach, to effectively show their due responsibilities and to make genuine efforts to maintain the unity of the Council and to forge the broadest possible consensus. Sun also noted that as the UN's youngest member state, South Sudan has made unremitting efforts in recent years to advance peace and improve national governance. He asked the international community to fully take into account South Sudan's development stage and the challenges it faces. Sun stressed that issues such as elections, finance, and resource management are all South Sudan's internal affairs and should be determined by its government and people. He urged full respect for South Sudan's sovereignty and its autonomy, cautioning against the imposition of external solutions or interference in South Sudan's internal affairs. Shotlist: UN Headquarters, New York City - May 8, 2025: FILE: UN headquarters, New York City - Date Unknown 1. United Nations (UN) headquarters, river; FILE: UN Headquarters, New York City - July 24, 2024 2. Various of UN flag, logo; UN Headquarters, New York City - May 8, 2025 3. Various of United Nations Security Council meeting in progress; 4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Sun Lei, deputy permanent representative to UN, China: "Regrettably, the resolution just adopted contains a lot of elements that exert excessive pressure on South Sudan. These are not related to the extension of the mission, nor are they in line with South Sudan's realities."; Juba, South Sudan - April 30, 2025 5. Trucks loaded with donated supplies; 6. Various of Chinese donated supplies; FILE: Wau, South Sudan - 2025 7. Various of Chinese peacekeeping engineer contingent to South Sudan conducting exercise; FILE: South Sudan - Date Unknown 8. Various of buildings, traffic, pedestrians. [Restriction - For news purpose only/No archive/Not for other production use, No access Chinese mainland]