1st LD Writethru: UNSC starts open debate on maintaining int'l peace, security

The UN Security Council on Monday started a China-proposed open debate on maintaining international peace and security at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The session began at around 10:00 a.m. EST (1500 GMT). It is presided over by Wang Yi, foreign minister of China, the rotating president of the 15-nation UN body for February.

According to UN officials, around 80 speakers, including UN chief Ban Ki-moon and foreign ministers of Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia and Venezuela, will take the floor.

The debate is themed "Maintaining International Peace and Security: Reaffirm the Strong Commitment to the Purposes of the Charter of the United Nations."

Ban, the first to speak after the opening, said the international community should use this year's observance of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations as an opportunity to seriously reflect on the collective international efforts to maintain peace and security in the world at large.

This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the world anti-Fascist war.

The UN, arising from the gun smoke of World War II, is the result of mankind's long struggle for peace and development.

It is the living manifestation of the global determination to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our life time has brought untold sorrow to mankind" and to "practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors."

As the most universal, representative and authoritative inter-governmental organization, the United Nations has endured many trials and traversed an extraordinary journey, playing a central role in maintaining world peace, promoting global development and advancing international cooperation. Endi