China supports speeding up investigation into Nord Stream explosions: FM spokesperson

BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- China supports speeding up the investigation into the Nord Stream explosions so as to swiftly find out the truth, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said here on Wednesday.

Wang made the remarks when asked to comment on an open debate held by the UN Security Council, at Russia's request, on the explosions last September along the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany.

Noting the Nord Stream gas pipelines are major transboundary infrastructure and energy transportation arteries, Wang said the explosions 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," he added.

Wang said China believes that there should be an objective, impartial and professional investigation into the explosions, and those responsible must be held to account.

As the most authoritative and representative international organization, the United Nations can play an active role in conducting an international investigation, Wang said, adding China has noted and welcomes the draft resolution tabled by Russia in the Security Council.

The spokesperson stressed that the Nord Stream explosions concern not just the economy, but also people's livelihood. "More importantly, it is a political issue which concerns the security and stability of the entire Europe," he added.

"In the context of the Ukraine crisis, the explosions have intensified tensions in the region, escalated antagonism and confrontation, and made dialogue and negotiation even more difficult and hopes for a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture in Europe even more elusive," Wang said.

Noting it is increasingly clear that what happened to Nord Stream pipelines was by no means an accident, but rather a deliberate act, Wang said failure to find out why it happened and who is behind the destruction may leave the malign actors an opportunity and encourage them to do whatever they want and may even instigate more terrorist activities, which could further destabilize the already troubled global security landscape.

"This puts the interests of every country at stake," he added.

Wang said that presented with those detailed accounts and an intact chain of 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 and does not mean that truth can be hidden away.

"We hope relevant parties can heed the call for urgent investigations and uncovering the truth, engage in objective and impartial investigations to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible, safeguard the security of major transboundary infrastructure, and strive for peace and tranquility of the region and the wider world," he said.