A senior Chinese diplomat stressed in Geneva on Tuesday that security is a concern for all countries and only through multilateral cooperation can lasting peace be achieved.

"No country can achieve its own security by relying on itself alone, no matter how advanced its arsenal is and how strong it is," said Sha Zukang, the Chinese ambassador to the UN Office in Geneva.

"Security is always relative, and only when the common security for all countries is achieved, can the security of the individual country be guaranteed," the ambassador told a plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament (CD).

Sha said threats to security are becoming multifaceted and the line between conventional and non-conventional threats is blurred.

The current situation dictates that only by respecting "the sovereignty and right to development of all countries," and by strengthening dialog and cooperation in the spirit of equality, openness and close ranks can we build a world of lasting peace, he added.

The ambassador emphasized that China favors cultivating a new security concept with mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation as its core values.

He also warned that the CD, the only multilateral agency for world disarmament affairs, is facing difficulties in solving real problems because of differences among member states.

"The CD has not been able to carry out substantive work for many years," he said.

In searching for the best way to break the impasse, "we need to broaden our vision by reassessing the world we live in today, our basic understanding on security, as well as the relationship between security and arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2006)