40. Madam President, permit me, on behalf of my Government and
people, to extend to you our warm congratulations on your
assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly.
Your election to that high office is a fitting tribute to your
great country, to the continent of Africa and to the
increasingly important role women have been playing in
world affairs. Above all, it is an expression of the high
esteem in which you are personally held by your colleagues
in the United Nations.
41. I wish also to pay a word of tribute to your eminent
predecessor, the late Emilio Arenales of Guatemala. Like a
valiant soldier, he never swerved from the path of duty even
when he was seriously ill. His untimely death was a grievous
loss not only to his own country but also to the United
Nations, both of which he served with courage and
distinction.
42. The year 1969 will always be remembered as the year
which man succeeded in walking on the moon. This
historic feat has injected a sense of achievement into all
mankind. It is a dramatic demonstration of what man is
capable of doing once he has set his goal.
43. It is sad to reflect, however, that the science and
technology that have enabled man to explore the heavens
have not enabled him to solve his problems on earth.
Hunger, disease and ignorance continue to be the lot of an
overwhelming majority of the world’s peoples. To these
ancient evils has now been added the new perplexing
problem of the population explosion. The scourge of war,
for the abolition of which the United Nations was founded,
remains stubbornly with us. The war in Viet-Nam goes on,
notwithstanding the efforts of the Government of the
Republic of Viet-Nam and is allies to bring about a
negotiated settlement. Violence and bloodshed on a massive
scale are taking place in the Middle East and in Africa. The
Chinese Communist regime in Peiping has not been slow to
take advantage of the turmoil and confusion of our times to
stir up the so-called “people’s war” on a global scale.
44. As regards the war in Viet-Nam, my delegation
sincerely hopes that the brave people of the Republic of
Viet-Nam, who have suffered so much and for so long from
external aggression, will soon be able to live in peace and
security. I wish to take this opportunity of reaffirming my
Government’s belief in the inherent right of all peoples to
choose by their own will their own form of government and
way of life. Our profound sympathy goes out to the
Government and people of the Republic of Viet-Nam in
their firm stand to preserve their national independence. We
note with appreciation the valuable assistance being given
by those Governments which have supported the Republic
of Viet-Nam in its valiant struggle against subversion and
aggression. By so doing they have contributed to the cause
of peace and security in South-East Asia. Their sacrifices
will not have been made in vain.
45. In order to bring the bloody conflict in Viet-Nam to a
speedy end, the Government of the Republic of Viet-Nam
and its allies have put forward at the Paris talks a series of
constructive proposals. These proposals, as all the world
knows, call for the accomplishment of two basic objectives,
namely, the withdrawal of all non-South Viet-Namese
forces, including, of course, those of North Viet-Nam, from
the Republic of Viet-Nam and the holding of free elections
for all the people of South Viet-Nam. If Hanoi is genuinely
interested in a political solution of the Viet-Nam problem,
these proposals constitute a sound basis for further negotiations.
So far, however, the response from the other side has
been consistently and totally negative. It is difficult to
escape the conclusion that, as far as Hanoi is concerned, the
Paris talks are just another form of warfare fought with
political and psychological weapons rather than with
military hardware. The policy line seems to have been based
on a simple assumption: political pressures both at home
and abroad would sooner or later force the United States to
accept a settlement on Hanoi’s own terms.
46. In these circumstances, it is not surprising that the
numerous overtures, initiatives and proposals made by the
United States to de-escalate the war and to call a halt to the
slaughter have met with rebuffs; nor has the death of Ho
Chi Minh opened up new avenues to peace. Nevertheless, I
believe that, with firmness end patience on the part of the
Government of the Republic of Viet-Nam and its allies,
Hanoi will sooner or later come to the conclusion that there
is nothing to gain from dilatory tactics of the kind it has
been pursuing at the Paris talks. Only then can there be
hope for peace in Viet-Nam.
47. The tragic events in Viet-Nam are of immediate
concern to the countries of Asia. To them what is at stake
is more than the freedom and independence of the
Republic of Viet-Nam, important as that is. What is at issue
is whether communist aggression and expansion are to be
allowed to succeed, thus giving further impetus to aggression
and expansion in other parts of Asia.
48. In Thailand, communist-inspired terrorist attacks in
the north and north-east provinces continue to cause
serious concern. Thanks to the timely and effective
counter-insurgency measures carried out by the Government
of Thailand, the situation seems to be under control.
49. In North-East Asia, tension along the 38th parallel in
the Korean peninsula has persisted. In the past two years
the North Korean regime has stepped up its subversive and
terrorist activities against the Republic of Korea. Obviously,
the situation is fraught with ominous possibilities. The
hostility and aggressiveness of the North Korean regime
towards the Republic of Korea have made the continued
presence of United Nations forces a necessity. These forces
serve as a stablizing factor in that part of the world. It is
not surprising, therefore, that those who support the
aggressive and expansionist thrusts of the North Korean
regime clamour for the complete withdrawal of what they
call “foreign forces occupying South Korea under the flag
of the United Nations”.
50. Let me now turn to another area of the world where
events are moving towards one of those alarming climaxes
with which we have become familiar. Three times within
the space of twenty years Israel and the Arab States have
resorted to the force of arms to settle their differences.
Each time they have succeeded only in deepening the
wounds. All United Nations efforts at establishing a just
and enduring peace have led to no positive results.
51. For a time shortly after the June 1967 war there was a
glimmer of hope that the United Nations might be able to
bring some semblance of quiet and tranquillity to the
Middle Eastern scene. Security Council resolution
242 (1967), calling, among other things, for the “withdrawal
of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in
the recent conflict” and the termination of the state of
belligerency as well as the right of every State in the area to
“live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries”,
seemed to offer the kind of formula acceptable to the
parties involved in the conflict. The situation, however, has
deteriorated. United Nations efforts have failed to hold in
check the arms race in the Middle East. Violence and
counter-violence have been intensified in the current year.
Along the hundred-mile Suez Canal cease-fire line armed
hostilities have been continuing with increasing intensity
for some months. The danger of a repetition of the June
1967 conflict can no longer be discounted.
52. It seems to my delegation that if there is anything to
be learned from the history of the Middle East in the past
20 years it is the futility of war and violence. We fully
appreciate the complexity of the situation. We are aware
that the fear, suspicion and mistrust that have divided the
Arabs and Israelis are too deep-seated to disappear overnight.
We see no reason why a climate conducive to the
eventual settlement of the problems cannot be created. If
there can be no total solution of all problems at any one
time, substantive efforts should be made towards the
solution of certain specific issues. This calls for statesmanship
and restraint on the part of both Israel and the Arab States.
53. In the course of the general debate, mention has
frequently been made of the Communist regime on the
mainland of China. I deem it my duty to point out here
that this regime represents the greatest threat to international
peace and is the primary source of Asia’s troubles.
54. The Chinese Communist regime adheres religiously to
the doctrine of force and violence. In its view, “seizure of
power by armed force, the settlement of issues by war, is
the central task and the highest form of revolution’. Mao
Tse-tung believes that we may say that “only with guns can
the whole world be transformed”. In the new Party
Constitution adopted at the Ninth Party Congress in April
this year, the Chinese Communists have committed
themselves “to overthrowing imperialism headed by the
United States, modern revisionism with the Soviet revisionist
renegade clique at its centre, and the reactionaries of all
countries“.
55. The regime’s role in the Viet-Nam war is too well
known to need further elaboration. Let it suffice to say
that besides supplying Hanoi with arms and ammunition
and a wide range of other materials, Peiping has left no
stone unturned to deepen and prolong the Viet-Nam
conflict. Indeed, had it not been for the influence exerted
by Peiping, the war in Viet-Nam would not in all
probability have arisen.
56. The Chinese Communists, as is known, have never
ceased to cast a covetous eye on Thailand. In January 1965
Radio Peiping announced the establishment on the Chinese
mainland of a so-called “Thai Patriotic Front”. In January
1969 Peiping’s official news agency reported the formal
establishment of a “supreme command” of the “Thai
Liberation Army”. This can be regarded as the initial phase
Of a “people’s revolutionary war” against the legally
constituted Government of Thailand. The Chinese Communists
have also been training dissident elements from Laos,
Burma and other Asian countries in the art of insurgency
and guerrilla warfare.
57. Yet, there are those who seem to think that the threat
posed by the Chinese Communists to world peace has been
exaggerated and that for all their bellicose rhetoric, their
actions tend to be cautious. I seriously question whether
the Chinese Communist strategy of world domination can
be dismissed in so light-hearted a manner. The encouragement,
training, financing and equipping of guerrillas is no
less of a threat to the independence and freedom of the
emerging countries than even direct military assault. In all
these countries there are dissident elements who, with
encouragement and aid from abroad, are ready to play the
role which the Viet Cong has been playing in Viet-Nam.
58. In this connexion, let me quote a significant passage
from Lin Piao’s political report to the Ninth Party Congress:
“The revolutionary movement of the proletariat of the
world and of the people of various countries is vigorously
surging forward. The armed struggles of the people of
South Viet-Nam, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaya, Indonesia,
India and other countries and regions in Asia,
Africa and Latin America are steadily growing in strength.
An unprecedented gigantic revolutionary mass movement
has broken out in Japan, Western Europe and North
America, the ‘heartlands’ of capitalism.”
Let no one dismiss what he has to say as an empty threat.
59. The bellicosity in Lin Piao’s political report has
recently been echoed by Chou En-lai, the supposed
moderate among the Chinese Communist leaders, when he
said, at a reception in Peiping:
“The 700 million Chinese people, armed with Mao
Tse-tung Thought and tempered through the Great
Proletarian Cultural Revolution, are determined to fulfil
better their proletarian internationalist duty and, together
with the people of the whole world, carry the struggle
against imperialism, modern revisionism and all reaction
through to the end.”
60. Ironically, the regime that has promoted subversive
activities against all established Governments and has
sought to impose its order of things upon all mankind now
finds itself in the grip of an unprecedented crisis. The forces
set in motion by the cultural revolution have not ceased to
operate. The large-scale purges of the past three years have
failed to strengthen Mao’s confidence in the future of his
regime. He continues to call for vigilance against so-called
“renegades, special agents, unrepentant capitalist hoarders
and class enemies”. Significantly, Peiping frankly admits
that anarchism now stalks across the land. This is from the
joint editorial of People’s Daily, Liberation Army Daily and
Red Flag, of 24 August 1969.
61. It is thus abundantly clear that the Ninth Party
Congress merely marked the end of the first round of
power struggle. The second round has just begun. The purge
of Liu Shao-chi has not eliminated his latent influence both
in the armed forces and in the ranks of the party. In the
new Central Committee a large number of military men
have become members, but the army is no longer a
homogeneous entity; it is unlikely that the various factions
will be able to act together in time of crisis. This cannot fail
to have serious implications for the future of the regime.
62. The makeshift power structure put together to replace
the one shattered by the cultural revolution has not worked
well. The so-called revolutionary committees in the provinces,
municipalities and autonomous regions are for the
most part dominated by the military which are now
directly involved in the new power struggle. This means
that the military have become such a potent political force
that Mao and his supporters have characterized them as
having established “independent kingdoms”.
63. In such circumstances, in order to ensure his own
political survival, Mao, willy-nilly, is forced to go ahead
with more and more purges. Real or potential enemies must
be ferreted out. This will create more confusion and unrest
and could hasten the collapse of the regime.
64. Far more serious than intra-Party power struggle as a
threat to the existence of the Communist regime is the
anti-Maoist and anti-Communist movement that has
gathered strength in the wake of the cultural revolution.
Resistance to the regime has been growing. Bloody conflict
has flared up in 17 of the 21 provinces. The official
communist press has to admit that “unreformed landlords,
rich peasants, reactionaries, bad elements and rightists, as
well as hidden counter-revolutionaries”, unreconciled to
their defeat, now “try to sabotage socialist ownership,
corrupt old and new cadres and the youth, whip up the evil
wind of counter-revolutionary revisionism to disrupt socialist
production, use religious superstitions to undermine
unity among the various nationalities”. This is from the
joint editorial of The People’s Daily, Liberation Army Daily
and Red Flag, 24 August 1969. In the province of Shansi,
for example, “class enemies” are said to have “committed
series: of grave counter-revolutionary crimes” through
“struggle by violence”. They not only incited workers and
peasants to struggle against the authorities but also carried
out “attacks on People’s Liberation Army organizations
and units”. This is a quotation from the directive of the
Chinese Communist Party Central Committee of 23 July
1969 on “How to cope with struggle by violence in Shansi
province”. Obviously, not all is well inside the Chinese.
mainland.
65. Those who champion the Maoist cause in the United
Nations speak of the 700 million Chinese people as if the
Chinese people and the Communist regime were one and
the same. Nothing can be further from the truth. The fact is
that of the 700 million people only a minuscule minority — a
little over 2 per cent—are Communists. Now, even this tiny
minority is torn by factional strife. The overwhelming
majority of the Chinese people are anti-Mao and anti-Communist.
Twenty years of regimentation and brain-washing,
20 years of torture and terror, have failed to make
them accept the Communist regime as anything but a
transient tyranny. They have never ceased to thirst for
freedom and to struggle against their oppressors. They
continue to hold dear the values of Chinese cultural
heritage which Mao Tse-tung and his gang have tried so hard
to eradicate. Only after the overthrow of the Communist
regime can the Chinese people make full use of their
cultural heritage to contribute to the cause of world peace.
66. The Chinese people are determined to be the master
of their own destiny. It is not too fantastic to believe that
the Communist regime will in time be swept away an
remembered only as a nightmarish episode in the history of
modern China. Today the regime is no longer in effective
control over a large part of the Chinese mainland. Certainly
the long-suffering masses of the Chinese people will not
cease their struggle until it is overthrown. When that day
comes, the world will have removed one of its greatest
threats to peace.
67. The right to determine the future of China belongs to
the Chinese people alone and no one else. In their struggle
for freedom the Chinese people ask for no help from other
nations. This is an internal matter for the Chinese people to
resolve. At the same time, they have the right to expect
that no one should give aid and comfort to their oppressors.
68. In the midst of the internal chaos and power struggles,
Mao Tse-tung and Lin Piao persist in calling for the
militarization of all aspects of life on the mainland, for the
intensification of war preparations and for the stepping-up
of war hysteria. It seems that turmoil at home may well
incline the Chinese Communists to embark on a more
aggressive and more reckless course of action towards their
neighbours, whether to the north or to the south, in order
to divert the people’s discontent and hostility from the
pressures of internal tensions with which the regime is more
deeply troubled than its strained relations with other countries.
69. In less than a year from now, the United Nations will
have completed the first quarter of a century of its
existence. On the eve of its twenty-fifth birthday, it may be
useful to take stock of its failures and achievements, as well
as to assess and define the direction of future developments.
70. It is, of course, no secret that the United Nations has
not been effective in its efforts for peace. You yourself,
Madam President, in your opening speech called attention
to “the gradual decline of the United Nations in the eyes of
public opinion” [1753rd meeting, para. 47]. I believe your
observation is shared by a large number of representatives
in this hall. It is not to be denied that the United Nations
has played but a marginal role in world affairs. When
momentous problems are at stake, it is more often than not
either bypassed or ignored.
71. This highly unsatisfactory state of affairs has led to
the belief that the Charter no longer adequately meets the
vital needs of our time and must be so revised as to
responsive to the aims and aspirations of Member States. It
seems to my delegation that, in so far as the machinery and
methods of operation are concerned, there is undoubtedly
much to be said in support of this point of view. Indeed, it
was in recognition of the growing importance of the
Afro-Asian States in the United Nations that Articles 23, 27
and 61 of the Charter were amended in 1963. It must be
admitted, however, that the effectiveness of the United
Nations as an instrument of peace depends not so much on
the letter of the Charter as on the spirit in which its
provisions are carried out. It is difficult to believe that the
ills that at present afflict the United Nations can be cured
merely by Charter revision, however desirable that may be.
72. It seems to my delegation that the purposes and
principles enshrined in the Charter represent the highest
and noblest ideals ever conceived by man. If there is a gap
between Charter goals and reality, the reason is that it is
not always easy for man to live up to his most cherished
ideals. But this does not mean that he should stop trying.
On the contrary, the effective functioning of the United
Nations demands urgent and serious efforts on the part of
its Member States to make a reality of the aims of the
Charter. It is the failure of Member States to make good
their commitments to the Charter that is responsible for the
state of frustration in which the United Nations now finds itself.
73. The United Nations is facing critical times. Its effectiveness
and even its raison d’étre have been called into
question. Yet there are those in the Assembly who are
ready to strengthen the forces of lawlessness and aggression
by adding to United Nations membership a regime which
has nothing but contempt for the purposes and principles
of the Charter. If they are allowed to have their way, the
future of the Organization will be bleak indeed. Let us hope
that the disaster which overtook the League of Nations in
the 1930s will not be repeated by the United Nations today.