China

I offer my warm congratulations to you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session. I am confident that under your presidency fruitful results will be achieved. I also wish to pay a cordial tribute to Mr. Julian Robert Hunte, President of the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session, and to Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The recent appalling terror in Beslan, Russia, caused massive casualties, including many children. On behalf of the Chinese Government, I strongly condemn, once again, that inhuman act of terrorist violence and extend our deep condolences to the families of the victims. Peace and development remain the dominant themes in today’s world. Multipolarization and economic globalization are moving forward in twists and turns. Science and technology are advancing at a dizzying speed. Forces that make for peace and factors that lead to war are both on the rise. Human society is moving in a bright, progressive and positive direction. However, the light of peace has not fallen on every corner of the globe, nor has development reached every inch of the Earth. Threats to security, both traditional and non-traditional, are intertwined. The dark cloud of war remains menacing. Hot spots keep springing up. Terrorist activities are raging, and cross- border problems such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, drug trafficking, transnational crime and illegal immigration are erupting one after another. Factors of uncertainty, instability and unpredictability are increasing. In the course of economic globalization, the gap between the North and the South is widening. Developing countries are confronting new difficulties and challenges as a growing number of them are further marginalized. Today, half the global population lives on less than $2 a day, and of those, 1.2 billion live on less than $1 a day. Much remains to be done to implement the Millennium Development Goals. Peace, development and cooperation are the prerequisites for our times. People all over the world are raising their voice in favour of peace, development and cooperation and against war, poverty and confrontation. Peace is the precondition for human development and prosperity. Without a peaceful and stable international environment, development is out of the question for any country. A chaotic world benefits no one. Having experienced the scourge of two world wars, mankind would not tolerate any more war or bloodshed. Thus it is the fervent aspiration of all peoples to live and achieve development in a secure and stable environment. In tackling security issues, it is imperative to foster a new security concept of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation. This new concept calls for nations to transcend their differences in ideology and social systems, respect one another’s security interests, promote greater democracy in international relations and seek peaceful solutions to disputes through dialogue. Terrorism is the common enemy of the whole world. China stands firmly opposed to terrorism in all forms and manifestations. To prevent and fight terrorism, we must intensify international cooperation and address both the causes and symptoms of the threat. Only when the root causes of terrorism are eradicated can peoples live in peace and tranquillity again. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction poses a threat to world peace and security. Non- proliferation efforts therefore require the participation of all members of the international community. Likewise, it is important to discard unilateralism and double standards and to give full credit and full latitude to the role of the United Nations. China takes an active part in multilateral non- proliferation efforts and firmly defends the international regime of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation treaties. China believes that multilateral arms control, disarmament and non- proliferation processes can be steadily promoted in order to further improve the international non- proliferation regime. There is still a long way to go before peace and reconstruction can be realized in Iraq. We support an important role for the United Nations in Iraq’s political process, helping that country achieve the smooth holding of elections. 10 We appeal to Palestine and Israel to resume dialogue as soon as possible and to start implementing the Middle East road map faithfully. As always, China will work to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and talks, in the interest of peace and stability on the Peninsula. Development is the foundation for human progress. Lasting peace and stability throughout the world depends on coordinated, balanced and universal development. Development is of overriding importance. Living in peace, abundance and harmony between nations has been the dream of many generations. Coordinated, balanced and sustainable development serves the fundamental interests of all peoples and works for their well-being. In order to promote economic growth worldwide, it is necessary for the international community to take effective measures to put in place an open and fair multilateral trading regime and gradually improve it. It is also important to reform and improve the international financial system. The developed countries must honour their commitments to debt reduction, technology transfer and market access through concrete actions in order to enable developing countries to really benefit from globalization. The developing countries, for their part, need to work together to attain development and take part in a wide range of international efforts. They should also deepen South-South cooperation. We, the members of the international community, should join hands in working for a just and equitable new international economic order that meets the needs of the growing economic globalization and serves the common interests of all countries. The Millennium Development Goals are our solemn, collective pledge. The United Nations should further mobilize resources, strengthen coordination and increase its input to development activities in order to help Member States achieve these important goals as scheduled. Cooperation is an effective way of dealing with the collective challenges facing humankind. To strengthen international cooperation, we must champion multilateralism. The United Nations is the centre of the international multilateral system and the key platform for making multilateralism work. It is the widespread desire of the international community to adhere to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, take more collective actions, strengthen the role of the United Nations and safeguard its authority. The threats and challenges we face make it imperative to strengthen, rather than weaken, the role of the United Nations. A stronger United Nations is indispensable for maintaining global peace and stability and promoting the common development of humankind. All Member States should honour their commitments to the Charter of the United Nations and fulfil their international responsibilities and obligations. The world is eagerly looking forward to a dynamic and action-oriented United Nations. China supports necessary and rational reforms of the Organization. Such reforms should aim at enhancing the leading role of the United Nations in international affairs, reinforcing its capacity to tackle new threats and challenges, and ensuring that better reflects the aspirations and needs of the vast majority of developing countries. China is in favour of expanding the Security Council and of giving priority to greater representation of the developing countries. China also supports the work of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, and it is looking forward to the Panel’s report by the end of this year, so that it can be reviewed by Member States. China is a staunch force working for world peace, common development and international cooperation. After over half a century of strenuous efforts and more than two decades of reform and opening up, China has now entered a new stage of development aimed at building a moderately prosperous society all-round. However, China is still a developing country, and a large population and inadequate economic development remain its basic national conditions. It has a long way to go before achieving its development goals. The Chinese Government will always place development at the top of its agenda. The fact that China — a large, developing country with 1.3 billion people — runs its own affairs well is in itself a major contribution to peace and to the development of humanity. 11 China desires peace, development and cooperation, and strives to win peace and development through cooperation. It is working to promote democracy in international relations, diversity in its modes of development and richness in the world’s civilizations. It advocates a new security concept and facilitates the establishment of a fair and equitable new international order. China will pursue with determination an independent foreign policy of peace, adhere to the five principles for Peaceful Coexistence, and engage in mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation with other countries on an equal footing. China will unswervingly safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, brook no interference in its internal affairs by foreign forces and, at the same time, respect other countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. China remains committed to the common interests of humankind. China’s national interests, in the final analysis, are consistent with the common interests of all humankind. In handling State-to-State relations, China will safeguard its own interests while taking into account the interests of other countries. China will adhere to the policy of opening up, and develop economic relations and trade with all other nations on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. China’s development stands in the way of no one, nor does it pose any threat to others. China is following the path of peaceful development, seeking an international environment of peace and stability for its own development and promoting world peace and progress through its own prosperity. China is working steadily to develop its relations with the world’s major countries. It will stay committed to the policy of building friendship and partnership with its neighbours and combine stronger bilateral friendships with enhanced regional cooperation. It will strengthen solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries and support any justified demands or legitimate propositions on their part in international affairs. It will play a constructive role in the political, economic, social, disarmament, arms control and other multilateral fields; safeguard the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the universally recognized norms governing international relations; and support any consensus that serves the common interests of all countries. Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory. Safeguarding China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and realizing complete national reunification at an early date is the common will and firm resolve of the 1.3 billion Chinese people. Pursuing the policy of “peaceful reunification and one country, two systems”, the Chinese Government is ready to work tirelessly towards a peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity. We, more than anyone else, want to see a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question. But we will never tolerate Taiwan independence, nor will we allow anyone to separate Taiwan from the rest of China in any way. We hope that the international community will fully recognize the complex and sensitive nature of the current situation across the Taiwan Strait and the serious threat posed by the separatist activities of the Taiwan authorities to the stability of the Taiwan Strait and the peace of the Asia-Pacific region. We expect the Assembly to continue supporting the Chinese Government’s efforts for peaceful reunification and to join us in containing pro-independence activities, in the interest of stability in the Strait and of world peace. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. As the basic guidelines for State-to-State relations, the Five Principles have withstood the test of half a century and remain an irrefutable truth. The Five Principles, which include peace, development and cooperation, are consistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. They provide guidance for the establishment and development of relations between countries with identical or different social systems; point to the correct path towards the peaceful settlement of outstanding issues between countries and international disputes; firmly defend the interests of the developing countries; and facilitate the improvement and development of North-South relations. The Five Principles present important ideas that must underpin the establishment of a fair and equitable new international order. China not only initiated, but has faithfully observed, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Given the new realities of today, we will continue to champion those Principles and join all the peoples of 12 the world in advancing the lofty cause of peace, development and cooperation.