Mr. Tsiang observed that the general debate at the beginning of an Assembly’s session was the proper occasion for surveying the work of the Organization, particularly with reference to its main purpose, the maintenance of peace and security among the nations.
2. With regard to Europe, the past year had seen notable progress. Greece had been saved. The communist insurrection, aided by forces from outside, had reached the beginning of its end. Thanks to the sacrifices of the Greek people, the moral encouragement of the United Nations, and tile moral and material support of the United States, Greece had been snatched from the jaws of the communist world empire. The Greek people were henceforth assured of their national independence and human freedom. That was a matter for rejoicing, not only among the Greeks, but among all freedom-loving peoples everywhere. The Chinese delegation extended its congratulations to Greece.
3. During the past year, western Europe had continued to make progress. It was not long since people everywhere had wondered whether Italy would not fall into the hands of the communists, whether France could be re-established as a bulwark of human freedom, and whether western Germany would not be a victim of the traps set by international communism. Those questions had all been answered. The immediate danger in western Europe had definitely passed. Instead of being a possible victim of communism western Europe might become the vanguard of democracy. The peoples and Governments concerned had done heroic work and the Government of the United States, through the Marshall Plan, had given them generous and effective aid.
4. With the coming into force of the North Atlantic Treaty, the grand design for the containment of communism had been completed so far as Europe was concerned. From Iran through Turkey, Greece and Italy to France and Scandinavia the dyke against the communist flood had been built and was in good, strong condition.
5. It was obvious, however, that if floods were contained on one side only, the destructive waters would flow and spread in other directions. Such was the nature of floods. Such was also the nature of communism. Communism was in itself a great menace, but also it was inseparably joined with the old deep-rooted Russian imperialism. Throughout the nineteenth century Russian imperialism had surged sometimes westward, sometimes eastward and sometimes in all directions at once. The Russian' empire and Russian imperialism bestrode two continents — Europe and Asia.
6. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Russian imperialism in Europe had met with a check as a result of the Crimean War. During the very years of that war, however, Russian forces had invaded China and seized the northern bank of the Amur river and the eastern bank of the Ussuri river, including the great port of Vladivostock. People should not forget that “Vladivostock" meant “Dominator of the East”.
7. In the 1870’s while the activities of Russian forces and diplomats in south-eastern Europe had culminated in the Russo-Turkish War, the Treaty of San Stefano and the Treaty of Berlin, other Russian forces and diplomats had been busy in central Asia, annexing a wide frontier belt of the Chinese province of Sinkiang.
8. At the beginning of the twentieth century, czarist Russia had undertaken wild adventures in Manchuria and Korea, which had led to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Checked in the East, Russian imperialism had swung back to Europe, and in a few years had become a prime mover in the plots and counter-plots in the Balkans which had finally resulted in the First World War.
9. After the so-called October Revolution of 1917, the new rulers of Russia had proclaimed to the world that the Soviet people were not only ashamed of czarist imperialism but were ready to give up the fruits of that imperialism. The people of China had heard the voices of Lenin, Joffe and Karakhan to that effect.
10. They had welcomed the new message and hoped it would be true. Hard and bitter experience had taught them, however, that the change from czarist imperialism to Soviet imperialism was entirely on the surface, and that at bottom the two brands of imperialism were really identical.
11. During the past two years, while the dyke from the Persian Gulf to Scandinavia was being built against the flood of communism, the Far East had been inundated. In Manchuria, the Soviet Union had obtained more than czarist Russia had ever tried to seize. Moreover, in the Chinese Communist Party, the Soviet Union had an instrument and a lever with which to undermine the independence and integrity of China and the peace of the Far East.
12. After V-J Day, the people of China, had ardently desired to maintain peace at home and peace with neighbouring countries. The first great act of the Chinese Government, at the very moment of victory over Japan, had been to sign a treaty of friendship and alliance with the USSR, embodying the decisions of the Yalta Conference. That treaty had imposed heavy sacrifices on China, particularly in the northeastern provinces, frequently spoken of as Manchuria. The Chinese people had hoped that those sacrifices would not be in vain. The frontier between China and the Soviet Union extended from central Asia to the waters of the Pacific. It was longer than the frontier between Canada and the United States. The sincere desire of the Chinese people was that the frontier between China and the Soviet Union should be as peaceful and as free as that between Canada and the United States.
13. In order to secure domestic peace, to usher in an era of economic reconstruction and to make possible a rising standard of living for the people. the Chinese Government, after V-J Day, had quickly begun to demobilize the war-time forces of the country, They had offered to solve all the problems between the Government and the communists through peaceful means. They had even been ready to consider a coalition Government, although they knew very well the dangers of such coalition. But the insistence of the Chinese communists on maintaining a large army had made all schemes of reconciliation impossible.
14. The Chinese Communist Party was an integral part of the international communist movement. It was as fanatical as communists elsewhere. Its propaganda was always in harmony with Moscow propaganda. Its action was always in step with Moscow action.
15. During the war, for a brief period, the Chinese communists had suddenly assumed the cloak of patriotism and had moderated their attitude towards class warfare. That brief period had misled many observers into believing that the Chinese communists were not communists at all but agrarian reformers. The real nature of Chinese communism had since become plainly visible to all who wished to see. The strident voice of Mao Tze-tung had announced that the Chinese, communists were a new and mighty contingent in the armies of world revolution which was to spread to South-East Africa and finally to cover the whole world, and that in the event of a third war, communist China would fight on the side of the USSR.
16. China was fighting against that new evil as it had fought twelve years previously, and for over eight years, against Japanese aggression. The resistance of free China was as important as its resistance to Japan in the Second World War. Geography had placed China in the front lines of the world struggle. The ultimate outcome would decide not only the future of China but that of many neighbouring countries in Asia and even the future of the whole world.
17. Building the dyke on one bank of the river had forced the waters to overflow on the other bank. The Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Treaty, while strengthening the forces of freedom in one part of the world, had really, though unintentionally, increased the dangers to the peoples living in the other part of the world. Mr. Tsiang appealed to the General Assembly to ponder over the situation in the Far East and the grave dangers to world peace and security, and to have the courage to embrace the vision of one indivisible world and not to retreat to the illusory security of half a world.
18. Since the conclusion of the Second World War, nothing that had happened in any part of the world was more serious than what had happened in China during the past year. The Assembly might close its eyes to those events and lull itself to sleep. The representative of China, in calling attention to the seriousness of the situation in the. Far East, might incur the displeasure of some of his colleagues who, eager for peace, were only too ready to imagine that peace had already been achieved. Such colleagues might regard his survey of the situation as unpleasant or inconvenient, just as the voice of China in the Assembly and Council of the League of Nations in Geneva in 1931 and 1932 had been declared unwelcome by representatives of several countries. In the face of the Japanese aggression in 1931, many people had wished to be let alone, and to let the aggressor alone. The appeasement policy which the Assembly of the League had pursued towards the Japanese had not stopped their aggression. In the end that aggression had destroyed the League of Nations and had engulfed many countries in southern Asia and around the Pacific. Could the United Nations maintain its prestige and develop its usefulness by ignoring what had taken place in China? The Chinese delegation was convinced that such a course of action on the part of the General Assembly would, in the long run, prove to be short-sighted. It requested the representatives of the nations gathered together to pay due attention to the storm that had reached China and would soon reach other countries.
19. The President pointed out that there was only one more speaker on the list for the morning meeting and inquired whether any other Member was prepared to speak. He added that the General Committee’s report on the agenda was before the Assembly, and emphasized the need to expedite the work of the Assembly as far as possible.