1. The delegation of the Kingdom of Cambodia has pleasure in presenting its warmest greetings to the new President of the General Assembly, Mr. Charles Malik, whose election to this office is the culmination of a lifetime devoted to international amity, and to our devoted Secretary-General, Mr. Dag Hammarskjold, the indefatigable and eloquent interpreter of our Assembly's wishes in all parts of the world where peace is threatened.
2. Unfortunately, our present session is opening in an atmosphere of anxiety. The chief problems facing us have so far defied all attempts at conciliation. Neither in the Middle East nor in the Formosa Strait have we been able to break the deadlock.
3. We cannot hide the fact that many of us were deeply disappointed to see the crucial problem of the representation of China held up once again. Even if our lack of realism in this matter does not throw the world into an immediate tragic conflict, we shall be unable to prevent the debate which was evaded from being resumed one day in this Assembly in an atmosphere of increased bitterness. It is not only the prestige of the Organization which is at stake today but the fate of tens and possibly hundreds of millions of human beings.
4. Cambodia is a small, neutral country, friend of all and ally of none, which has succeeded so far in keeping intact its freedom to judge for itself. Although in no way desirous of reading a lesson to countries larger than Cambodia, it would like to indicate the reasons why, in its opinion, international crises are multiplying and becoming increasingly difficult to solve.
5. In our view, our woes have their origin in a failure to observe the spirit of the Charter. Our delegations should conduct their debates with objectivity and serenity, according to the rules of justice, morality and common sense, but for years now they have allowed themselves to be drawn into a storm of ideological and partisan passions. The division of the world not only into blocs but into rival blocs, each seeking partisans and requiring from them practically automatic voting support, has suppressed all free will and rendered impossible in advance any attempt at reconcilement when a grave crisis arises. This curious notion of solidarity which might well compel us to vote contrary to our convictions is quite unacceptable to us. We want to be able to support any proposal which we regard as just and reasonable, regardless of its sponsors' political complexion. We believe that the truth is not the prerogative of any particular system, but is to be found to some extent in all, and that the most elementary common sense requires us all to recognize this. Thus, recovering our humility, we might be better able to understand the other point of view and to agree to certain mutual concessions which would prevent discussions between Government and Government from becoming a dialogue of the deaf, ending sometimes by a blow on the table.
6. Since listening to these debates between the great Powers and hearing them accuse each other of aggression, in the name of totally opposing moral systems, we have realized that the great Powers, encased in the armour of their own pride and bound hand and foot by their own ideologies, will never admit that they may themselves be at fault.
7. In our opinion, it is for the smaller nations to do their powerful friends the service of pointing out to them, frankly, in the interests of the entire human community, the mistakes which their great Power complexes may lead them to commit and thus bring about some reconcilement of the opposing arguments. If the great Powers become at certain times no longer capable of judging a given situation dispassionately, because they have to some extent become the victims of their own propaganda; if through their own rigidity, they arrive at a complete impasse from which, for reasons of prestige they are unable to withdraw, why should they not then entrust the task of advising them to a commission consisting entirely of representatives of countries free from all suspicion of partiality or commitment, and let that commission suggest solutions which, while not damaging to their just interests, would have the merit of not clashing with justice, right or the conscience of mankind?
8. In these last three years, I have made friendly visits to most of the countries in the Western bloc and in the Socialist bloc, and both points of view have been dinned into my ears. I have always been inclined to believe in the complete sincerity of both sides. Nevertheless, just as any man needs a mirror to see himself from behind, so do the great Powers sometimes need the neutral countries to point out to them the flaws in their own reasoning.
9. This may sound a somewhat presumptuous statement, On the contrary, we make it in all humility. Since we are not bound by any undertaking to any of the great Powers and since, we prefer to live poor and apart rather than sell our freedom to outside interests, our contribution to this work of reconciliation could only be completely disinterested. This guarantees that it would be sufficiently clear-sighted.
10. The importance which we attach to the self- determination of. peoples also makes us wish that the various blocs would stop posing, as they are rather too prone to do, as the interpreters of the popular will of any particular country where matters are awry. These countries have their own Governments duly appointed by regularly elected parliaments and it is proper to leave to those Governments, as long as they are in power, the right they indubitably possess to call upon allied troops for assistance and to ask those troops to go or to stay, depending upon the turn of events.
11. For its part, Cambodia has made provision, in its constitutional law of neutrality, for the possibility, in the case of foreign aggression, of an appeal to the United Nations or, in cases of extreme urgency, to the aid of a friendly Power. If such an eventuality should arise, which God forbid, we could not allow any bloc to call the friends which had answered our appeal aggressors against the Cambodian people.
12. Of course, in Cambodia, the decisions of the Government are directly controlled by the National People's Congress which meets ordinarily every six months and more often if the need arises.
13. But, it may be said, what is to be done when a Government summons its allies to its aid merely in order to impose its own tyranny upon the people? In this case, and when the problem at issue has, without any possible doubt, international implications, for example when it threatens to endanger peace in a specific region, we believe that the only logical solution is to organize a referendum in the country concerned; such a referendum would give a clear and indisputable indication of the popular will, which could not then be distorted or improperly exploited by any outside influence.
14. Some Governments, which can scarcely be said to enjoy majority support, will of course be somewhat unwilling to consult freely with their citizens. Either they will object on behalf of the principles of sovereignty and non-intervention; or they will feign obedience to the wishes of the United Nations and offer it the doubtful results of a prefabricated consultation, at the same time refusing to allow international observers to attend. We believe that such obstacles must be removed; we should like the United Nations to organize and supervise, in countries in which human rights are disregarded and domestic security threatened and which therefore constitute a danger to world peace, popular consultations which would allow the people to make their true opinion known free of all internal or external pressure. Such a course would put an end to the mutual accusations of the opposing blocs and to those discussions and resolutions which have not so far succeeded in freeing any people from the oppressors.
15. The time for narrow nationalism is over. Although we may not be ready yet for world government, we ought to accept willingly the intervention, even if it is only the moral intervention, of an Assembly with wider and more universally respected powers in national cases which might cause international difficulties. Without this, how shall we ever emerge from these difficulties?
16. We proclaim, here and now, that Cambodia accepts wholeheartedly and in advance international inspection and control in any affair in which it may be involved. Since 1965, the International Supervisory Commission set up in Cambodia by the 1954 Geneva Agreements, which we are anxious to retain as a witness to the punctilious and faithful manner in which we are carrying out our undertakings, has been able to keep a constant check on the chief aspects of our national life, for example our elections and to see where the right lay when disputes have put us at odds with our neighbours.
17. We might perhaps be allowed to point out to the members of the Assembly that so far we have done our best to settle for ourselves such serious matters as repeated violations of our frontier or the prolonged occupation of one of our most ancient historic monuments in defiance of international treaties. We did not want to add to the difficulties of the United Nations by bringing these matters before it. In order to repay the Organization for the honour which it did us in admitting us to membership, we have agreed to enter into negotiations with those who have wronged us, despite the unhappy atmosphere created by propaganda campaigns and hostile demonstrations and even the closing of the frontier on the very eve of the arrival of our delegation in a neighbouring country.
18. We have also made every effort to practice genuine non-intervention in our relations with other Asian countries. Although we have not entered into any military alliance, even in the form of a defensive pact, and have not agreed to the establishment of foreign bases on our territory, we have fully respected the decision of neighbouring countries to practise an entirely different policy, and to adhere to joint defence organizations, to harbour foreign military units and to organize spectacular manoeuvres on our frontiers. We believe that this is part of their inalienable right to act as they see fit in what they regard as their own interests. Despite this understanding and tolerance, however, we have been accused in certain quarters of constituting a base for Communist Infiltration and aggression threatening their security, for the sole reason that under our policy of genuine neutrality, we maintain the same good relations with the East as with the West.
19. I should like to point out to those Members who have perhaps already heard this accusation that, unfortunately for our accusers, Cambodia has no common frontier with any Communist State. If the Chinese or North Viet-Namese wanted to infiltrate into Cambodia, they could do so only through Thailand or South Viet- Nam, which are manifestly anti-communist, or through, Laos which, according to the present Prime Minister's own statement, is at once neutral and pro-Western. Suspect elements in the Chinese and Viet-Namese colonies in Cambodia are kept under strict and constant police supervision-and we would have no hesitation in expelling any foreign agitator, whatever the colour of his politics, who tried to injure a neighbouring Government.
20. Without going so far as to recommend the installation of permanent international missions of inspection in certain countries where the situation is dangerous, we should be in favour of establishing international emergency observation teams under the authority and at the disposal of the Secretary-General, which would respond immediately to any appeal from a Member State and would draw up a preliminary report on the real state of affairs there, for the information of other Members of the United Nations and of the Security Council, if it was seized of the matter. In that way, a small country could avoid being devoured by a larger one before the United Nations was even informed of the case, pending the setting in motion, which naturally takes time, of the machinery provided for in the Assembly's rules of procedure.
21. Quite recently, the Press of certain neighbouring States has launched a lively campaign of vilification against us. It is true that technicians and engineers from Communist China have recently arrived in Cambodia to set up factories and prospect for minerals on our behalf. Some of these experts went to a frontier province to prospect for limestone. This was all that our neighbours needed in order to discover in them the vanguard of the Communist army, sent to establish a base for aggression against them. But — and I mention this to make the story complete — our accusers would be outraged if anyone were to be the least suspicious of the experts, technicians and engineers of the other bloc, of whom they have a great many and who, of course, are always moving about.
22. These are the tragi-comic results of the cold war between the two blocs. We are getting further and further into a labyrinth where tolerance and the respect for truth are banished. What remedies can we suggest?
23. Firstly, as I have already said, we should all decide unanimously to give the United Nations wide powers, similar to those of a world parliament; but these should be powers of supervision and censure and would therefore be moral rather than military. At present, our Organization is obviously becoming a forum for propaganda where discourtesy prevails a little too often for our taste.
24. Secondly, let the great Powers give an example of the virtues which they preach to the small Powers: an example of calm, tolerance, good manners, flexibility, a willingness to make sacrifices and concessions. Never fear, the small Powers will follow unhesitatingly and eagerly on that happy path.
25. Nowadays, when the world is dominated by nations which occupy whole continents or sub-continents and have populations of several hundred millions, international good behaviour — and peace also — depend on these super-nations. They have only to wish and our present difficulties, which appear to be insurmountable, will disappear as though by enchantment.
26. Another great problem that cannot escape our vigilant attention is the trial' of strength in the Strait of Formosa which opposes with renewed acuity the People's Republic of China and the China of Taiwan, with its United States allies. We are old friends of the United States and we are also friends of the People's Republic of China, whose Government we have just recognized. The dispute between these two great peoples is the fruit of a series of tragic misunderstandings and it is our fervent hope that, in the interests of the whole world, the United States and China will, through mutual concessions, achieve a rapprochement, which would be welcomed with relief everywhere, and particularly in Asia.
27. The United States of America, undeniably sincere in its attachment to certain democratic principles which it believes to be the only principles for the salvation of mankind in freedom and dignity, has frequently aired its grievances against the People's Republic of China. Its argument is too well known for me to repeat it here. The Chinese Communists, on the other hand, told me when I visited Peking recently that the only question dividing them from the United States was that of Taiwan (Formosa); once that problem was settled, there was nothing to prevent them and the United States from becoming friends.
28. May I at least express the hope that the greatest possible number of Member states in this Assembly will concentrate their efforts on paving the way to an understanding between these two great nations, instead of supporting unconditionally one or other of the opposing Powers, thus making the situation increasingly complicated? The delegation of the Kingdom of Cambodia considers that this is an urgent necessity.
29. We also feel that the cause of the present crisis must be attributed to the fact that the People's Republic of China is still excluded from the United Nations. Its exclusion has produced a feeling of frustration in China and has certainly been largely responsible for the stiffening of China's attitude to the West.
30. The Cambodian delegation, like other non-communist countries, has supported the candidature of the People's Republic of China because it considers that keeping China out of our Assembly does more harm than good. We explained our reasons yesterday [754th meeting] and will not repeat them now.
31. An objection of form has been brought forward which nevertheless is worthy of consideration. Certain very influential Members have said that the General Assembly should not be considered as a sort of universal super-parliament or one tending towards universality, but as a club of peace-loving countries to which only nations applying certain ethical principles and fulfilling certain conditions can be admitted.
32. It would seem that it is in the Assembly's interests to prevent any confusion in peoples' minds regarding this fundamental aspect of the Organization, which governs the whole conception of its mission, and that the Assembly should decide as soon as possible what it really is. It is only after we have made this essential decision that we can settle the matters which always arise in connexion with the admission of new Members. But, if the United Nations were to decide that it was a club of peace-loving nations, it might be wise to consider not only what would make nations ineligible for admission but also when countries which were already Members should be disqualified from membership on account of their policies or warlike activities.
33. Moreover, in addition to the discussion of principles, there is a question of Common sense. We could not seriously think of settling the Formosa affair and its dependencies without the participation of the Peking Government or by inviting it to discuss the matter in the waiting-room. We could not really put an end to the testing of nuclear weapons as long as China, considered beyond the pale and not responsible to anyone for its actions, could offer the help of its scientists and a refuge in its immense territory for the research or experiments which a friendly Power might request it to carry out.
34. It is obviously in our interest in every way for China to undertake to respect the rules of our Organization, for the countries which have not been able or have not wished to enter into international commitments have usually had nothing to lose and everything to gain by not doing so. One of our neighbours, by refusing to sign the armistice agreements in Geneva in 1954, was able to ban the Communist party in its country without being open to criticism. We, who signed the agreements and always respect the undertakings we have signed, have had to allow a Communist group to operate legally in our country. Allow me to say that the loyalty to the throne and the national spirit of our people have provided a most effective barrier against the activities of our "Reds", who have not been able to get a single one of their party members elected to Parliament and obtained only a negligible number of votes — not even 1 per cent of the votes cast at the last elections in March 1958 — as compared with 3 per cent in September 1955.
35. We flatter ourselves that our attitude, which is to examine every question without preconceived ideas and make our decision according to our conception of justice, is fully in harmony with the ideas of the architects of the United Nations. We are too small and too weak to dare to undertake a crusade for the restoration of freedom of choice; but we believe that that freedom could greatly ease this continued tension, which may well be fatal to humanity. And in conclusion, let me express the hope that other Powers which are more important or carry more weight in international affairs will take the initiative of a campaign, in the highest interests of peace, for tolerance and wisdom against divisions and hate; we shall support them with all our energy.