China

First of all, Sir, please allow me to offer my warmest congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the current session of the General Assembly. I wish also to express my gratitude to Mr. Han Seung-soo, President of the previous session of the Assembly. I wish to congratulate the Swiss Confederation on having joined the United Nations and also to welcome the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, which will soon become a Member of the Organization. The opening of this session coincides with the first anniversary of the events of 11 September. Over the past year, the international campaign against terrorism has made headway, and now we should not only ponder ways to eradicate the global scourge of terrorism, but also take a broader view of the security issues facing humankind and seek to achieve lasting peace and universal security. At present, the international security situation is undergoing profound changes. Security has begun to take on wider connotations. While traditional military antagonism and conflicts have yet to be eliminated, a variety of non-traditional security concerns have become increasingly prominent. Security is no longer a purely military concern. It has permeated politics, economics, finance, science, technology, culture and many other areas. Security is no longer a zero-sum game. Its mutuality is obviously on the increase, as countries have come to realize that they have common security interests and feel a greater sense of interdependence. We must overhaul the tools at our disposal to achieve security. Military means alone have proved inadequate in meeting the massive and complex security challenges facing us. The indiscriminate use of force can only lead to greater trouble in our world. This new situation calls for new ideas in the area of safeguarding security. We in China believe in a new security concept that features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation. By mutual trust, we mean that countries should rise above their differing ideologies and social systems, abandon the cold-war mentality and the power politics mindset, and refrain from harbouring suspicion and hostility towards each other. They should hold frequent dialogues and mutual briefings on their security and defence policies or on the major actions they are about to take. By mutual benefit, we mean that a country should respect the security interests of others while pursuing its own, and also help to create conditions for enhancing the security of others while making itself more secure thus achieving universal security. By equality, we mean that all countries large or small, strong or weak should respect each other, treat each other as equals and refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs, so that international relations can become more democratized. By cooperation, we mean that countries should resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations, engage in extensive and close cooperation on their shared security concerns and work to prevent wars and conflicts. All in all, our new security concept is aimed at increasing mutual trust through dialogue and at promoting common security through cooperation. It is in the spirit of this new security concept that we in China have been working hard to promote mechanisms for a regional security dialogue and cooperation, actively participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum, and endeavouring to establish an Asia-Pacific security framework that is for dialogue and against confrontation. China is actively committed to international arms control, disarmament and the non-proliferation process. Not long ago, the Chinese Government promulgated the Regulations on Export Controls of Missiles and Related Items and Technologies and its Control List. The Chinese Government will make further improvements on its export-management mechanisms for biological and chemical dual-use items. We call on the international community actively to undertake dialogue and cooperation in the spirit of this new security concept, in a joint effort to tackle the major security concerns of the day. We should press ahead with international cooperation against terrorism and curb the threat of international terrorism once and for all. Counter-terrorism should be pursued on the basis of international law and of the norms governing 16 international relations, allowing the United Nations and its Security Council to play a leading role. It should take a comprehensive approach, with a focus on eliminating the root causes of terrorism. Efforts should be made to prevent the arbitrary enlargement of the scope of the counter-terrorism campaign, but proven terrorists, including the East Turkestan terrorist forces trained, armed and bankrolled by the Taliban and Al Qaeda must be resolutely stamped out. We should step up dialogue and reconciliation processes and facilitate the settlement of regional hot- spot issues. China supports the Palestinian people and their just cause to regain their legitimate national rights and to establish their own State. We support the relevant Security Council resolutions and the principle of land for peace. We are opposed to violence targeting innocent civilians, and we reject responding to violence with violence. We stand for a political settlement of the question of Iraq. The United Nations should play an important role in this regard. Iraq should implement the relevant Security Council resolutions in a faithful and strict manner. We hope that India and Pakistan will soon resume dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect and resolve all their differences, including that over Kashmir, through peaceful means. We will continue to work constructively for a lasting peace in Afghanistan and its post-war rehabilitation. We support the important role of the United Nations in this regard. We should strengthen exchanges and dialogues among different civilizations and thereby avert conflict or confrontation. Differences among diverse civilizations are a basic characteristic of humanity. We have every reason to treat the achievements of various civilizations kindly and to promote exchanges among them on the basis of respect for diversity. Everyone is encouraged to draw upon the strength of others with a view to realizing common development. Peace and development go hand in hand. Many of the problems we face today may be development- related. In coping with these challenges, it is all the more important to look to development for answers. In the past year, the United Nations has held a series of important meetings on development such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development. What is needed, right now, is to translate the programmes and commitments into reality. In the past year, regional economic cooperation has continued to move forward. We feel especially happy about the launching of the African Union, convinced that Africa will now take fresh strides on the road to development. At present, our development tasks have become more pressing. The widening wealth gap in the world must be reversed. Frequent economic and social shocks must be dealt with. The sharpening clashes between economic development, on the one hand, and resources and the environment, on the other, must be allayed. The international order and the rules of the game, which do not fairly reflect the needs of developing countries, must be changed. We would like to make the following propositions. First, to establish a global partnership geared to development. Governments, international organizations, transnational corporations and non- governmental groups are all parties to the cause of development. The North and the South, the aid- recipient countries and international aid institutions, should be equal and cooperative partners in dealing with the global economic slowdown. The developed countries ought to lend developing countries a helping hand. The new round of multilateral trade talks should be seized as an important opportunity for forging such a new partnership. Secondly, to promote a balanced and steady development in the context of economic globalization. The international community needs to reform current roles in the world economy, strengthen guidance and management of the globalization process and promote a win-win situation and coexistence among countries. Thirdly, to strengthen the developing countries' capacity for self-development. Developing countries should opt for a development path suited to them and strive to catch up with the tide of global economic development. The international community should respect the right of developing countries to independently choose a development path, and help them with capacity-building. Fourthly, in order to continue on the path of sustainable development, we should promote a balanced development of the economy, population, resources and the environment. Efforts to address the 17 environmental problems of individual countries should be combined with those aimed at global concerns. Fifthly, to enhance comprehensive development of the people. Human resources are the primary resources for advancing science and technology and for realizing economic and social development. In formulating development strategies, countries should make the people their top priority and main beneficiary. The Communist Party of China will soon hold its sixteenth national Congress, the very first in the new century. Standing in the forefront of the historical tide and displaying a spirit of progressing with the times, this party Congress will draw up a new blueprint for accelerating socialist modernization in China. Our guiding thought is to consistently represent the development requirements of China's advanced productive forces, represent the orientation of China's advanced culture and represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. Our historic mission is to accelerate the drive for modernization, complete the reunification of the motherland, maintain world peace and promote common development. The first 10 to 20 years of this century present China with an important strategic window of opportunity for its development. While taking development as our number one priority, we must grasp the opportunities, deepen reform, open the country still wider to the outside world, promote development and maintain stability. We will continue to pursue an independent foreign policy of peace, actively develop friendly relations in cooperation with all countries in the world on the basis of the five principles of peaceful coexistence, and facilitate international dialogue and cooperation, thus contributing constructively to a fairer and more equitable international order. There is but one China in the world. Both the mainland and Taiwan belong to that one China, and China's sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no division. The Chinese Government adheres to the basic policy of peaceful reunification and one country, two systems; and President Jiang Zemin's eight point proposal on how to develop cross-strait' relations and promote a peaceful reunification of the motherland for the current stage. We are firm in our opposition to all forms of Taiwanese independence activities and will tolerate no attempt to separate Taiwan from the rest of China in any fashion. All acts of Taiwan independence are doomed to failure and our grand cause of national reunification will triumph.