China

18. I wish to avail myself of this opportunity to extend to you, Mr. President, the felicitations of my delegation on your election to the highest office of the General Assembly. We of China have warm recollections of your sojourn with us during the war years in Chungking and are particularly gratified that this important session of the General Assembly is under your wise direction. 19. The seventeenth session of the General Assembly has begun with the admission of four new African and American States. I have already had the occasion to express my delegation's welcome to Rwanda, Burundi, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago when the Security Council examined their applications for membership. It gives my delegation particular pleasure to see them take their rightful places in this Assembly Hall. 20. In this connexion, let us not forget that the Soviet Union, through the abuse of the veto power, has kept such qualified States as the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Viet-Nam out of the United Nations. More recently, this unconscionable abuse of the veto power has been used to bar the admission of the newly independent Kingdom of Kuwait. My delegation appeals to the General Assembly to renew its efforts to rectify this unjust state of affairs. 21. My delegation is deeply conscious of the fact that the seventeenth session of the General Assembly is now meeting in an atmosphere of crisis and tension. In Asia, the relentless pressures of world communism are felt from the borders of India to Viet-Nam. and Laos, from the Taiwan Straits to Korea. The Republic of Viet-Nam has been under active assault by bands of communist guerrillas supplied and directed from north of the 17th parallel. This is a gangster war of horror and assassination in the name of "national liberation". Here the stakes are greater than in the Republic of Viet-Nam; what is really involved is the independence and freedom of all peoples of South-East Asia. 22. In Laos, a new coalition regime has just been set up. Let us hope that, in spite of the continued presence of large bodies of foreign communist forces in that country, this will not prove to be only another step towards eventual communist take-over. Should the neutrality of Laos remain more a hope than a reality, then there is no guarantee that Laotian territory would not continue to be used to infiltrate the Republic of Viet-Nam, as well as the northern stretch of the Mekong Valley in Thailand. 23. In Europe, the Soviet policy of encroachment and harassment has created in Berlin a situation fraught with frightful implications. The question at issue is the future of Germany. My delegation deplores the fact that the Soviet Union, while hypocritically posing as the world's greatest champion of all oppressed peoples, has seen fit to deny the exercise of the right of self- determination to the German people. 24. In the Western Hemisphere, ominous developments are taking place in Cuba. The recent massive Soviet build-up in that strategic Caribbean country poses both a real and a potential threat to the security of the whole of the American continent. 25. These are some of the dangerous developments with which the world is faced. The General Assembly cannot remain indifferent to them even though they are not on its agenda. 26. Also absent from its agenda is the question of Tibet. The systematic violation of human rights, the wanton slaughter of an innocent populace, the calculated efforts to destroy the Tibetans as a religious group — these and other crimes committed by the Chinese communists add up to genocide. The United Nations cannot, therefore, wash its hands of the Tibetan question without violating the basic principles of the Charter. 27. Turning to the agenda itself, I should like now to state briefly my delegation's position on some of the important items. 28. There is no doubt that the central problem with which the world community is faced is disarmament. This is not a new problem. It was tackled many times during the years preceding the Second World War and has remained with the United Nations since its founding. But it has taken on added urgency at a time when the development of weapons of mass destruction has reached a stage where a single miscalculation can wipe out life on a great part of the earth. 29. Throughout the years, the United Nations has adopted many resolutions and laid down many guidelines on the problem of disarmament. These resolutions call for progressive and balanced reduction of armaments and armed forces until total disarmament is achieved. They call, in particular, for the immediate suspension of nuclear testing under an effective and impartial system of verification. Years have passed and the armament race has forged ahead with ever increasing intensity. 30. My delegation believes that nuclear testing in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water must be stopped as a first step leading to final and complete disarmament. We are of the opinion that the draft treaty tabled by the Western Powers in Geneva represents a genuine desire to come to an agreement on this vital question. We deplore the Soviet Union's categorical rejection of the Western proposal. The Soviet refusal to accept any kind of inspection and control has made even a partial ban on nuclear testing virtually impossible. This deepens the doubt whether the Soviet Union is in fact interested in disarmament. 31. The liquidation of colonialism is another top priority item on the agenda. My delegation wishes to reaffirm its unalterable opposition to colonial domination in all forms and manifestation. It is our conviction that Asian and African nationalism is the most elemental force in the world today. 32. Western colonialism, however, is now being brought to an end in an orderly manner. The day will soon come when the last vestiges of Western colonialism will vanish. The greatest threat to freedom in our time is Soviet colonialism, the worst type of colonialism the world has ever seen. At the last session I had occasion on behalf of my delegation, to call the attention of the General Assembly [1055th meeting] to the brutal absorption of non-Russian populations in the Soviet Union, the enslavement of captive nations in Eastern Europe and the imperialistic designs of international communism in Asia and Africa and the Western Hemisphere, It is to this new colonialism that the Assembly must now devote a greater share of its attention. 33. The clouds of war which have for so long hung over West New Guinea have lately been dispersed by the Agreement reached between Indonesia and the Netherlands [see A/5170, annex]. My delegation attaches much importance to the guarantees contained in the Agreement for the population of the territory, especially the provisions relating to the exercise of the right of self-determination before the end of 1969. The United Nations has a continuing responsibility in ensuring the full implementation of the Agreement in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Charter. It certainly cannot allow any non-self-governing people to pass from one kind of colonialism into another. 34. At its current session, the General Assembly will be called upon to appoint a Secretary-General. While the question will not come before the Assembly until the Security Council has made its recommendation, the Assembly must nevertheless make its influence felt in the choice of a man who has the vision and capabilities to discharge the responsibilities of this important office, 35. It is disturbing to hear that the Soviet Union now plans to revive the so-called "troika" to be applied not only to the office of the Secretary-General, but also to all principal organs of the United Nations. This campaign to destroy the effectiveness of the United Nations must be resisted by all who have the true interests of the Organization at heart. In this the small and newly-independent States have a special responsibility. For them, membership in the United Nations not only serves to establish national identity, but also affords a shield of protection. Obviously, a strong United Nations is more meaningful to them than a weak one. Obviously, they cannot allow the Soviet Union to so emasculate the United Nations as to make it incapable of effective action. 36. I come now to the United Nations Development Decade. The Charter enjoins us "to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom". The Development Decade is a far-reaching project which dramatizes, in the words of the introduction to the Secretary-General's annual report, "the importance and urgency of the work to be accomplished for reversing the trend towards wider differences in the levels of living between the rich and poor countries" [A/5201/Add,l, p. 3], It is to be launched by the world community in the interests of more than a billion people who are still struggling to free themselves from the thraldom of poverty, ignorance and disease. Its success depends on cooperative action. While the "have" nations must contribute their share of the responsibility, it is the "have-not" nations themselves that must map out their own strategies and formulate their own plans of development. 37. No country in the world is content to stagnate in the backwaters of a pre-industrial age. The underdeveloped countries of today are in a hurry and seem determined to achieve in a decade or a generation what has taken the developed countries more than a century to do. In the search for a break-through there is always the temptation to find short-cuts to economic growth, to be attracted to the communist model of development. The communists, on their part, have not been slow to take advantage of this situation to encourage imitation. The Chinese Communists, for example, have been in the habit of making extravagant claims about their economic development. They have been telling the under-developed countries for years that to build modern states, the Asian and African peoples must follow in their footsteps along the path of industrialization through forced labour, compulsory saving, and political regimentation. The outside world naively believed them. There are people who say that the Chinese Communists are so far advanced in industrialization that they are on the verge of exploding a nuclear bomb. But the economic chaos and technological deficiencies prevailing on the Chinese mainland make this a most unlikely possibility. 38. Far from being a success, the Chinese Communist industrialization programme, launched in 1953 with so much fanfare, has been a gigantic failure. In terms of human misery, waste of resources, terror and regimentation, the price of this failure has been tragically high. 39. The greatest Communist failure, however, has been in the field of agriculture. From East Germany to the Chinese mainland, and from the Chinese mainland to Cuba, the vast communist empire has found itself in the grip of a deepening agricultural crisis. It is no secret that Soviet agriculture has been in a bad way ever since the revolution. But the greatest and most tragic agricultural crisis is the one that has been taking place on the communist-controlled mainland of China since 1959. Hunger and starvation now stalk the vast territory. 40. What has been at the root of this unprecedented tragedy? The answer is: ruthless collectivization and inhuman regimentation. As a result, the farmers, who have been noted for their industry and resourcefulness since time immemorial, have ceased to produce. There is no incentive to do so. 41. A comparison of the conditions on the mainland and in Taiwan reveals that, to achieve agricultural prosperity, the farmers must be given the right to own their land so that they may have the necessary incentive to improve productivity. In Taiwan, under the leadership of President Chiang Kai-shek, and the immediate direction of Vice-President Chen Cheng, we have successfully carried out a land reform programme. Over 80 per cent of the farmers now own their land. It is not without reason that we have almost doubled the production of rice in ten years. Agricultural production has outpaced population growth. We now enjoy a standard of living which is one of the highest in all Asia. 42. It is gratifying to report that Taiwan's agricultural progress has attracted the attention of the developing countries in Asia and Africa. Our experts and farmers are now serving in a number of friendly countries of Africa to help to improve their farming methods. Since 1955, some 1,100 foreign agricultural workers have come to Taiwan for training. Since April of this year, an agricultural seminar was started for trainees from eleven African countries. We hope that our experience can be of benefit to them. 43. While developing agriculture, we have not neglected the industries. Ten years ago, 85 per cent of our exports were agricultural products. Today, between 40 and 45 per cent of our exports are manufactured goods. In our industrial development, we have paid special attention to the production of consumer goods. This serves, we believe, to improve the conditions of life of the lower income groups and contributes to the building of a happy society. We do not think that the needs of the present generation should be ruthlessly sacrificed for the attainment of some distant and elusive goal. 44. I have spoken at some length about economic development in the province of Taiwan because I believe that our plan of development and our system of priorities may have something to contribute to the success of the United Nations Development Decade. 45. Permit me to say a few words on behalf of the thousands upon thousands of my fellow countrymen, who, through no fault of their own, now find themselves destitute, homeless, and unwanted. I am referring to the Chinese who have fled and are trying to flee from the mainland of China to Hong Kong and Macao. 46. Ever since the establishment of the Communist regime on the mainland of China, freedom-seeking Chinese have never ceased to flee the country. Because of their geographical propinquity to the mainland of South China, Hong Kong and Macao have become the haven of the fleeing multitudes. Thanks to the Governments of Hong Kong and Macao, tens of thousands of them have found sanctuary in these territories and have contributed to their economic prosperity. 47. As the number of refugees steadily increased, the problem became more difficult to cope with. In 1957, the General Assembly at its twelfth session adopted resolution 1167 (XII), which recognizing"... that the problem is such as to be of concern to the international community", appealed to States Members of the United Nations and of the specialized agencies and to non-governmental organizations "to give all possible assistance with a view to alleviating the distress of the Chinese refugees in Hong Kong". The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was authorized to use his good offices to encourage arrangements for contributions. My delegation highly appreciates the High Commissioner's efforts on behalf of the refugees. 48. Since May this year, the flight from the mainland has assumed the proportion of a mass exodus. This influx of refugees has stretched the already inadequate facilities in Hong Kong and Macao to the breaking point. As a result, many of the refugees have been sent back to the mainland to an unknown fate. The Government of the Republic of China has announced that it is prepared to receive the refugees for resettlement in Taiwan. A large number of them have already been received there. 49. But the problem remains serious. My delegation hopes that the General Assembly would, at the current session, reaffirm its concern for the Chinese refugees and take practical steps to alleviate their plight. 50. The Chinese people are a home-loving and earthbound people. The magnetic pull of home, however wretched the home may be, is probably stronger for them than for any other people of the world. It is no easy thing for them to give up their country, relative, friends, life-long associations, even their human identity, for the uncertainties of life in a strange land without means of subsistence and without legal status. And they do so often at the risk of their lives and in the awareness that at best they would be unwelcome intruders on a foreign territory. 51. These refugees are a cross-section of the Chinese population: peasants, industrial workers, professional men, students, and even communist cadres and military officers. They are people who do not ordinarily leave their homes. As for the communist cadres and army officers, they must have received years of indoctrination and discipline and should be expected to be loyal supporters of the communist regime. Yet these men and women, for the most part young and able-bodied, are leaving behind their beloved ones and earthly possessions to seek refuge in a place where they know they are not really wanted. It is more "than mere hunger that they are running away from. Their decision to leave home can be accounted for only by their profound hatred of the communist regime. By their action they are asserting, in the clearest and strongest terms, their opposition to all that the Chinese Communist regime stands for. More than that, they are repudiating it. The mass exodus from the mainland has but one meaning: that where the Chinese people have a choice, they vote against Mao Tse-tung and communist tyranny. This is the most revealing fact about the Chinese Communist regime. 52. It is Communist China — a regime that the Chinese people have clearly repudiated — that the Soviet Union has been urging the General Assembly to admit to the United Nations and to occupy China's seat. There are delegations in this Assembly which have shown a disposition to support the Soviet contention. Certainly they cannot be doing this in the interests of the Chinese people. Certainly they cannot be doing this in the interests of the United Nations. 53. At this critical moment in history, let us pledge ourselves once again to build a world envisaged by the framers of the Charter — a world of peace and security based on justice and international law and on the respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples; a world in which all nations work together for the promotion of social, economic and cultural progress. Let us endow the United Nations with new strength to meet the challenges of this perilous age. 54. I am, of course, aware that there are those in our midst who hold a contrary view and who are bent on creating a very different kind of world, and they seek to impose their kind of world on all mankind. Consequently, they work not to strengthen the United Nations but to cripple it; not to promote peace and security, but to sow the seeds of dissension and conflict. They aim at nothing less than transforming the United Nations into their own instrument of policy. I refer, of course, to the communist bloc of nations. 55. This attempt to destroy the United Nations as a peace-preserving agency has led many eminent men of goodwill in many lands — men who have hitherto been ardent supporters of the United Nations — to ask the question: "Can the United Nations survive?" Of late, there is an increasing number of men who are asking: "Should the United Nations survive? Should it not be replaced by a new, stronger and more effective organization?" 56. Let us hope, as the Acting Secretary-General has suggested in the introduction to his annual report [A/5201/Add.l], that this "crisis of confidence" in the United Nations is a passing phase. But the very existence of this phase is food for thought. It is time that the United Nations be restored to a position of influence so that it can become a trusted and inspiring agency for peace and progress, and lead the peoples of the earth to a new age of hope and human fulfilment.