China

First of all, Sir, I should like to con¬gratulate you on your election to the presidency of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly. We hope that the current session will be crowned with success under your presidency. I also wish to thank Mr. Kittani for his contribution as President of the thirty-sixth session. 76. On this occasion each year we gather here to review major world issues of the day. We are all concerned about the changes in the world situation as a whole and we all follow the developments in various countries. Before I proceed to elaborate on China's views on current world affairs, I would like to say something about a recent event of major importance in the political life of the Chinese people. 77. As representatives know, the Communist Party of China held its Twelfth National Congress in Bering earlier last month. This Congress was an important milestone in the history of the People' Republic of China. It summed up our experience in achieving great successes over the past six years. A grand program for China's socialist modernization was put forward and new central leading bodies of the party were elected. China now enjoys political stability and unity and its economy is growing steadily. It has entered a new era in its efforts to create a new situation in all fields of socialist modernization. Under the leadership of the Communist Party, the Chinese people are determined to make gigantic efforts on the basis of self-reliance in order to achieve, step by step, modernization in industry, agriculture, national defense and science and technology before the turn of the century and transform China into a culturally advanced and highly democratic socialist country. We intend to blaze a path of our own and build socialism with Chinese characteristics. We know that this is going to be an arduous task and will be no plain sailing. But we are fully confident of achieving our goal and of the bright future of our country. 78. In his report to the Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the General Secretary of the Central Committee, Comrade Hu Yaobang, has given a comprehensive and profound explanation of China's foreign policy. We adhere to an independent foreign policy. In developing relations with other coun¬tries, we are always guided by the five principles, namely, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. More particularly, we will unite with countries of the third world and join hands with all other countries and forces working for peace to combat hegemonism and maintain world peace. 79. Our independent foreign policy proceeds from the fundamental interests of the people of China and the world as a whole. The founding of the People's Republic of China has removed the social causes of China's submission to foreign aggression and those of any possibility that China might commit aggression abroad. In the 33 years of the People's Republic, we have shown by deeds that China never attaches itself to any big Power or group of Powers, nor yields to pressure from any big Power. We Chinese people cherish our own independence and sovereign rights, which we won only after protracted struggles. We are firmly opposed to hegemonism. At the same time, we declare to the whole world that under no circumstances will China seek hegemony. 80. 8C. In our international relations we have always abided by the five principles of peaceful coexistence. Conforming to these principles, our Government has established co-operative relations of peace and friendship with a great number of coun¬tries in the past three decades and more, and settled many boundary questions and other issues left over from history. In the future we will continue to be ready to solve outstanding issues in our relations with some countries on the basis of the same principles. The Chinese Government is willing to develop normal relations with any country as long as it truly respects China's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, abides by the principles of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect, and demonstrates by actual deeds rather than hollow words that it is not hostile to China and does not threaten China's security. 81. Our modernization program is based on the principle of independence and self-reliance. At the same time, we will continue to adhere firmly to our policy of opening to the outside world. We are ready to develop trade ties, economic co-operation and scientific-technological exchanges with all countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. 82. The people of all countries eagerly desire peace. China's modernization program can be realized only in an international environment of enduring peace and stability. In the common interests of the people of the world, we are ready to work together with all peace-loving countries and peoples for the main¬tenance of world peace and international security and for the advancement of the cause of human progress. 83. There are many pressing issues of universal concern on the agenda. Allow me to state here the basic position and views of the Chinese delegation. 84. First, on the question of maintaining world peace and international security. The international scene is far from being relaxed, but has become more turbulent and tense during the past year. While wars of aggression against Kampuchea and Afghanistan have not ceased in Asia, naked and savage aggression against the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples has been going on without let-up in the Middle East. In southern Africa, the racists are wantonly carrying on brutal repression, military occupation and armed provocations. In Latin America, outside intervention has exacerbated the turmoil in the Caribbean region. Even the hitherto relatively calm South Atlantic has witnessed a war of the strong bullying the weak. Wrangling over the deployment of intermediate- range nuclear weapons have intensified the military confrontation in Europe. Faced with a continued economic recession, the developed countries are trying hard to shift the consequences of their economic crises on to others. This has badly hurt the devel¬oping countries and added to their economic woes. Stalemate on the question of global negotiations has seriously hampered the improvement of North- South relations. Disarmament is another issue of universal concern. Here again, no progress could be made, owing to the intensified arms race between the super-Powers. The recent second special session on disarmament has been a disappointment. In short, while the hitherto unresolved old issues of the world have become more complicated, new problems keep cropping up on the horizon. One cannot but feel bravely concerned and disturbed about the present international situation. 85. The menace to the peace and security of the world today originates mainly from imperialism, hegemonism and colonialism. The quest for hegemony by the super-Powers and the resultant global rivalry between them are the main source of the unrest and turmoil in the world. In their contention for spheres of influence and world supremacy, the super-Powers have accelerated the expansion of their armaments and stepped up their strategic deployment. They have openly or covertly subjected other countries to their aggression, intervention or control by direct or indirect use or threat of force. While the focus of their global strategies remains in Europe, the developments in recent years indicate that the main sphere of con¬tention between the super-Powers is in the third world. This fierce rivalry has constantly rocked the world and increased the danger of a world war. Therefore, the overriding task of the people of the world is to combat hegemonism and maintain international peace. The heroic struggles waged by the peoples of Afghanistan, Kampuchea and southern Africa and by the Arab people against aggression demonstrate that the people can, by means of unremitting struggle, upset the super-Powers' strategic plans and land the aggressors in deeper and deeper difficulties. We are convinced that so long as the people of the world are truly united and wage resolute struggles, world peace can be preserved. 86. Secondly, on the question of safeguarding the independence and the right to existence of nations. Word peace and security can be maintained only if the rights to independence and existence of nations are firmly safeguarded. These two aspects cannot be separated. The question of Afghanistan and the question of Kampuchea have not yet been settled and have again been included in the agenda of the current session. This is because the Soviet Union and Soviet-supported Viet Nam have continued to subject Afghanistan and Kampuchea under their respective military occupation and refused thus far to withdraw their aggressor troops there from. 87. Not long ago, the three Kampuchean patriotic forces resisting Vietnamese aggression agreed among themselves and formed the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea headed by Prince Norodom Sihanouk. This Government enjoys the support of the Kampuchean people as well as international recog¬nition and endorsement. This is an encouraging major development in the Kampuchean situation. The Kam¬puchean people have persevered and won important victories in their war of resistance against Vietnamese aggression, thus landing the aggressors in a deepening quagmire. In order to extricate itself from this predicament, Hanoi has resorted to trickeries. It has launched a new "peace offensive" designed to soften and divide the international forces opposing Viet¬namese aggression against Kampuchea. Viet Nam is the aggressor in Kampuchea and the menace to the peace and security of South-East Asia, and yet it has fabricated a so-called China "threat" in an attempt to divert public attention and spread confusion. But this is completely futile. The five countries of ASEAN and the great majority of the States Members of the United Nations emphatically call for the implemen¬tation of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Declaration of the International Conference on Kampuchea, which demand the total withdrawal of Viet Nam's aggressor troops from Kampuchea so that the Kampuchean people may build a peaceful democratic, neutral and non-aligned State of national union free from any outside interference. This demand is fully justified. Since the question of Kampuchea has resulted from Viet Nam's armed aggression, there can be no genuine settlement of this question until Viet Nam withdraws all its aggressor troops from Kampuchea. Any "political solution" that accepts the status quo created by Viet Nam's aggression at the expense of Kampuchea's independence and sovereignty would be contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international relations and, therefore, are inadmissible. 88. The same applies to the question of Afghanistan. The Afghan people have not been cowed by their formidable enemy, but have fought valiantly under the sacred banner of safeguarding their national inde¬pendence and have frustrated the aggressors' cherished plan of bringing the war to a quick conclusion. Soviet armed aggression against Afghanistan constitutes a gross violation of the Charter of the United Nations and a grave threat to peace in Asia and the world. None of the pretexts put forward by the Soviet Union to justify its continued presence in Afghanistan is tenable. We maintain that the resolutions adopted at three consecutive sessions of the General Assembly calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan must be strictly implemented. The Soviet Union must unconditionally pull out all its troops from Afghanistan. The Afghan people should be allowed to determine their own destiny free from any outside interference. Afghanistan must regain the status of an independent and non-aligned State. That is the only feasible way to settle the question of Afghanistan. 89. The situation in Lebanon has aroused serious world-wide concern during the last few months. How the Lebanese situation and the Palestinian question are treated involves respect for a State's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and recognition of a nation's rights to existence and self-determination. This is also a question bearing on peace in the Middle East and international security as a whole. The Israeli aggressors have flagrantly invaded and occupied large tracts of Lebanese territory and attempted to wipe out the Palestinian revolutionary armed forces. They perfidiously entered Beirut again and savagely massacred Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. The United States cannot shirk its responsibility for this since it has always shielded and abetted the Israeli aggressors. China joins all other countries in voicing strong condemnation of the acts of aggression and the inhuman atrocities committed by the Israeli authorities. We firmly support the Palestinian, Leba¬nese and other Arab peoples in their struggle against Israeli aggression and expansion. 90. The question of Palestine is at the core of the Middle East issue. Although the Palestinian people have suffered a temporary setback, their forces will never be wiped out because they are fighting for a just cause. The PLO is recognized by more than 100 coun¬tries as the sole legitimate representative of the Pales¬tinian people. Any proposal or formula designed to exclude the PLO from the settlement of the Middle East question would be wrong and unworkable. The plan put forward at the Twelfth Arab Summit Confer¬ence, held recently in Fez, provides a good basis for a fair and reasonable settlement of the questions of Palestine and the Middle East. In our view, to achieve peace in the Middle East, Israel must evacuate the Arab territories it has occupied since 1967, including .Jerusalem; the Pales¬tinian people must regain their national rights, including the right to return to their homeland, the right to self-determination and the right to establish their own State; and the rights to independence and existence of all countries in the Middle East should be respected. 91. The most urgent task now is to stop Israel's aggression against Lebanon. The United Nations and all the countries and peoples that cherish peace and uphold justice should act promptly and take effective measures to compel Israel to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon immediately and unconditionally. 92. In southern Africa, with the backing and con¬nivance of a super-Power, the South African authorities have intensified their racist policies. They have continued their illegal occupation of Namibia and made repeated armed provocations against and military incursions into neighbouring countries, thereby posing a direct threat to the security and stability of the region. People are deeply concerned about the situation in southern Africa and, in particular, about the inde¬pendence of Namibia, which will affect the historical process of the final liberation of the entire African continent. We maintain that, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, Namibia should immediately achieve genuine national independence on the basis of territorial integrity and national unity; South Africa's apartheid system should be completely abolished; and the international community should apply effective comprehensive sanctions against the South African authorities. The Chinese people firmly support -the just struggle of the African people, particularly the Namibian and South African people, until they win final victory, 93. The military conflict over the Malvinas Islands earlier this year also aroused general concern. The question of the Malvinas Islands remains unsolved despite the termination of the war. It is a reminder that although the cause of national liberation has won great victories throughout the world in the post-war period, the process of decolonization has not yet been completed. We support the request of Argentina and other Latin American countries for consideration of the question of the Malvinas Islands at the current session of the General Assembly. Argentina's claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands should be respected by the international community. Together with other third-world countries, we sincerely hope that the parties concerned will seek a just and reason¬able solution to this question by peaceful negotiations. 94. I would now say a few words about the Korean question. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has made important contributions towards a reason¬able settlement of the Korean question and the maintenance of peace in East Asia and the Pacific region. The Chinese Government firmly supports the positive proposals put forward by the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea. We firmly support President Kim 11 Sung's proposal for establishing a democratic confederal republic of Koryo. We always hold that in order to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Korean question the "United Nations Command" must be dissolved immediately in accordance with resolution 3390 B (XXX) adopted at the thirtieth session of the General Assembly, all United States military forces must be withdrawn from South Korea, and the Korean Armistice Agreement should be replaced by a peace agreement through negotiations between the parties concerned. 95. Thirdly, I turn to the subject of the economy and development of the third-world countries. At present, many third-world countries are faced with deepening economic difficulties. Certain m or developed countries have tried to shift their own economic difficulties onto the third-world countries and have cut back their development assistance, thus further straining North-South economic relations. The developing countries have pressed for the launch¬ing of global negotiations with a view to improving North-South relations and establishing a new inter¬national economic order. The General Assembly has long since adopted a resolution pertaining to this question and the Group of 77 has also put forward a reasonable draft resolution. AH this has provided a constructive basis for launching global negotiations as soon as possible. The Inter¬national Meeting on Co-operation and Development, which held at Cancun in October 1981, gave expres¬sion to the common desire of the great majority of nations for the launching of global negotiations. At the meeting, Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang gave clear- cut support to the demand of the third world for the establishment of a new international economic order. Owing to obstruction by a major Power, no agreement on the launching of global negotiations has yet been reached. This state of affairs has caused deep disap¬pointment and resentment among developing coun¬tries and also among quite a few developed countries. 96. The international community faces the important task of improving North-South economic relations through global negotiations. The economies of all countries are closely interrelated. The developed countries cannot achieve economic growth without the rich resources, vast markets and economic prosperity of the developing countries. All countries, whether rich or poor, North or South, must abide by the principle of equality and mutual benefit if they are to carry out fruitful economic exchanges and co-oper¬ation. The existing unreasonable, unfair and outdated international economic order must be restructured. The developed countries' economic aid to the devel¬oping countries conforms to their own interest and is by no means charity. This has been recognized by more and more far-sighted people in the West. We hope that at the current session the Assembly will surmount obstacles and make real progress towards the launching of global negotiations. 97. While striving to improve North-South relations, the third-world countries also exert great efforts to promote "South-South" co-operation among them¬selves. The developing countries have industrious people, rich natural resources and a vast market. they share the common objective of developing their national economies. There are unlimited potentials for developing inner-third-world co-operation. This will be highly beneficial. This kind of co-operation is an important means for the developing countries to strengthen their self-reliance both individually and collectively. It also has the vital strategic role of help¬ing to break down the existing inequitable international economic relationship and replace it with a new inter¬national economic order. 98. The restructuring of the old international economic order is a demand of the times which the third-world countries are bound to raise after they have won political independence. Political independence cannot be consolidated or sustained without economic independence. Regardless of all the obstructions from imperialism and hegemonism, the third-world countries will persist in the just struggle to restructure the old international economic order until final victory. 99. The emergence of the third world in the inter¬national arena after the Second World War is an event of primary importance of our time. In recent years the numerous countries of the third world, united in a common struggle, have effectively defended their national independence and State sovereignty and made major contributions towards restructuring the old international economic order as well as maintaining international peace and security. Their joint struggle has, to a great extent, changed the situation in which the super-Powers could arbitrarily manipulate the destiny of the world. Events show that unity means strength. We are convinced that so long as we third-world countries can seek a reasonable settlement of our own differences and disputes through peaceful consultations in a spirit of mutual understanding and accommodation and of seeking common ground while reserving the differences, and so long as we can close our ranks and work for our common cause, we will be better able to control our own destiny and promote the progress of world history. As a member of the third world, China will continue to play its part by further expanding its friendly co-operation with other third-world countries and peoples. 100. Faced with increasing troubles and turmoil on the world scene, one is entitled to expect that the United Nations will uphold justice and play a greater role in maintaining world peace and inter¬national security and in promoting the growth of the world economy. However, events over a period of time indicate that the role of the United Nations has been eroding. This is chiefly because certain countries have abused their veto power, bypassed the United Nations on a number of issues or refused to implement its resolutions. 101. In his report on the work of the Organization, the Secretary-General has pointed to the problems and difficulties confronting the United Nations and has made some suggestions to uphold the principles of the Charter which merit our consideration. We appreciate and support the efforts of the Secretary- General and also hope that certain permanent members of the Security Council will show a more co-operative approach. We believe that, provided the over¬whelming majority of the Member States make com¬mon efforts to uphold the Charter and wage a resolute struggle against any force that jeopardizes world peace and international security, the Organization will not disappoint the people of the world, but will perform its noble duty of maintaining world peace and pro¬moting human progress, thereby fulfilling the historic mission entrusted to it.