On behalf of the Byelorussian delegation, allow me to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your unanimous election to the high office of President of the sixteenth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
68. The session assembles against the background of an extremely acute struggle between the forces of peace and the forces of war. For that very reason, the responsibility of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace and for the future of all peoples has greatly increased. The peoples of the whole world expect us to take resolute action in favour of peace. The representatives of nearly a hundred States who are attending the present session must utilize every opportunity for the successful solution of a number of highly important problems included in the agenda of the present session and, above all; the problems of disarmament and the final liquidation of colonialism.
69. The representatives of Cambodia, Ghana, Ceylon, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries, who have spoken before me, have rightly pointed out that events have recently occurred in the world which have led to a considerable increase in international tension. In fact, we have been witnessing how, over recent months and in a number of areas of the world such as Algeria, Tunisia, Angola, the Congo, West Berlin, Laos and Cuba, the forces of aggression have again become active and, by creating fresh conflicts, are seeking to involve mankind in a maelstrom of unprecedented calamities. These forces stop at nothing in order to maintain their domination in these and other areas of the world. They resort to the use of armed force, regardless of the fact that in our day local armed conflicts can develop into a major nuclear conflagration.
70. It is impossible to forget that all the misfortunes and disasters experienced by many countries during the last century have been due to the fact that the imperialists, which have an interest in fomenting conflicts and wars of conquest, have systematically poisoned the minds of people and inculcated in them a spirit of militarism, chauvinism Lad racial hatred towards other peoples. The Byelorussian people well know what the result of all this was and how dearly the peoples had to pay for the failure to arrest in time the spread of the fascist infection which brought endless calamities and untold suffering to millions of men and women.
71. Grass had still not had time to grow on the graves of those who fell on the battlefields of World War II nor had the wounds yet healed in the hearts of mothers, before the same forces of imperialism began serious preparations for a new war on the even vaster scale of the atomic age. In our day the question of war or peaceful coexistence has become the root problem of world politics. There are only two alternatives- peaceful coexistence or war.
72. All the more reason then for criticizing the statement made from this rostrum by Lord Home, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom:
"I regard the doctrine of coexistence as the most sterile and negative conception of international life in the twentieth century." [A/PV.1017, para. 75.]
73. Of course, to some extent one can understand the United Kingdom Secretary of State. Obviously, there are some people in the United Kingdom who are nostalgic for the doctrine of imperialism and colonialist piracy, the doctrine of the nineteenth century when a large part of the map of the world was painted in the colours of the British colonial empire. Lord Home would like to see this doctrine holding a dominant position in the second half of the twentieth century also, but this does not rest with him at all.
74. There can scarcely be anyone among those present in this hall who has any doubts about what the peoples are trying to achieve in the critical period of world history through which we are now passing. There is only one reply to this question—the peoples want peace; they are fighting for peace. They are calling for an end to the "cold war" and for a start to be made towards peaceful coexistence and co-operation with all countries* whatever their social and governmental structure.
75. The peaceful foreign policy of the Soviet Union, as defined from this rostrum in the brilliant and important statement by Mr. Gromyko, the Chairman of the Soviet delegation, on 25 September [A/PV.1016] is fully consonant with these desires and yearnings of all the peoples. In the draft programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union a clear and precise answer is given to the question of how to resolve the most burning problem of today—the problem of preventing a new world war and of consolidating lasting peace on earth. The Soviet Union's suggestion to the United States and other States is to compete not in the armaments race but in raising the living standards of the peoples, in the construction, not of military bases and missile-launching pads, but of houses and schools, in the expansion not of the "cold war" but of mutually profitable trade and cultural exchanges.
76. Peace and mutual understanding among peoples is today, more than ever before an essential condition of life on earth. Only in an atmosphere of peace, and on the basis of the principle of peaceful coexistence, can there be a solution of all the controversial international problems which confront us; only in an atmosphere of peace and mutual comprehension can an end be put to the "cold war".
77. Most of those who have spoken before, at the fifteenth session of the General Assembly and at the
present sixteenth session, have emphasized that disarmament is the problem of problems, the most serious outstanding issue in world politics and the real foundation of peace. That is why we are happy to welcome today the Soviet-United States "Joint Statement of Agreed Principles for Disarmament Negotiations" [A/4879]. The importance and urgency of reaching agreement on disarmament is acknowledged by all States. The peoples are weary of the armaments race. It is precisely the desire of the peoples to be rid of it as soon as possible which must determine every step and every decision taken by the United Nations General Assembly at its present session.
78. Last year, at the Assembly's fifteenth session, we listened with deep attention to the historic statement by the Head of the Soviet Government Mr. N. S. Khrushchev [869th meeting], a statement imbued with an ardent desire to safeguard the most valuable thing on earth- lasting peace throughout the world. The programme of general and complete disarmament proposed by Mr. N. S. Khrushchev envisages the exclusion of the very possibility of the outbreak of war as a means of settling international disputes. General and complete disarmament is the only way to the establishment of really lasting peace between peoples.
79. Every sensible person must realize that, if the huge human and material resources now being diverted by the armaments race could be directed into peaceful, constructive labour, then humanity would obtain colossal additional resources for creating material abundance and promoting cultural progress. Whereas thirty years ago, the military expenditures of all
countries amounted to 4.2 thousand million dollars, at the present time some 120 thousand million dollars are being spent throughout the world on armaments. The gold equivalent of this sum would suffice to link the earth to the moon with a gold chain.
80. This year the armaments race throughout the world has continued at an even faster rate. The Western Powers, members of the aggressive military NATO bloc, are increasing their military appropriations, accumulating armaments and stockpiling missiles and nuclear weapons. According to Press reports, in the period from 1949 to 1960, the military expenditure of the countries members of the NATO bloc amounted to 560 thousand million dollars, which is more than the military outlay of all the belligerent countries of Western Europe during the Second World War.
81. It is well known that only an insignificant group of monopolists and arms dealers are interested in the armaments race. Dr. Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize winner and well-known scientist, has calculated, on the basis of figures published in 1961 by The Wall Street Journal, that the "cold war" brings United States industrialists annual profits amounting to 5,000 million dollars and so they are interested in maintaining tension all over the world. At the present time, the monopolies are demanding more and more appropriations for the armaments race. They are pressing for direct military expenditure to be increased during the next four years from 50 to 70 thousand million dollars per year. According to the United States Press, the armaments race is costing Americans 150 million dollars a day. As a natural consequence, the taxes levied on the population are constantly rising.
82. These facts clearly indicate how the American way of life is being militarized. Many prominent military and political leaders in the United States have grown so accustomed to the psychology of the armaments race that they find it hard to conceive of anything that conflicts with this process. In this connexion, the following fact is worthy of note. The day after the publication of the Joint Statement of Agreed Principles for Disarmament Negotiations and the statement made by Mr. Kennedy, the President of the United States, at a plenary meeting of the General Assembly on 25 September [1013th meeting], The New York Times reported that the prices of shards on the New York Stock Exchange had suffered the biggest drop since September 1960 when Mr. N. S. Khrushchev put forward the Soviet proposals on disarmament in the United Nations. As the paper pointed out, the shares which showed specially heavy losses were those of armaments firms. The Boeing Company shares fell by almost three points. Big losses were sustained also by other arms-manufacturing concerns. This fact makes it very plain which forces in the United States are interested in the armaments race.
83. The Byelorussian delegation agrees with the statement of the United States President, Mr. Kennedy, that "the weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us" [1013th meeting, para. 80). The important thing at this moment is indeed to avert thermonuclear war. At the same time, after studying the new disarmament programme of the United States entitled "Programme for General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World" [A/4891], which appeared after the President's statement, we cannot but emphasize that we expected more concrete and constructive proposals from the United States. In the first place, the United States programme is indefinite as regards time. It would alloy/ the solution of the problem of disarmament to drag on for many decades. We could go on talking about it until the end of this century, Considering that the disarmament talks over the past fifteen years have so far yielded no positive results, we believe that specific time-limits must be laid down for the realization both of the disarmament programme as a whole and of its separate stages.
84. The United States proposal to control not only the reductions being made but also the residual levels of the armed forces of states means, in practice, comprehensive control during a period of partial disarmament, that is, comprehensive control of armaments without disarmament. The experience of disarmament discussions over the past fifteen years shows us all quite clearly what the root of the divergences on the question of international control is. Agreement in word, and refusal in deed, to take any effective measures of disarmament and the substitution for such measures of various "control" schemes—that is the main defect of the Western Powers' position as set out both in the Baruch Plan and in the plan submitted by the United States at the present session. It is this defect in the position of the Western Powers, headed by the United States, which has landed the disarmament problem in a complete impasse. Naturally, those who favour the idea of using control for espionage purposes are interested in this kind of procedure. They are even prepared to "find arguments" for their attitude. Lord Home referred to a hypothetical case involving 500 aeroplanes, but the artificiality of this example was very clearly revealed by Mr. Bandanaraike, the representative of Ceylon. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR considers that the scope of control should correspond to the scope of disarmament. Only if this condition is fulfilled can we ensure that control is not converted into the best agent of the intelligence services of the Western States.
85. The Soviet Union's position on this matter wits set forth with exceptional clarity on 9 October 1960 by Mr. Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, as follows:
"The Soviet Union is ready to conclude a treaty on disarmament and the destruction of weapons and on control over such destruction of weapons and over disarmament. The system of control we will leave to the United States. We will accept anything the United States proposes because we are in favour of real control. It is in our mutual interest."
86. If the Western Powers were genuinely interested in the effective control of disarmament, and if they did not try to use this problem merely in order to create artificial barriers, then the way to disarmament under, effective control would be open.
87. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR fully supports the Soviet programme for general and complete disarmament which is before the General Assembly [A/4892]. We also invite support for the USSR proposal concerning measures to ease-international tension. There can be no doubt that the freezing of military budgets, the renunciation of the use of nuclear weapons, the prohibition of war propaganda, the conclusion of a non-aggression pact between the NATO countries and the Warsaw Treaty countries, the withdrawal of troops from foreign territory, measures to prevent the further spread of nuclear weapons and steps to decrease the danger of surprise attack would contribute considerably to a healthier international atmosphere even be- for a programme of general and complete disarmament was carried into effect.
88. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR considers that the task of the present session is to work out a detailed and realistic basis for subsequent constructive discussions on disarmament. We consider that the session must settle the problem of the composition of the body to conduct the negotiations. There is no justification for the United States policy of preventing the non-aligned States from participating in the disarmament negotiations oh an equal footing.
89. Mr. Jawad, the representative of Iraq, who has just spoken, remarked quite rightly that the Soviet proposal for the participation of non-aligned States in disarmament negotiations is completely in conformity with the present conditions in the world. We agree with Mr. Jawad's view that the efforts of non-aligned countries can do much to help achieve agreement on disarmament,
90. Peace and disarmament are problems that disturb all the peoples and the present session must take up a firm and clear-cut stand in favour of peace.
91. Several of the previous speakers representing Western countries have elaborated on the "dangerous consequences"—to use their own expression—"for humanity" of the forced renewal by the Soviet Union of nuclear weapons tests. Lord Home said that the Soviet explosions took "many months to prepare". But it. takes incomparably longer to prepare for the underground explosions now being made by the United States. It is common knowledge that the United States did not suspend preparations for tests for a single day; it was merely looking for a convenient, pretext to carry them out. It has not even dissembled the fact that it is preparing underground nuclear testing sites. According to a report in The New York Times of 1 September 1961, a thousand million dollars have been "spent on creating a network of installations in the Western United States for conducting nuclear tests.
92. Naturally, the Soviet Union could not sit idly by and watch while, in the West, underground installations are being hurriedly built for carrying out tests on new types of nuclear weapons. Lord Home said not a single word about that, yet now he is posing as the "guardian angel of peace".
93. It most be bluntly stated that the Western Powers themselves obliged the Soviet Union to resume tests. The continued testing of nuclear weapons by a NATO member, France; the feverish military preparations made by the West in recent months; the refusal of the United States and its allies to discuss disarmament in a business-like manner—all this has created a situation dangerous to peace. It has become clear that war against the Soviet Union and the other socialist States is being seriously contemplated in the West. The reactions received from every corner of the globe show that the whole of progressive mankind supports the measures taken by the Soviet Union to strengthen its defence potential. Ordinary men and women all over the world understand the forced character of these counter-measures by .the Soviet Government designed to prevent a new war. It is the duty of the United Nations, which-is the body primarily responsible to mankind for maintaining peace on earth, to achieve general and complete disarmament; then the problem of nuclear weapons tests would cease to exist. If there were no weapons, there would be no war between
states..
94. The menace to the cause of peace created by developments in West Germany and West Berlin becomes more and more alarming. At previous sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, the delegation of the Byelorussian SSR has more than once drawn the attention of other delegations to the fact that we cannot remain indifferent to what is going on in West Germany. The Byelorussian Delegation has cited facts which showed graphically that the path being followed by West Germany is a path leading to a new war, We drew the attention of the General Assembly to these alarming facts, not only because we cannot forget the fearful losses and destruction which Nazi Germany inflicted on the Byelorussian nation, but also because we are no less concerned about future generations all over the world.
95. The Byelorussian people are deeply interested in the Creation of normal conditions in Europe and in a prompt settlement of the problems which engender tension in mutual relations between States. This particularly applies to the problem of a peace settlement with Germany, inasmuch as a lessening of international tension largely depends on its solution and the existing situation in Central Europe is fraught with serious dangers for the cause of peace.
96. That is why the Byelorussian SSR, like a number of other peace-loving countries, considers a peace settlement with Germany and a solution of the problem of West Berlin on this basis is a pressing international problem. A situation cannot be tolerated in which more than fifteen years after the end of the Second World War, no peace treaty has yet been concluded with Germany.
97. The international reactionary forces, led by the United States monopolies, have backed the revival of West German militarism. West German irredentists are cynically proclaiming their aggressive aims and
' making feverish preparations for war against the socialist States. In a radio and television address to the Soviet people on 7 August last, Mr. Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev made a profound and frank analysis of the events connected with the so-called "Berlin crisis" and pointed out with very justification that as a .result of the activities of the Western Powers, more inflammable material had accumulated in the centre of Europe than in any other part of the world ' and that situation created a new threat that might give rise to a world war.
98. The Byelorussian people, who suffered heavy losses in World War II, cannot look on indifferently while the aggressive circles of the Western Powers, headed by the United states, mobilize, with the help of Chancellor Adenauer, all the material resources and the whole propaganda machine of West Germany for the preparation of a third world war. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is stubbornly continuing to pursue a policy of conducting acts of anti- Soviet provocation and of exacerbating international tension and is following a course which constitutes a blatant threat to peace. The aggressive foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany, the militarization of that country, the intensification of its irredentist and fascist tendencies threaten the cause of peace in Europe and throughout the world. In .January i960, according to a Press and Information bulletin issued by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Adenauer himself made the following statement during an audience with the Pope in the Vatican:
"I believe that in these stormy times God has invested the German people with a special mission— to protect the West against the powerful influences which bear upon us from the East."
99. The ruling circles of West Germany have now taken the load that was followed by German Nazism. Using, as German Nazism once did, the support of Western imperialist forces and having been permitted to rearm Western Germany, they have introduced universal military service, are expanding armaments production, more than 500 West German firms being already engaged in producing armaments, are forming a new aggressive "Wehrmacht" commanded by Nazi generals, are building up an army of half a million with tank and air formations and Equipping it with the most up-to-date weapons, including nuclear and ballistic weapon^.
100. The war preparation policy is clearly reflected in the military expenditure of the Federal Republic of Germany. Huge amounts have already been invested in creating a war machine for the "Bundeswehr." Between 1955 and 1960, the Adenauer Government spent more than 100 thousand million marks on armaments, i.e., more than Hitler spent on preparations for World War II. According to official sources, the military budget of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1962 will amount to 13.5 thousand million marks, which includes appropriations of 500 million marks for nuclear research for military purposes. Militarism and irredentism have become the official policy of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. No wonder, therefore, that the most unbridled irredentist propaganda is flourishing in West Germany.
101. An immense role in the militarization of West Germany has been, and is still being, played by the Government of the United States which, as we all know, is supporting the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and its programme for an anti-communist crusade. According to reports in the United States Press, aid to West Germany from the United States and other Western countries amounted to some 8 thousand million dollars between 1945 and 1960. These facts go to show that the same thing is happening after World War II as happened in the period between World Wars I and n, when United States capital to the tune of thousands of millions of dollars helped to rebuild the war machine of Nazi Germany.
102. In this connexion, I should like to draw the attention of the delegations of France and the United Kingdom to the fact that their Governments are nourishing with their own hands a most dangerous beast—German Militarism in the naive belief that it will turn its weapons only on the East. We well remember how the men of Munich cheered as they watched Hitler arming to the teeth. But how did it end? As we all know, the blows of Hitler's war machine fell on the) countries of Western Europe and, first and foremost, on those countries where the appeasers of the demented Fuhrer were especially numerous. Mankind paid far too dearly for the Munich, betrayal.
103. A particularly abnormal situation has arisen in West Berlin which has, in fact, developed into a major centre of intelligence and espionage activities directed against the German Democratic Republic, the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. It will be clear to everyone that the role of "front-line city" which has been allotted to West Berlin by NATO strategists is a source of serious tension in the heart of Europe and may lead to an explosion. The situation in West Berlin is further aggravated by the fact that, with the agreement] of its NATO allies, the Government of the Federal
Republic of Germany engages in acts of deliberate provocation. All this can be described only as reckless playing with fire. Little wonder that people sometimes say that West Berlin may become another Sarajevo.
104. There is, however, a way out of the dangerous blind alley into which the world is being impelled by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and its protectors—the aggressive circles of the Western Powers. The Soviet Government suggests the conclusion of a peace treaty between all the States which took part in the defeat of Nazi Germany, on the one hand, and the two German States, the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany, on the other. And yet the United States, the United Kingdom and France reject these sensible proposals without at the same time offering any suggestions of their own for a peace settlement with Germany,
105. The United States Government, moreover, envisages, as we can see from a perusal of the United States Press, maintaining the occupation of West Berlin by foreign troops until the year 2000. They react to the Soviet Union's peace proposal with a new outburst of war hysteria and sabre-rattling. One feels like telling some of these rather hot headed people not to forget the instructive lessons of the not so distant past, to remember the well-merited and inglorious fate of those who in 1941 dared to raise the sword against the Soviet Union. Besides, it is no longer 1941; it is 1961- a year that has seen the launching of Soviet space ships and rockets, a year of great achievements by the Soviet people. We recall the wise advice given by Voltaire: "Cultivate your own garden". We are trying to do this properly but we are not closing our eyes to what is going on the other side of the garden fence. That is why, though we wield the spade, we keep the sword lying beside it. That is the safest way.
106. Only a peace treaty will be able to prevent the dangerous expansion of German militarism and irredentism. The conclusion of a peace treaty would facilitate normalization of the situation in West Berlin and in this way liquidate a dangerous source of military conflict.
107. The Byelorussian people, steeled in battles for the independence of its socialist homeland and in unselfish oil to promote its prosperity, unanimously declares its full support for the foreign policy of the Soviet Government, entirely and completely endorses the measures aimed at ensuring the security of the socialist community of peoples. The Byelorussian people passionately desires peace. It is for that very reason that we resolutely oppose the policy of the remilitarization of Western Germany and warmly support the policy of the Government of the German Democratic Republic for the Settlement of the German problem on a peaceful, democratic basis.
108. 'We are living in remarkable times in which we are witnessing countries and peoples being emancipated at headlong speed from the colonial yoke. In the sixteen years since the war ended more than forty new States with a population of about 1,500 million people, half of the world's population, have come into being and are thriving. In 1960 alone fifteen African States attained their independence.
109. Last year, at its fifteenth session, the General Assembly, on the initiative of the Soviet Union, adopted a resolution [1415 (XV)] containing a "Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples", which solemnly proclaimed "the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end to colonialism in all its forms and manifestations".
110. Naturally, the question has arisen as to how this Declaration is being implemented and what are the obstacles and difficulties to be overcome by the colonial peoples. Facts show that the colonialists are not in the least inclined to "make a gift of freedom" to colonial and dependent countries and peoples. France's seven- year war against the freedom-loving people of Algeria; the bloody retribution meted out by Portugal to the local inhabitants of Angola; the tragic events in South West Africa; the intervention of the colonialists in the infernal affairs of the Congo; the United States aggression against Cuba; the intervention of the SEATO countries in the internal affairs of Laos; the aggression by France against Tunisia—all go to show that the colonialists are trying in every way and by every means to maintain their colonial domination. They openly announce that they will not comply with the requirements of the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples and they are sending armed forces to throttle the national liberation movement of the peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
111. Eighty-eight territories with a population of over 71 million are still today under direct colonial subjugation. Despotism and illegality prevail in these territories where the indigenous population suffer the oppression of foreigners, who rapaciously exploit them, trample on their vital interests and treat the honour and dignity of the local residents and of man in general with contempt.
112. In his statement from this rostrum Lord Home, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, said that the 660 million people who used to live in British colonies are now, in accordance with their wishes, living in independent territories. He spoke here of the "civilizing mission" discharged by the United Kingdom in colonies and dependent countries and claimed that the United Kingdom had made a "great" contribution to the prosperity and culture of these peoples and bad voluntarily liberated them. Lord Home, however, said nothing about the decisive part played by the colonial peoples' struggle in the achievement of their independence.
113. Everyone now knows very well that the granting of independence to colonial countries was anything but a gift from the colonialists but was the result of the struggle for national liberation waged over long years by the colonial peoples, who paid for their independence with the blood of millions of their best sons.
114. Lord Home said here that only 5 per cent of the population are still under the colonial administration of the United Kingdom but said not a word about the fact that, in spite of the demand made in the Declaration for a speedy end to colonialism, the British colonial authorities are continuing to kill those who fight for the independence of Northern Rhodesia, are carrying out large-scale repressive measures against patriots in Kenya and bombarding the peaceful population of East Aden. Nor did Lord Home mention the fact that for six years past the United Kingdom has been waging a colonial war against the people of Oman and that there is no sign of an end to this war. Those are the actual methods by which the United Kingdom is "preparing" the thirty-five million Africans living in its colonial territories for independence.
115. The Soviet Government's explanatory memorandum on the implementation of the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples [A/4859] states quite correctly that the colonialists are making a mockery of the Declaration. Today there are no peoples who are not ready for freedom but there are peoples who are still befog forcibly deprived of freedom, and they must receive it. The colonial peoples do not want to remain enslaved until 1970, as some delegations suggest. The peoples of Algeria, Angola, Oman and other colonies are convincingly demonstrating this fact by the heroic struggle they are waging against the colonial yoke.
116. The Byelorussian delegation appeals to all Members of the United Nations to help the colonial peoples achieve the fulfilment of their age-old aspirations not later than 1962. We consider that the General Assembly would be acting correctly if it decided forthwith to adopt sanctions against Portugal, which is refusing to comply with United Nations demands to stop the war against the people of Angola. The Portuguese Government is following a policy of exterminating the indigenous population of Angola. It is a well-known fact that, two centuries ago, the population of Angola was some six million, where as today it is not more than four million. United States correspondents in Angola reckon that, in recent times, five hundred thousand people have been killed and more than a hundred thousand refugees have fled to the Congo and other African countries.
117. One of the most important questions that have frequently been discussed at previous sessions of the Genera Assembly is the Algerian problem. The General Assembly, voicing the will of the overwhelming majority of delegations, has in the resolutions adopted, supported the inalienable right of the Algerian people to independence on terms involving observance of the unity and territorial integrity of Algeria.
118. The French Government, in defiance of world public opinion, is flagrantly violating the principles of the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples and is continuing to wage a colonial war in Algeria. It is clear that Algeria would long since have attained independence if France had not received financial and military aid from the countries forming the aggressive NATO bloc. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany alone has granted France "aid" to the extent of two thousand million marks and most of this amount has gone to finance the colonial war against the Algerian people. In order to maintain the colonial regime in Algeria, an army of half a million Frenchmen is fighting in that country and is killing an average of three thousand Algerians every month. All these facts are convincing evidence of the colonialist character of the war in Algeria.
119. Nevertheless, the days of colonialism are numbered and its final fall is merely a matter of time. Algeria will be free and independent. The Byelorussian people unanimously demand an immediate cessation of France's colonial war against the Algerian people and the granting, to that people of an opportunity to exercise their right to independence, and to the creation of their own national state in conditions iii which the territorial integrity of the country and the unity of the people would be maintained.
120. The requirements of the Declaration are also being violated by the Government of Belgium which does not stop at any crime in order to maintain its domination in the Congo. A year has elapsed since the Republic of the Congo was formed, a year of grievous trials for the Congolese people, a year of stubborn and bloody fighting for the right to be free, the right to decide its own future. The great African patriot, Patrice Lumumba, fell in this struggle but the Congolese people's fight for its independence still goes on.
121. We are! now obliged to point out that the situation in Katanga province has become dangerous and absolutely intolerable. The whole world is witnessing an international conspiracy of the colonialists who are resolved to keep the Congo, particularly Katanga province, which is noted for its enormous natural wealth, in colonialist bondage and do not shrink from any crime, however monstrous. An exceptionally despicable role in this matter is being played by the Belgian colonialists who enjoy every possible assistance from their NATO allies—the United Kingdom, France and Portugal. Things have even reached absurd point where, with NATO help, "United Nations troops" in Katanga are being beaten up and taken prisoner. It is no secret that the jet plane which, according to newspaper reports, contributed to the defeat of the "United Nations troops" in Katanga, and also other types of modern weapons, were supplied by France to Belgium and were dispatched from Belgium for Tshombe's use. In order to protect the Congolese people from further crimes, all forms of colonialist intervention in the affairs of the Republic of the Congo must be brought to an end.
122. We support the proposal of the Soviet Government [A/L.355J that the General Assembly should declare 1962 the year for the final liquidation of colonialism throughout the world. We demand the immediate implementation by all States administering Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories of the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples.
123. At the present moment, the most important and pressing task of the United Nations in regard to the struggle against colonialism is to work out, and carry into effect, concrete and urgent measures for the implementation of the Declaration that has been adopted. The liquidation of colonialism would be an important contribution to ensuring peace and security throughout the world and one of the most important ways of easing international tension.
124. The United Nations will be able to deal with the crucial problems that call for solution only if the principle of its universality is respected. So long as the People's Republic of China, which represents a quarter of the world's population, does not occupy its lawful seat in the United Nations .there can be no question of the universality of the Organization.
125. United States policy which, for twenty years past, has prevented the People's Republic of China from taking its lawful seat in the United Nations runs counter to world public opinion and to the interests of the United Nations itself . If the United Nations is unwilling to take account of the historic changes that have occurred in the world, if it denies the right of peoples—in this case the great Chinese people—to build their life in accordance with their own desires and wishes, that does not mean that the United Nations must follow this short-sighted policy of the United States which is inconsistent with the Charter.
126. United States ruling circles cannot get away from the idea that their country is vested with the mission of "world leadership"! That is a dangerous policy. It is reflected in the unceremonious way in which the United States interferes in the affairs, of the People's
Republic of China. We pay tribute to the patience commonsense and good will shown by the Government of the People's Republic of China in the face of the ceaseless acts of provocation committed by the United States. For instance, during this year alone, United
States military aircraft and naval vessels have violated the air and sea frontiers of the People's Republic of China on 173 occasions.
127. The Government of the People's Republic of China quite legitimately demands that the United States should stop interfering in the internal affairs of China and should withdraw its fleet from the Taiwan Strait, and that the United States soldiers should leave the island of Taiwan and go back home—to the United States. But the ruling circles of the United States go on trying to isolate the People's Republic of China, although every day brings new evidence of the futility of such efforts. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR considers that the question of restoring the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations must be given a positive solution at the present session of the General Assembly. The representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China must occupy their lawful seat in the Security Council and the other organs of the United Nations and the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek must be expelled.
128. With your permission, Mr. President, I would also like to touch briefly on the reorganization of the United Nations Secretariat. Representatives of a number of countries who have spoken before me have, in referring to the death of Mr. Dag Hammarskjold, tried to dramatize the situation and represent the state of affairs that has arisen as a "United Nations crisis". Moreover, the views expressed by many United States newspapers are biased and distort the meaning of the Soviet Union's proposals on this subject. For instance, The New York Times of 1 October 1961 wrote in a leading article that the key to the struggle over the Soviet Proposals lay in Russia's demand for the replacement of the late Secretary-General by a committee in which each member would have a veto. We consider that such statements, whether in the Press or inside the United Nations are deliberately inspired and have a very specific purpose. That purpose is to distort the real attitude of the socialist States and to whitewash those countries that are now trying in every way possible to maintain the situation that has hitherto prevailed in which the executive authority of the United Nations protects the selfish interests of one group of Western Powers and not the general interests of the whole Organization—the interests of maintaining peace and developing international collaboration.
129. The position of principle taken by the Soviet Union regarding the radical reorganization of the structure and Secretariat of the United Nations is well known. I shall not enlarge upon it here. But we now have before us the question of the temporary direction of the Secretariat for a short period of time. What is the real substance of the Soviet proposals for the temporary direction of the Secretariat ? The Security Council would offer the post of head of the United Nations Secretariat to an agreed candidate and both the Security Council and the General Assembly would call upon the person so appointed and his deputies to act in agreement, i.e., to collaborate with one another1 and try to take agreed decisions. That does not mean that the deputies would have a right to veto. No one is suggesting that.
130. In an effort to distort' the Soviet proposals, some people are saying that they are inconsistent with the United Nations Charter and are designed to undermine the Organization. That is a complete fabrication, A situation in which the Secretary-General personally decides all questions relating to the work of the Secretariat leads, as experience shows, to a unilateral orientation of the Secretariat. As is well known, the United Nations Charter calls for every possible strengthening of co-operation among States. Then surely, if it is possible to secure co-operation among States, similar co-operation can be secured among the officials directing the Secretariat. Such an organization of the work of the Secretariat would only serve to strengthen the Secretariat.
131. Nothing could be further from the truth than the malicious assertions that the socialist countries want to "paralyse the United Nations" and are trying to bring about a "chronic state of crisis". Actually, the so-called "crisis of the United Nations" lies in the fact that the United States, the United Kingdom and the other Western countries want to lord it in the United Nations, as if it was their fief. Lord Home said in his statement that the United Nations would be a shadow of itself as long as the world is split up into different political systems. That assertion reveals the real aims of the Western Powers: not to strengthen cooperation within the framework of the United Nations but to use the United Nations to undermine the world system of socialism. That is a dangerous policy. And it provides further confirmation of the correctness of the demand that the United Nations should reflect the real picture of the world today.
132. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR considers that the Soviet proposals meet the requirement of strengthening the United Nations and we resolutely support them.
133. History has faced the United Nations with a number of virtually important problems. In the framework of the United Nations it is possible to adopt serious and responsible decisions, designed to strengthen the peace and security of nations if, of course, all countries will try to reach agreement and if there is strict compliance with the United Nations Charter. The United Nations must try to see that the concept of force is eliminated once and for all in relations among States and that the concept of peaceful collaboration, based on confidence and mutual understanding among States, triumphs. The United Nations must help to solve outstanding international problems through negotiations and agreements between the States concerned. The peoples of the whole world expect the United Nations to take effective, constructive action to avert another world war and to strengthen peace and security throughout the world. Whether the United Nations will prove capable of solving these problems will depend On its ability to listen to the voice of reason of all peace-loving States. The duty of the Governments of all countries is to heed the demand of the peoples—to eliminate the threat 6f a new thermo-nuclear war and to promote the achievement of agreement on general and complete disarmament.