1. Mr. President, I should like to associate myself with the previous speakers at this rostrum in congratulating you, on behalf of the Government of Mall, on your election as President of the twentieth session of the General Assembly. I am all the more happy to discharge this pleasant duty since our two Governments maintain friendly relations within the Rome Treaty Organization, whose commendable, if as yet inadequate, activities in favour of the developing countries show that the industrialized and the developing countries can engage in useful co-operation based on solidarity and respect for each other's sovereignty.
2. I am convinced, Mr. President, that with your high qualities as an experienced statesman and diplomat you will direct our work ably, firmly and fairly, in the interest of the United Nations and the international community as a whole.
3. I should also like to offer the congratulations and thanks of Mali to your predecessor, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ghana, my close friend Mr. Quatson-Sackey, who had the unenviable privilege of presiding over one of the most difficult sessions of the Assembly, but who, because of his great qualities and the enormous confidence which he has always placed in the United Nations and in its unique responsibilities, was able to stand up to the defeatism of some and the will to destruction and the power complex of others, perils which beset the Organization during the last session. Our thanks also go to Secretary-General U Thant and to all those whose untiring efforts have made it possible to find a reasonable way out of the deliberately created difficulties which paralysed the work of the nineteenth session of the General Assembly.
4. The delegation of Mali is happy to note that common sense and our mutual will to continue to work together towards the realization of the lofty ideals of the Charter have enabled all parties to overcome their passions, national chauvinism and considerations of pride, so that the United Nations might continue to exist in the best interests of all mankind. We are convinced that this crisis and its consequences have demonstrated clearly enough not only that the United Nations survives, but also that its authority must he strengthened so that it can be more effective. We hope that each State has learned some useful lessons and that those States whose attitude and demands precipitated the crisis are now convinced that if it is not to be destroyed, the United Nations can no longer be used as the docile tool of any policy of domination.
5. We realize that the balance of forces within the Organization, resulting from the arrival of many newly independent nations, is not to everyone's liking. Certain great Powers, if not the majority of the founding Members of the United Nations, are tempted — either because of a "veteran's complex", or because they bear the financial burden of the Organization because of their responsibilities as highly developed countries or their claims to world leadership — to question the principle, which we hold to be fundamental, of the sovereign equality of States, which stipulates "one country, one vote". Everything leads us to believe that the new balance of forces, which some may find bothersome, will gather stability in the higher interest of the United Nations, which does not have the right to disappoint the aspirations of peoples, Nothing can alter that; subtle or not so subtle manoeuvres will avail as little as attempts to establish de facto directories, whose ambition it is to run the United Nations in defiance of the General Assembly and of the majority of members of the Security Council.
6. Just as the nineteenth session of the Assembly was marked by a general feeling of frustration, so the present session opened in an atmosphere of uncertainty and tension. The former centres of tension or rather of war — for we must call a spade a spade - have regrettably become revitalized, while certain areas where a precarious stability had existed have suddenly become the theatre of bloody and fratricidal conflicts.
7. The war in Viet-Nam has the full attention of my delegation which, at previous sessions, had the opportunity of expressing the views of the Government of the Republic of Mali regarding that unfortunate and unpopular war of imperialist aggression, Imposed on the heroic people of Viet-Nam which for almost a quarter of a century has been fighting, weapon in hand, for its national independence and unity. The situation which we have denounced still exists and has grown worse. Some have spoken of the need to defend what is in fact a puppet "State" in an attempt to justify the massacre of the innocent people of Viet-Nam and the destruction of the industrial installations which that industrious people, emerging from the colonial night after a brutal war, built up at the cost of enormous sacrifice.
8. The people of Viet-Nam form an indivisible national entity. The 1954 Geneva Agreements, which ended hostilities in Indo-China, clearly stated that the situation established was transitional and that the Viet-Namese people should be allowed freely to determine its own future in all respects. The allegation of aggression by the North, which some have put forward as justification for the war being waged against the Viet-Namese people, convinces no one, because a people cannot be an aggressor against itself.
9. The Viet-Namese people is carrying on a just struggle for liberation which must inevitably result in a peaceful, unified, independent, democratic and prosperous Viet-Nam. The oldest nations of Europe, which by their colonial policies contributed to the division of other peoples, did not themselves escape this phenomenon of struggles for liberation, independence and unity. The war of liberation in Viet-Nam is as just a war as the American War of Independence, as just as the Algerian war, as just as the war which the Cuban people waged against the Batista dictatorship, as just as all the wars which a number of African countries are at this moment waging against the tyranny of the Portuguese military and as just as the war of the peoples of Western and Eastern Europe against Hitler, That is the truth, and in the words which Mark Twain gives to Satan speaking in a tribunal composed of the Creator and the Archangels; "Your Eminences, let us stop this little game of hide-and-seek and speak frankly."
10. Referring to the Viet-Namese conflict, Secretary-General U Thant states in the introduction to his annual report:
"I remain as fully convinced as ever that total victory or total defeat for one side or the other is out of the question and that military action cannot bring peace and restore stability to the area." [A/6001/Add.1, sect. XII.]
Later in the report, the Secretary-General states;
"The conflict engages not only the lives of the soldiers and civilians who are caught up in the present fighting. It threatens also to affect the peace of the world and the fate of all mankind. It must be stopped." [Ibid.]
11. The delegation of Mali shares the Secretary-General's opinion. The continuation of the foreign military intervention in Viet-Nam is an aberration. It is a macabre and highly dangerous game which can lead to a world catastrophe. In our opinion, the States Members of the United Nations must work not towards direct intervention by the Organization in settling the conflict, but towards vigorous and continued action for the strict application of the 1954 Geneva Agreements, as the first stage in the settlement of this conflict. To that end, the Government of Mali unreservedly supports the four-point plan which has been proposed by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and which has the full agreement of the National Liberation Front. This plan represents the wisest solution and also the least damaging to the dignity of the two parties to the conflict so long as we remain convinced that no military solution can be achieved. The whole history of mankind teaches us that there can be no military victory over a people which has risen up in arms to repel an outrageous attack on its soil, its independence and its sovereignty.
12. The recent armed conflict between two brother States, India and Pakistan, is one of the manifestations of the instability of the present international situation. We fully appreciate the cease-fire obtained through the efforts of the Secretary-General and the Security Council. Recent violations of that cease-fire show that further steps must be taken to settle this distressing conflict, in which members of the same families sometimes find themselves on opposite sides. We believe that the United Nations will need great courage and clarity of mind to resolve it. Here as elsewhere, strict compliance with the principles of the Charter and with United Nations resolutions will prevent us from engaging in a finicking diplomatic policy of short-lived compromise which side-steps real solutions and leaves latent hotbeds of tension that are bound to flare up again.
13. The Government of the Republic of Mali is more than ever convinced that the United Nations, despite all its efforts, will not be able to restore peace in Asia as long as it ignores the largest State in Asia, which is also the largest State in the world, with more than 600 million inhabitants. I am referring, of course, to the People's Republic of China. In the present circumstances, no one would dream of trying to settle any questions in the American continent without the participation of the United States or to settle European problems without the participation of the USSR, France, the United Kingdom or Germany. We believe that the time has come for the United Nations to cast off its illusions and to face up with realism to the actual situations which make up the world of today. All Member States are convinced that no lasting progress can be made in great international questions such as the maintenance of peace and disarmament, without the participation of the People's Republic of China. We must therefore take this fact into account and we must not lose sight of the interests and objectives of the United Nations, All the legitimate rights of the Government of the People's Republic of China must be restored to it without delay in the United Nations. Mali is convinced that the authority of the United Nations, already impaired by various crises, will not be reestablished as long as one-fourth of mankind is, by devious means, kept out of the Organization. It is because of this conviction that Mali and ten other States requested the inclusion in the agenda of the General Assembly of a separate item entitled "Restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations" (item 102) [see A/5971 and Add.1 and 2].
14. The opponents of the restoration of China's rights In the United Nations have hurled numerous charges against that country. For our part, we continue to believe that those charges are not only groundless, but are a provocative and diversionary manoeuvre contrary to the best interests of the United Nations and the international community. In this campaign of defamation against the People's Republic of China, some have even gone so far as to invent an alleged problem called the "Question of Tibet". The delegation of Mali will speak on this matter in due course, but I should like to say here and now that the question of Tibet is a non-existent problem. Tibet is an autonomous region of the great People's Republic of China. The Tibetans are citizens with the same rights as all other inhabitants of the People's Republic of China, and that is certainly not the case for certain citizens of certain countries which have requested or encouraged the inclusion in the agenda of the so-called question of Tibet [item 91], The delegations which requested the inclusion of this question [see A/5931] have clearly, in violation of Article 2 (7) of the Charter, been guilty of interference in the domestic affairs of the People's Republic of China. Consciously or unconsciously, they have been responsible for introducing elements of the cold war into this twentieth session of the General Assembly.
15. These delegations have spoken about alleged violations of human rights in Tibet. We deny these slanderous charges against the Government of the People's Republic of China, which has succeeded in carrying out a great national, democratic and popular revolution in that vast country. The Malian delegation also holds that it is neither proper nor in keeping with the interests and prestige of the United Nations to accuse one who is absent. Common sense and the higher interests of mankind require, on the contrary, that the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China, a founding Member of the United Nations, should be restored. That, in our view, is the only just and efficacious solution.
16. The delegations which have referred to supposed violations of human rights in Tibet know where human rights are really violated or disregarded. Nearly twenty years after the adoption by the General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Eights, the African people of South Africa are still subjected to the shameful system of apartheid by that country's white minority. The people of Angola, Mozambique and so-called Portuguese Guinea (Bissau) are still under the odious system of Portuguese colonialism, which is nothing but a subtle form of slavery, while the people of Southern Rhodesia are under the despotic rule of a white settler minority.
17. Vile accusations similar to those now being brought against China were also levelled, not long ago, against certain socialist countries of Eastern Europe, even within the specialized agencies of the United Nations. Only the vigorous stand taken by the African and Asian countries and progressive countries generally was able to frustrate these imperialist-inspired schemes of systematic denigration. The united action of peace-loving and progressive peoples has prevailed over these slanderous and diversionary manoeuvres. It is against the background of this victory by the anti-imperialist forces that we salute today the election as Chairman of the most important committee of the General Assembly of the representative of the Hungarian People's Republic, a country which was for a long time disdained and ostracized by the imperialist countries.
18. My country must also denounce the monstrous accusations regarding the supposed intentions of Mali and certain other African countries now being made in the paid Press and in imperialist circles that Specialize in slandering African and Asian nations. It has been asserted that certain African countries, including my own, have been serving as bases for the penetration of Chinese Influence into Africa, because, in the framework of Mali's foreign policy of non-alignment and its desire to co-operate with all countries of the world without discrimination, it maintains diplomatic relations and ties of friendly co-operation with the People's Republic of China, as do also, in fact, certain countries of the capitalist West. Mali co-operates with the People's Republic of China on the same terms as with all countries which respect its independence and national sovereignty and which propose to assist it in emerging from its state of under-development.
19. Everyone knows that my country, which had a glorious history in Africa at a time when countries which now play leading roles on the international scene were colonies, is jealous of its independence. Everyone knows what immense sacrifices Mali, a land-locked country, has made to defend its Sovereignty and dignity against the champions of neocolonialism and how resolutely and stubbornly it has resisted their attempts to fetter it with gilded chains. Everyone knows that in Mali the policy of non-alignment is no mere balancing act, but a living reality. Naturally, non-alignment is not to the taste of some who thirst for domination and hegemony. In Mali, we are not afraid to co-operate with the Chinese, whose technicians are deeply respectful of our people, show every sign of courtesy, discretion and dignity and have never attempted to interfere in our domestic affairs — something that cannot be said of many other foreign technical assistance experts.
20. Mali did not throw off the colonial yoke after twenty years of struggle by its great party, the Sudanese Union RDA (Rassemblement démocratique africain), under the courageous and clear-sighted leadership of President Modibo Keita, in order now to submit to humiliation at the hands of any country. Moreover, we do not believe that the Chinese, any more than the other socialist nations dream of ever possessing colonies. Their idea of a new life built on the ruins of feudalism and colonialism is contrary to any such ambition. We only wish that other countries which pride themselves on their freedom would bring themselves to treat us with the same regard and maintain the same co-operative relations with us on a basis of solidarity, equality and mutual respect. The country of Soundiata — for those who know their history — of Lamdo-Dioulbé, Biton Coulibaly, Dâ-Monzon, Babemba and Sékou Amadou is not for sale. Mali is a small, peaceful country, a poor country, to be sure, whose people have opted for the building of a new life. It is successfully carrying out its national, democratic and popular revolution. It has chosen socialism, and it intends to co-operate with all the countries of the world on a basis of mutual respect and sovereignty. Those countries which agree to co-operate on that basis are welcome in Mali, and they include the great People's Republic of China.
21. It is, once again, the intolerable superiority complex of certain Powers which leads them to accept co-operation between European and other industrial Powers and People's China, but which keeps them from having sufficient confidence in the African countries, which, they think, might surrender their sovereignty as a re suit of indoctrination or bribery. Mali, conscious of its sovereignty and its African and international responsibilities, does not accept this frequently uttered gross insult and, with all due respect, Mr. President, I must say that Mali has nothing but contempt for neocolonialist charges of this kind.
22. My Government believes that interference in the domestic affairs of States is at the root of most conflicts, present and potential, between States. It supports the USSR Government's draft declaration on the inadmissibility of intervention in the domestic affairs of States and on the protection of their independence and sovereignty [see A/5977].
23. The Government and people of the Republic of Mali believe that the most urgent task of the United Nations is the liquidation of colonialism and of apartheid. After the adoption of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (resolution 1514(XV)], the General Assembly established a Special Committee on the implementation of that Declaration. It also established a Special Committee on the policies of apartheid. These Committees have made praiseworthy efforts. Since their establishment they have met almost continuously. They have submitted resolutions and reports to the General Assembly and to the Security Council. But to our great indignation, the reactionary Governments of Portugal and South Africa have ignored all the resolutions, including those of the Security Council. The white settler government of Southern Rhodesia makes ill-timed threats of unilaterally proclaiming the Territory's independence. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Government, as administering Power in Southern Rhodesia, is content with warning the government of Mr. Ian Smith, threatening it merely with economic sanctions. There is every reason to believe that the accommodating attitude of the United Kingdom may encourage Ian Smith's racist government to proclaim Southern Rhodesia's independence unilaterally, once it is assured, as it virtually is, of the support of the Portuguese and South African Governments. While demonstrating a censurable readiness to accommodate Southern Rhodesia's white settlers, an attitude fraught with dangers for all of Africa, the United Kingdom Government, even as it proclaims its desire for decolonization, does not hesitate, after cruelly repressing the liberation movement in Aden, to suspend the Constitution of that Territory, thereby creating an explosive situation which may well set ablaze the entire South Arabian region.
24. With regard to the problem of decolonization, the delegation of Mali believes that the period of gathering information is now over. After four years of existence, the Special Committee has examined the situation in almost all the colonial Territories. We believe that the General Assembly must demand that the Special Committee should be enabled to establish contact with the peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories in order to determine with them dates for their accession to independence. All Member States should be invited to co-operate with the Special Committee, the General Assembly and the Security Council, so that the wishes of the peoples under foreign domination may be respected and their interests safeguarded. In our view, the United Nations must do everything in its power so as not to disappoint the hopes aroused in the peoples under colonial domination by the adoption of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and the establishment of the Special Committee.
25. Speaking of decolonization, I am pleased to offer the congratulations of the Government of Mali to the new States of the Gambia, Singapore, and the Maldive Islands on their accession to independence and their admission to the United Nations. I should like to assure their representatives here of the readiness of the Mali delegation to co-operate with them in working to achieve the objectives of the United Nations.
26. As we have already stated, the Government of Mali is ready, as part of its policy of non-alignment, to co-operate with all States which respect its national sovereignty and comply with the principles of the United Nations Charter.
27. I should like to express the Malian Government's concern over the dangers to which the arms race is exposing mankind. We note with regret that no significant progress has been made by the Disarmament Commission, despite its numerous meetings and the numerous proposals which have been put before it during the past two years. There has, of course, been the treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water, there has also been the establishment of the "hot line" between Washington and Moscow. But these two achievements are clearly inadequate in the light of the legitimate aspirations of the peoples, who are demanding to be set free from the haunting fear of nuclear or thermonuclear war. As long as hotbeds of tension exist and States clash in armed conflict, the temptation to use nuclear weapons to gain a speedy victory for reasons of prestige is a very real danger for the whole of mankind.
28. The Government of Mali, which is profoundly aware of this danger, supports the plan to convene a world disarmament conference, but here, too, no one should be under any illusion that the convening of the conference is sufficient in itself to resolve all the problems relating to general and complete disarmament. We believe that of necessity such a conference can be successful only if all the countries of the world, including the People's Republic of China, Indonesia and all the countries deliberately kept out of the United Nations, are invited, for unless there is a world round-table without any discrimination, it will be impossible to apply to absent countries resolutions and decisions which will have been worked out without their co-operation and which will not have obtained their agreement.
29. Similarly, the question of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons cannot be resolved as long as the ostracism of certain Powers, members of the so-called atomic club, keeps countries which possess the atom bomb or are capable of producing it, out of the United Nations. If the United Nations fails to tackle these urgent international questions promptly and realistically, the world, owing to our apathy and lack of determination, might have a most unhappy future.
30. As a developing country, and in addition a landlocked one, the Republic of Mali ardently desires the maintenance of peace and the strengthening of international co-operation in every sphere. We took part in the work of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and we hope that this new organization will be a factor for genuine solidarity in trade and development. The Government of Mali greatly appreciates United Nations technical assistance, because the basic problem for developing countries is that they must strive to overcome under-development in order to build up an independent national economy.
31. Before concluding my statement, I should like to express the profound concern of the Government of the Republic of Mali over the grave threats to world peace which are seriously affecting the vigour and effectiveness of the Organization. Of these threats, I shall recall only the following: the intensification of the war in Viet-Nam, the conflict between India and Pakistan, the explosive situation in Southern Rhodesia, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea (Bissau) and South Africa; the absence of the People's Republic of China from the United Nations; the withdrawal of Indonesia from the United Nations; and the menaces of withdrawal from or boycott of the United Nations made recently by certain States.
32. In this period of tension and uncertainty, I wish to reaffirm the Malian Government's faith in and devotion to the United Nations, and to express the hope that Member States will spare no effort to restore the authority and prestige of the Organization, which has become necessary to both large and small States.
33. We place our trust in the United Nations because the principles set out in its Charter are universally applicable and are an expression of humanism at its purest. We believe that strict compliance with the provisions of the Charter by all Member States, large and small, highly industrialized and poor, is a sine qua non for the survival of the United Nations. The United Nations must no longer allow anyone to ignore the fundamental principles which led us all, as sovereign nations, to join it: it must not play favourites.
34. A further condition for survival of the United Nations is for Member States to address themselves with the utmost urgency to a fundamental reorganization of its structure, in order to adapt it to present world conditions. The United Nations must be brought up to date; it must oppose the manoeuvres of all those who would like to disregard the profound changes which have occurred in the world since 1945. Only this fundamental reorganization of its structure will enable the Organization to regain its prestige and to oppose the activities of certain great Powers, so-called founder Members, which dream of setting up a directory, as it were, where compromises which they wish to impose upon the majority of Members would be worked out.
35. The third condition for strengthening the authority of the United Nations is and must be that the principles of the Charter are Inviolable; they must be applied not only to all, but in full measure. We must not tolerate that the application of these principles should depend on whether or not they suit a given Power or group of Powers. The principle of self-determination and of the right of peoples to decide on their own destiny, for instance, should be applied in all cases. The right of self-determination is a fundamental right of peoples. The United Nations must be able to apply it on every occasion, and not when it suits one Power or another. In the Portuguese colonies. Southern Rhodesia and elsewhere, this indefeasible and inalienable right of peoples must be applied and the majority must not be allowed at any time to be oppressed by a minority of white usurpers. This is what will give the United Nations a truly indisputable authority.
36. The failure to restore the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations is an injustice which does serious harm to the United Nations itself. The Organization must speedily face up to its responsibilities in this regard so that justice may be done in the interest of peace.
37. Peaceful settlement of international disputes must be a guiding principle, to be fully heeded by Member States.
38. Finally, when interference in the domestic affairs of other countries and aggression have been formally prohibited, and when Member States unanimously crush interference and aggression on every occasion, no matter which Power has committed them, the United Nations will have become a powerful instrument for the defence of international peace and security.
39. All countries which cherish peace and justice, which support fraternal co-operation between peoples without any discrimination whatsoever, and which are determined to defend unfalteringly the strengthening of the United Nations and the recovery of its authority, can be assured of the fullest understanding and a most determined collaboration from the Government of the Republic of Mali.