China

At the outset, I should like warmly to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the current session of the General Assembly. I am convinced that given your outstanding talent and consummate experience, you will fulfil this lofty mission with distinction. At the same time, I should like to express my appreciation and thanks to Mr. Samuel Insanally for the positive contribution he made during his presidency at the last session. I wish to avail myself of this opportunity to extend a hearty welcome and congratulations to the delegation of South Africa, which is taking part in the work of the current session. We are convinced that a united, democratic and non-racial new South Africa led by President Nelson Mandela will contribute positively to the peace and development of Africa and of the world as a whole. The world is still undergoing profound changes, and the transition toward multipolarity has accelerated. Economic factors are playing a greater role in international relations. Relaxation of tensions has become the main trend of the world today. However, hegemonism and power politics continue to hold out. Regional hot spots flare up intermittently. Destabilizing factors tend to multiply, thus compounding the volatility of the international scene. The maintenance of peace, strengthening of cooperation and promotion of development remain the major challenges of our era. To eliminate regional hot spots and settle international disputes are the world’s priorities and the common concern with which the international community has been trying to deal in one way or another. Experience has shown that such practices as interfering in other countries’ internal affairs and resorting to pressure, sanctions or even force at will cannot help; they can only increase the complications and difficulties that stand in the way of a final solution. In the interest of maintaining regional peace and stability, the international community and regional organizations should take an appropriate and effective approach, that is, to promote dialogue and negotiations between parties directly concerned so as to reach a solution acceptable to all sides. This has been best illustrated by the breakthrough achieved in the Middle East peace process and by the progress made on the Korean nuclear issue. United Nations peace-keeping operations can play a positive role, but not all of them have been successful. Experience and lessons learned in this regard should be summed up. It is our consistent view that peace-keeping operations should strictly conform to the principles of the United Nations Charter and the norms of international relations. Such operations should be undertaken with the consent and cooperation of the parties concerned, and an impartial and unbiased attitude should be maintained. No peace-keeping operations or humanitarian aid programmes should be permitted to interfere in the internal affairs of any country, still less to use force or become embroiled in a conflict between the parties. A lesson should be drawn from what befell the United Nations peace-keeping forces in Somalia. Here I wish to underline the importance of strict adherence to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as the basic means to prevent international conflicts. 9 These 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, were jointly initiated four decades ago by China, India and Myanmar - called "Burma" at the time - and were subsequently embodied in the 10 principles formulated by Asian and African countries at the Bandung Conference and in the purposes and principles espoused by the Association of South-East Asian Nations and other regional organizations of the developing countries. The history of the past four decades has testified to the immense vitality of the Five Principles. All nations, notwithstanding their differences in social systems, ideologies, values or religious faiths, can live in amity and carry out mutually beneficial cooperation as long as they abide by these principles. Failure to do so will lead to friction, confrontation or even military conflicts. In a world as diversified as ours, nations have no alternative but to adhere to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and to find common ground while shelving their differences in order to live together amicably and pursue common development. The peoples of the world have long lived in the shadow of a nuclear holocaust, due to the all-out nuclear arms race between the two super-Powers during the cold war, which resulted in a massive stockpiling of nuclear weapons. Now the international situation has drastically changed. Not only can we avert another world war, but the chances have increased for the complete prohibition and thorough elimination of nuclear weapons and for mankind ultimately to eliminate the threat of a nuclear war. China has always stood for the complete prohibition and thorough elimination of all weapons of mass destruction. The Chinese Government holds that a convention on the complete prohibition of nuclear weapons should be concluded in the same way as the conventions banning all biological and chemical weapons, respectively. As a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, China is in favour of its extension. Yet a mere extension of the Treaty is obviously not sufficient. With a view to ultimately ridding mankind of the threat of a nuclear war and ushering in a nuclear-weapon-free world, the Chinese Government proposes the following. All countries that possess nuclear weapons should pledge unconditionally not to be the first to use them and should immediately start negotiations to conclude a treaty on non-first-use of nuclear weapons against each other; efforts for the establishment of nuclear-free zones should be supported and all nuclear Powers should undertake not to use or to threaten to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon State or nuclear-free zone; negotiations should be undertaken with a view to concluding a comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty not later than 1996; the principal nuclear Powers should implement their existing nuclear disarmament treaties as scheduled and go on to drastically cut back their nuclear stockpiles; negotiations should be undertaken to conclude a convention banning the production of weapon-grade fissile materials; a convention on the complete prohibition of nuclear weapons should be signed under which all nuclear Powers should undertake the obligation to destroy all their nuclear weapons under effective international supervision; and international cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy should be vigorously promoted simultaneously with the efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and step up the nuclear disarmament process. The above points make up an integrated and interrelated nuclear disarmament process. We hold that all States, whether they possess nuclear weapons or not, are entitled to participate fully in this process. Since mankind has been able to make nuclear weapons and tap nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in the twentieth century, we are confident that in the twenty- first century it will be able to completely ban and destroy nuclear weapons and fully harness nuclear energy to enhance its own welfare. Before the advent of the new century, we stand ready to join the other nuclear as well as non-nuclear States to blaze the way towards this lofty goal and make our due contribution to its ultimate realization. It is now an international trend to give priority to economic problems. Hence all countries are devoting themselves to economic development and the expansion of international cooperation. This year the world economy has started a recovery and East Asia continues to maintain a high growth rate. But there is unevenness in the world as a whole. It is disturbing to note that the impoverishment of some developing countries has worsened. In the interest of common development, we call for the abolition of protectionism and of discrimination in international economic relations and trade. Neither global multilateral trade arrangements nor regional economic and trade cooperation should be exclusive. The principles of openness, equality and mutual benefit should be upheld. The World Trade 10 Organization, to be founded next year, should from the outset be a broadly representative and open trade institution based on equality and mutual benefit. The world economy is an interdependent whole. Developed countries should make more tangible contributions to global economic development and the expansion of international economic cooperation. Primarily they should take effective measures to open their markets, provide development funds, transfer technology and increase assistance to the developing countries to reduce their debt burden, thereby contributing to their economic growth, social stability and relief from poverty. Such actions will in turn bolster the economic growth of the developed countries themselves. The international community and the United Nations should be more concerned with development matters and in particular should actively help the developing countries to achieve prosperity. We appreciate the Secretary-General’s efforts in submitting the Agenda for Development pursuant to General Assembly resolutions. We hope that our deliberations thereon will serve to reinvigorate world economic development and international cooperation. The Chinese Government considers economic development the central task of the whole nation and makes reform and opening its basic state policy. This year we have taken a new series of major steps to intensify the reform and opening which have the effect of ensuring sustained, rapid and healthy economic growth. Gross domestic product, foreign trade volume and overseas investments registered increases in the first six months of 11.6 per cent, 25.5 per cent and 54.9 per cent respectively, compared with the corresponding period last year. We will step up our all-directional opening-up and continue to work for world prosperity. We have been striving for an early resumption of our contracting party status in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. A solution to this matter will be in the interest of both China and the world as a whole. China needs to cooperate with the rest of the world which in turn needs such an important trading partner as China. A World Trade Organization without China would be inconceivable. Human society continues to move forward and make progress. But social ills still stand out starkly such as poverty, unemployment, the deteriorating environment, the population explosion, refugees, illegal immigration, drug trafficking, crime and injurious and unfair treatment of social groups such as women, children and the disabled. Some of these problems have become even more acute, and have cried out for a remedy by the world community through international cooperation. We consider that it is necessary to step up such cooperation. Because conditions vary, different countries face different social problems. Each country has to draw up social development policies adaptable to its own conditions. International cooperation in this field should adhere to the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit without political strings or interference in domestic affairs. Developing countries account for the majority of the world’s population and are in a disadvantaged position socially. This is where the emphasis of the United Nations social programmes should be placed. In recent years we have actively supported and participated in important international conferences on the environment, human rights and population under the auspices of the United Nations. We will actively take part in the World Summit for Social Development, to be held in Copenhagen next March. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the Fourth World Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing in September 1995. The Chinese people, our women folk in particular, are preparing for and looking forward to this grand event with tremendous enthusiasm. In response to the call in the documents of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Chinese Government has analysed the actual conditions in the country and drawn up "Agenda 21 - White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century", which will be an important guide in the formulation of our medium- and long-term national, economic and social development plans. To ensure and protect human rights is an essential part of a nation’s social policy. My Government makes it a basic policy to constantly enhance the people’s enjoyment of human rights commensurate with our economic and social development. We always hold that the principle of universality of human rights must be viewed in the context of the actual conditions of a given country. Conditions vary from country to country. It is inevitable and normal that there is divergence of views on human rights issues. We are in favour of dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect so as to increase mutual understanding. We are against using human rights as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. 11 Next year will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Both the world and the United Nations have undergone drastic changes in that half century. The United Nations is the most representative intergovernmental Organization of sovereign States. Members of the Organization are equal, irrespective of size, strength or wealth. Notwithstanding its shortcomings, the status and role of the United Nations in global international affairs remain irreplaceable by any other international organizations or groupings. It is the hope of the people of the world that the Organization will better fulfil the mission conferred on it by the Charter and and that it will make even greater contributions to the maintenance of peace and the promotion of development. To cope with the greatly changed international situation and grim challenges ahead, United Nations institutions should undergo relevant and necessary reforms. In our view, any such reforms should serve to maintain and enhance the positive role of the United Nations in international affairs and improve its efficiency. At the same time, the reforms should take full account of the concerns and interests of the developing countries, which make up the majority of the membership, so that their role may be enhanced. The function and role of the General Assembly should be strengthened. Reform of the Security Council must be aimed at facilitating a better performance of its functions under the Charter. Any enlargement of the Council’s membership must fully conform to the principle of equitable geographical distribution to ensure broader representation. Actions by the Council should better reflect the collective will and common aspirations of the entire United Nations membership. To prepare for the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, China has set up a national committee, in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolution. We hope that the commemoration in various countries in the coming year will be used to review the experience of the past and look to the future so that we may carry forward the purposes and principles of the Charter and enable the Organization to do a better job in maintaining peace and promoting development. It was sad that the first half of our century witnessed two world wars with disastrous consequences for mankind. The ensuing cold war cast a dark and menacing shadow of war over the world for the greater part of the second half of the century. It is gratifying, none the less, that we have been able to fulfil the historic mission of eliminating the centuries-old colonial system from the Earth within this century. This is unquestionably one of the greatest achievements of contemporary human society. Looking ahead to the twenty-first century, we are fully confident of the future of humanity. The Chinese people will make common efforts with all other peoples of the world to usher in a new century of peace and prosperity.