People's Republic of China, 2007

I wish to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-second

session. I am convinced that under your able

leadership, the current session will be a fruitful one. I

also wish to thank Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa for

her contribution during her presidency of the previous

session.

The current international environment is highly

complex. Mankind is facing both unprecedented

opportunities and challenges. There is a growing trend

towards peace, development and cooperation in the

world. But, on the other hand, traditional and non-

traditional security threats are intertwined; hotspot

issues are acute; the gap between the North and South

is widening; trade protectionism is resurfacing; and

developing countries generally remain in a

disadvantaged position. The steady trend towards

economic globalization and towards a multi-polar

world is fostering a new way of thinking about

international relations.

In this Hall two years ago, Chinese President Hu

Jintao called on mankind to build a harmonious world

with lasting peace and common prosperity in the

twenty-first century (see A/60/PV.5). The core message

of his call is that, while recognizing the diversity of the

world, differences of interests and diversity of cultures,

we should harmonize interests, defuse conflicts and

promote cooperation for win-win progress in a

peaceful and cooperative manner.

In its 62-year history, the United Nations has

played an irreplaceable role in promoting humankind’s

cause of peace and development. The current session of

the General Assembly should focus on promoting

harmonious coexistence among countries. Resolving

hotspot issues and peacefully settling international

disputes through dialogue and cooperation are not only

explicitly called for by the United Nations Charter.

They are also the right way to uphold world peace and

stability and achieve mutual benefit and a win-win

situation for all.

China remains committed to seeking a peaceful

solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula

through dialogue to uphold peace and stability on the

peninsula and throughout North-East Asia. The Six-

Party Talks have become an important platform for the

parties concerned to maintain dialogue and

consultations on achieving denuclearization on the

peninsula, normalizing relations between the countries

concerned and building a new harmonious architecture

in North-East Asia. We will continue to play a

constructive role in advancing the process of the Six-

Party Talks and the denuclearization of the Korean

peninsula.

Diplomatic negotiations are the best option for

resolving the Iranian nuclear issue peacefully and

meeting the common interests of the international

community. China opposes nuclear-weapon

proliferation and stands for upholding the international

nuclear non-proliferation regime and peace and

stability in the Middle East. No non-proliferation effort

should deviate from the goal of upholding international

peace and stability. Countries should honour their due

international obligations, and their right to peaceful use

of nuclear energy should be fully respected. China

urges the parties concerned to show flexibility and

resume negotiations at an early date. China will

continue to contribute its share to the peaceful

settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.

The Palestine-Israel conflict is at the core of the

Middle East issue. China supports the just cause of the

Palestinian and other Arab peoples and the restoration

of their lawful national rights, and it sincerely hopes

that Arab countries and Israel will promptly end their

disputes through political negotiations on the basis of

relevant United Nations resolutions and the principle of

land for peace. China calls on Palestine to strengthen

its unity and welcomes the initiative to hold an

international conference on the Middle East. We hope

that the Iraqi people will continue to work for national

reconciliation and restore peace and stability at an

early date, and that this will lead to a comprehensive,

just and lasting resolution of the Middle East issue.

The trilateral dialogue and consultation among

the United Nations, the African Union and the

Sudanese Government on an equal footing is an

effective mechanism for resolving the Darfur issue.

The international community should work to sustain

the current sound momentum and give full play to the

role of the trilateral mechanism as the main channel.

We should adhere to dual-track strategy, promote

balanced progress in peacekeeping operations and the

political process and seek a lasting solution to the

Darfur issue through making progress in the security,

political, humanitarian, economic and social areas.

China is committed to a proper settlement of the Darfur

issue. It has provided humanitarian assistance to Darfur

on a number of occasions and will send a military

engineering unit to join the peacekeeping operations

there. China will continue to firmly support the peace

and national reconciliation process in the Sudan and

will contribute to the resolution of the Darfur issue and

peace, stability and development in the Sudan.

At its current session, the General Assembly

should promote the peaceful development of all

countries. Poverty is a major source of disputes, and

only development can eliminate poverty. Human

development concerns us all. Obviously, it is

impossible to build common prosperity when there is a

huge chasm between the North and the South. The

international community should act with a sense of

urgency and redouble its efforts to deliver the

Millennium Development Goals, narrow the North-

South gap and, in particular, meet Africa’s special

development needs. Developed countries should

increase assistance, further open their domestic

markets, transfer more technologies to developing

countries and provide greater debt relief to them.

For their part, developing countries, on their part,

should adopt development strategies and policies

suited to their national conditions and boost their

economic development. We should support an open,

equitable and fair multilateral trade regime and oppose

trade protectionism. We should work for an early,

comprehensive and balanced outcome of the Doha

Round negotiations and make it a development round.

Reform of the international economic system should

fully reflect changes in the world economy and should

give developing countries more say and greater

representation in the international economic system.

China gives a high priority to strengthening

international cooperation on development as it

develops itself. We seek coordinated and balanced

global development. While a developing country itself,

China has all along provided assistance to African

countries and other developing countries, according to

its ability, and has helped them to improve their

capacity for independent and sustainable development.

That is because we believe that lasting peace and the

common prosperity of the world is possible only with

the development of developing countries.

To help Africa attain stability, security and

sustainable development is the common responsibility

of the international community. China and African

countries enjoy mutual political respect and equality

and economic mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.

They support one another and maintain close

consultation in international affairs. We draw on one

another’s strengths in governance to promote

development. Thanks to our joint efforts, China-Africa

cooperation has yielded fruitful results. Such

cooperation is well received by the African countries,

and it has brought great benefits to both the Chinese

and African peoples. China’s cooperation with Africa

facilitates Africa’s cooperation with other countries and

is not targeted against any third party.

The current session of the General Assembly

should be devoted to promoting harmony between man

and nature. Development in the world has both

advanced material progress and caused ecological

imbalance and environmental pollution. To protect our

common homeland is a matter of vital importance for

our common future.

Climate change is an environmental issue, but

ultimately it is an issue of development. It has arisen in

the course of development and can be resolved only

through development. We should uphold the

framework of the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol

and adhere to the principle of common but

differentiated responsibilities. Developed countries

should face up to their responsibilities, fulfil their

commitments on emissions reduction in earnest and

continue to take the lead in emissions reduction after

2012. We should strengthen international cooperation

on energy, resources and the environment, step up

efforts to develop and introduce energy-conserving

technologies, environmental protection technologies

and low-carbon energy technologies, and establish

reasonable mechanisms for financing and technology

transfer. That will enable developing countries to gain

access to and afford advanced environmental-

protection technologies, enhance capacity to respond to

climate change and effectively address climate change

through achieving sustainable development.

China takes climate change seriously. Though its

current per capita carbon dioxide emissions are less

than one third of the average of developed countries,

China, acting in a way that is highly responsible to

mankind, has taken many effective measures to tackle

climate change, including adopting a series of laws and

regulations and setting the goals of reducing energy

intensity and increasing forest cover. The Chinese

Government has set the following targets: to reduce

energy intensity and total discharge of major pollutants

by about 20 per cent and 10 per cent respectively and

to increase the forest cover rate to 20 per cent for the

period between the end of 2005 and 2010. Under its

National Climate Change Programme, China will take

an active part in international cooperation in climate

change and contribute its share to protecting the global

climate.

Advancing United Nations reform and enabling

the Organization to play a more important role in

maintaining world peace, promoting common

development and strengthening cooperation among

countries is crucial to building a harmonious world.

China supports the reform of the United Nations. The

reform decisions made at the high-level meeting

marking the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations

held in 2005 should be implemented in a

comprehensive and balanced manner. Priority should

be given to reform in the area of development, and the

United Nations should increase its input in that area.

The Human Rights Council should build on the

outcome of reform in its previous phase and become a

platform for dialogue and cooperation rather than an

arena for political confrontation. Security Council

reform should give priority to increasing the

representation of developing countries and give small

and medium-sized countries more opportunities to

participate in decision-making. Reform proposals

should be based on the widest possible consensus.

China is ready to work with all other parties to turn

reform into a process of strengthening consultation and

dialogue and promoting solidarity and cooperation

among all United Nations Member States.

China is committed to building a society of

democracy, the rule of law, equity and justice, integrity

and amity, vitality, stability and order, where people

live in harmony with nature. To achieve that goal,

China is fully implementing the outcomes of scientific

thinking on development. We are working to boost

social productivity and ensure people’s rights in the

political, economic, cultural, social and other fields. By

striving to build a harmonious society and by

improving the material and cultural life of one fifth of

the world’s population, China is making a true

contribution to the building of a harmonious world.

China has always pursued its own development as

a part of the global effort to promote the common

progress of mankind. In international affairs, we are

committed to the following goals: promoting

participation in international affairs by all countries on

an equal footing and democracy in international

relations; enabling all countries to share the benefits of

economic globalization and progress in science and

technology for a win-win outcome; promoting

exchanges and understanding among civilizations and

diversity in the world; enhancing dialogue and trust

among countries; and jointly tackling global issues.

China unswervingly pursues a path of peaceful

development and will continue to make further

contributions to humankind’s cause of peace and

development.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.

We will not permit any challenge to the one-China

principle and General Assembly resolution 2758

(XXVI). For 15 years running, since 1993, the General

Assembly has rejected the inclusion of Taiwan-related

issues in the agenda of the General Assembly session.

This fully demonstrates that any move that runs

counter to the purposes and principles of the United

Nations Charter or attempts to distort and deny General

Assembly resolution 2758 (XXVI) will not receive any

support from the United Nations Member States and is

doomed to failure. We hope that the countries

concerned will not allow themselves to be manipulated

by the Taiwan authorities and will stop making wrong

moves of this kind.

The Taiwan authorities are now obstinately

clinging to the separatist course of “Taiwan

independence” and are trying by all means to secure a

referendum on applying for membership of the United

Nations under the name Taiwan. This is another

dangerous step towards “de jure Taiwan independence”

taken by the Chen Shui-bian authorities. If unchecked,

this move will gravely endanger peace and stability

across the Taiwan Strait and in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Chinese Government has always made every effort

to promote with all sincerity peaceful development of

cross-Strait relations and to seek peaceful

reunification. However, we will never allow anyone to

separate Taiwan from China in name or in any other

way. We hope that the international community will

continue to support China’s cause of peaceful

reunification, support the Chinese people in opposing

and repulsing separatist activities for “Taiwan

independence” and work with us to maintain peace and

stability across the Taiwan Straits and in the Asia-

Pacific region.

The Olympic Games, which represent humanity’s

aspiration for peace, development, cooperation and

friendship, will for the first time be held in China, a

country both ancient and youthful, starting on 8 August

2008. One World, One Dream this is the theme of

the Beijing Olympic Games. The 1.3 billion people in

China, together with the rest of the world, are eagerly

looking forward to the opening of the Games. The

2008 Olympic Games are a great event for both the

Chinese people and the other peoples of the world. We

are confident that with the efforts made by the Chinese

people and with strong support from the international

community, the 2008 Olympic Games will stand out as

a highly successful event.