People's Republic of China, 1969

40. Madam President, permit me, on behalf of my Government and

people, to extend to you our warm congratulations on your

assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly.

Your election to that high office is a fitting tribute to your

great country, to the continent of Africa and to the

increasingly important role women have been playing in

world affairs. Above all, it is an expression of the high

esteem in which you are personally held by your colleagues

in the United Nations.

41. I wish also to pay a word of tribute to your eminent

predecessor, the late Emilio Arenales of Guatemala. Like a

valiant soldier, he never swerved from the path of duty even

when he was seriously ill. His untimely death was a grievous

loss not only to his own country but also to the United

Nations, both of which he served with courage and

distinction.

42. The year 1969 will always be remembered as the year

which man succeeded in walking on the moon. This

historic feat has injected a sense of achievement into all

mankind. It is a dramatic demonstration of what man is

capable of doing once he has set his goal.

43. It is sad to reflect, however, that the science and

technology that have enabled man to explore the heavens

have not enabled him to solve his problems on earth.

Hunger, disease and ignorance continue to be the lot of an

overwhelming majority of the world’s peoples. To these

ancient evils has now been added the new perplexing

problem of the population explosion. The scourge of war,

for the abolition of which the United Nations was founded,

remains stubbornly with us. The war in Viet-Nam goes on,

notwithstanding the efforts of the Government of the

Republic of Viet-Nam and is allies to bring about a

negotiated settlement. Violence and bloodshed on a massive

scale are taking place in the Middle East and in Africa. The

Chinese Communist regime in Peiping has not been slow to

take advantage of the turmoil and confusion of our times to

stir up the so-called “people’s war” on a global scale.

44. As regards the war in Viet-Nam, my delegation

sincerely hopes that the brave people of the Republic of

Viet-Nam, who have suffered so much and for so long from

external aggression, will soon be able to live in peace and

security. I wish to take this opportunity of reaffirming my

Government’s belief in the inherent right of all peoples to

choose by their own will their own form of government and

way of life. Our profound sympathy goes out to the

Government and people of the Republic of Viet-Nam in

their firm stand to preserve their national independence. We

note with appreciation the valuable assistance being given

by those Governments which have supported the Republic

of Viet-Nam in its valiant struggle against subversion and

aggression. By so doing they have contributed to the cause

of peace and security in South-East Asia. Their sacrifices

will not have been made in vain.

45. In order to bring the bloody conflict in Viet-Nam to a

speedy end, the Government of the Republic of Viet-Nam

and its allies have put forward at the Paris talks a series of

constructive proposals. These proposals, as all the world

knows, call for the accomplishment of two basic objectives,

namely, the withdrawal of all non-South Viet-Namese

forces, including, of course, those of North Viet-Nam, from

the Republic of Viet-Nam and the holding of free elections

for all the people of South Viet-Nam. If Hanoi is genuinely

interested in a political solution of the Viet-Nam problem,

these proposals constitute a sound basis for further negotiations.

So far, however, the response from the other side has

been consistently and totally negative. It is difficult to

escape the conclusion that, as far as Hanoi is concerned, the

Paris talks are just another form of warfare fought with

political and psychological weapons rather than with

military hardware. The policy line seems to have been based

on a simple assumption: political pressures both at home

and abroad would sooner or later force the United States to

accept a settlement on Hanoi’s own terms.

46. In these circumstances, it is not surprising that the

numerous overtures, initiatives and proposals made by the

United States to de-escalate the war and to call a halt to the

slaughter have met with rebuffs; nor has the death of Ho

Chi Minh opened up new avenues to peace. Nevertheless, I

believe that, with firmness end patience on the part of the

Government of the Republic of Viet-Nam and its allies,

Hanoi will sooner or later come to the conclusion that there

is nothing to gain from dilatory tactics of the kind it has

been pursuing at the Paris talks. Only then can there be

hope for peace in Viet-Nam.

47. The tragic events in Viet-Nam are of immediate

concern to the countries of Asia. To them what is at stake

is more than the freedom and independence of the

Republic of Viet-Nam, important as that is. What is at issue

is whether communist aggression and expansion are to be

allowed to succeed, thus giving further impetus to aggression

and expansion in other parts of Asia.

48. In Thailand, communist-inspired terrorist attacks in

the north and north-east provinces continue to cause

serious concern. Thanks to the timely and effective

counter-insurgency measures carried out by the Government

of Thailand, the situation seems to be under control.

49. In North-East Asia, tension along the 38th parallel in

the Korean peninsula has persisted. In the past two years

the North Korean regime has stepped up its subversive and

terrorist activities against the Republic of Korea. Obviously,

the situation is fraught with ominous possibilities. The

hostility and aggressiveness of the North Korean regime

towards the Republic of Korea have made the continued

presence of United Nations forces a necessity. These forces

serve as a stablizing factor in that part of the world. It is

not surprising, therefore, that those who support the

aggressive and expansionist thrusts of the North Korean

regime clamour for the complete withdrawal of what they

call “foreign forces occupying South Korea under the flag

of the United Nations”.

50. Let me now turn to another area of the world where

events are moving towards one of those alarming climaxes

with which we have become familiar. Three times within

the space of twenty years Israel and the Arab States have

resorted to the force of arms to settle their differences.

Each time they have succeeded only in deepening the

wounds. All United Nations efforts at establishing a just

and enduring peace have led to no positive results.

51. For a time shortly after the June 1967 war there was a

glimmer of hope that the United Nations might be able to

bring some semblance of quiet and tranquillity to the

Middle Eastern scene. Security Council resolution

242 (1967), calling, among other things, for the “withdrawal

of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in

the recent conflict” and the termination of the state of

belligerency as well as the right of every State in the area to

“live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries”,

seemed to offer the kind of formula acceptable to the

parties involved in the conflict. The situation, however, has

deteriorated. United Nations efforts have failed to hold in

check the arms race in the Middle East. Violence and

counter-violence have been intensified in the current year.

Along the hundred-mile Suez Canal cease-fire line armed

hostilities have been continuing with increasing intensity

for some months. The danger of a repetition of the June

1967 conflict can no longer be discounted.

52. It seems to my delegation that if there is anything to

be learned from the history of the Middle East in the past

20 years it is the futility of war and violence. We fully

appreciate the complexity of the situation. We are aware

that the fear, suspicion and mistrust that have divided the

Arabs and Israelis are too deep-seated to disappear overnight.

We see no reason why a climate conducive to the

eventual settlement of the problems cannot be created. If

there can be no total solution of all problems at any one

time, substantive efforts should be made towards the

solution of certain specific issues. This calls for statesmanship

and restraint on the part of both Israel and the Arab States.

53. In the course of the general debate, mention has

frequently been made of the Communist regime on the

mainland of China. I deem it my duty to point out here

that this regime represents the greatest threat to international

peace and is the primary source of Asia’s troubles.

54. The Chinese Communist regime adheres religiously to

the doctrine of force and violence. In its view, “seizure of

power by armed force, the settlement of issues by war, is

the central task and the highest form of revolution’. Mao

Tse-tung believes that we may say that “only with guns can

the whole world be transformed”. In the new Party

Constitution adopted at the Ninth Party Congress in April

this year, the Chinese Communists have committed

themselves “to overthrowing imperialism headed by the

United States, modern revisionism with the Soviet revisionist

renegade clique at its centre, and the reactionaries of all

countries“.

55. The regime’s role in the Viet-Nam war is too well

known to need further elaboration. Let it suffice to say

that besides supplying Hanoi with arms and ammunition

and a wide range of other materials, Peiping has left no

stone unturned to deepen and prolong the Viet-Nam

conflict. Indeed, had it not been for the influence exerted

by Peiping, the war in Viet-Nam would not in all

probability have arisen.

56. The Chinese Communists, as is known, have never

ceased to cast a covetous eye on Thailand. In January 1965

Radio Peiping announced the establishment on the Chinese

mainland of a so-called “Thai Patriotic Front”. In January

1969 Peiping’s official news agency reported the formal

establishment of a “supreme command” of the “Thai

Liberation Army”. This can be regarded as the initial phase

Of a “people’s revolutionary war” against the legally

constituted Government of Thailand. The Chinese Communists

have also been training dissident elements from Laos,

Burma and other Asian countries in the art of insurgency

and guerrilla warfare.

57. Yet, there are those who seem to think that the threat

posed by the Chinese Communists to world peace has been

exaggerated and that for all their bellicose rhetoric, their

actions tend to be cautious. I seriously question whether

the Chinese Communist strategy of world domination can

be dismissed in so light-hearted a manner. The encouragement,

training, financing and equipping of guerrillas is no

less of a threat to the independence and freedom of the

emerging countries than even direct military assault. In all

these countries there are dissident elements who, with

encouragement and aid from abroad, are ready to play the

role which the Viet Cong has been playing in Viet-Nam.

58. In this connexion, let me quote a significant passage

from Lin Piao’s political report to the Ninth Party Congress:

“The revolutionary movement of the proletariat of the

world and of the people of various countries is vigorously

surging forward. The armed struggles of the people of

South Viet-Nam, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaya, Indonesia,

India and other countries and regions in Asia,

Africa and Latin America are steadily growing in strength.

An unprecedented gigantic revolutionary mass movement

has broken out in Japan, Western Europe and North

America, the ‘heartlands’ of capitalism.”

Let no one dismiss what he has to say as an empty threat.

59. The bellicosity in Lin Piao’s political report has

recently been echoed by Chou En-lai, the supposed

moderate among the Chinese Communist leaders, when he

said, at a reception in Peiping:

“The 700 million Chinese people, armed with Mao

Tse-tung Thought and tempered through the Great

Proletarian Cultural Revolution, are determined to fulfil

better their proletarian internationalist duty and, together

with the people of the whole world, carry the struggle

against imperialism, modern revisionism and all reaction

through to the end.”

60. Ironically, the regime that has promoted subversive

activities against all established Governments and has

sought to impose its order of things upon all mankind now

finds itself in the grip of an unprecedented crisis. The forces

set in motion by the cultural revolution have not ceased to

operate. The large-scale purges of the past three years have

failed to strengthen Mao’s confidence in the future of his

regime. He continues to call for vigilance against so-called

“renegades, special agents, unrepentant capitalist hoarders

and class enemies”. Significantly, Peiping frankly admits

that anarchism now stalks across the land. This is from the

joint editorial of People’s Daily, Liberation Army Daily and

Red Flag, of 24 August 1969.

61. It is thus abundantly clear that the Ninth Party

Congress merely marked the end of the first round of

power struggle. The second round has just begun. The purge

of Liu Shao-chi has not eliminated his latent influence both

in the armed forces and in the ranks of the party. In the

new Central Committee a large number of military men

have become members, but the army is no longer a

homogeneous entity; it is unlikely that the various factions

will be able to act together in time of crisis. This cannot fail

to have serious implications for the future of the regime.

62. The makeshift power structure put together to replace

the one shattered by the cultural revolution has not worked

well. The so-called revolutionary committees in the provinces,

municipalities and autonomous regions are for the

most part dominated by the military which are now

directly involved in the new power struggle. This means

that the military have become such a potent political force

that Mao and his supporters have characterized them as

having established “independent kingdoms”.

63. In such circumstances, in order to ensure his own

political survival, Mao, willy-nilly, is forced to go ahead

with more and more purges. Real or potential enemies must

be ferreted out. This will create more confusion and unrest

and could hasten the collapse of the regime.

64. Far more serious than intra-Party power struggle as a

threat to the existence of the Communist regime is the

anti-Maoist and anti-Communist movement that has

gathered strength in the wake of the cultural revolution.

Resistance to the regime has been growing. Bloody conflict

has flared up in 17 of the 21 provinces. The official

communist press has to admit that “unreformed landlords,

rich peasants, reactionaries, bad elements and rightists, as

well as hidden counter-revolutionaries”, unreconciled to

their defeat, now “try to sabotage socialist ownership,

corrupt old and new cadres and the youth, whip up the evil

wind of counter-revolutionary revisionism to disrupt socialist

production, use religious superstitions to undermine

unity among the various nationalities”. This is from the

joint editorial of The People’s Daily, Liberation Army Daily

and Red Flag, 24 August 1969. In the province of Shansi,

for example, “class enemies” are said to have “committed

series: of grave counter-revolutionary crimes” through

“struggle by violence”. They not only incited workers and

peasants to struggle against the authorities but also carried

out “attacks on People’s Liberation Army organizations

and units”. This is a quotation from the directive of the

Chinese Communist Party Central Committee of 23 July

1969 on “How to cope with struggle by violence in Shansi

province”. Obviously, not all is well inside the Chinese.

mainland.

65. Those who champion the Maoist cause in the United

Nations speak of the 700 million Chinese people as if the

Chinese people and the Communist regime were one and

the same. Nothing can be further from the truth. The fact is

that of the 700 million people only a minuscule minority — a

little over 2 per cent—are Communists. Now, even this tiny

minority is torn by factional strife. The overwhelming

majority of the Chinese people are anti-Mao and anti-Communist.

Twenty years of regimentation and brain-washing,

20 years of torture and terror, have failed to make

them accept the Communist regime as anything but a

transient tyranny. They have never ceased to thirst for

freedom and to struggle against their oppressors. They

continue to hold dear the values of Chinese cultural

heritage which Mao Tse-tung and his gang have tried so hard

to eradicate. Only after the overthrow of the Communist

regime can the Chinese people make full use of their

cultural heritage to contribute to the cause of world peace.

66. The Chinese people are determined to be the master

of their own destiny. It is not too fantastic to believe that

the Communist regime will in time be swept away an

remembered only as a nightmarish episode in the history of

modern China. Today the regime is no longer in effective

control over a large part of the Chinese mainland. Certainly

the long-suffering masses of the Chinese people will not

cease their struggle until it is overthrown. When that day

comes, the world will have removed one of its greatest

threats to peace.

67. The right to determine the future of China belongs to

the Chinese people alone and no one else. In their struggle

for freedom the Chinese people ask for no help from other

nations. This is an internal matter for the Chinese people to

resolve. At the same time, they have the right to expect

that no one should give aid and comfort to their oppressors.

68. In the midst of the internal chaos and power struggles,

Mao Tse-tung and Lin Piao persist in calling for the

militarization of all aspects of life on the mainland, for the

intensification of war preparations and for the stepping-up

of war hysteria. It seems that turmoil at home may well

incline the Chinese Communists to embark on a more

aggressive and more reckless course of action towards their

neighbours, whether to the north or to the south, in order

to divert the people’s discontent and hostility from the

pressures of internal tensions with which the regime is more

deeply troubled than its strained relations with other countries.

69. In less than a year from now, the United Nations will

have completed the first quarter of a century of its

existence. On the eve of its twenty-fifth birthday, it may be

useful to take stock of its failures and achievements, as well

as to assess and define the direction of future developments.

70. It is, of course, no secret that the United Nations has

not been effective in its efforts for peace. You yourself,

Madam President, in your opening speech called attention

to “the gradual decline of the United Nations in the eyes of

public opinion” [1753rd meeting, para. 47]. I believe your

observation is shared by a large number of representatives

in this hall. It is not to be denied that the United Nations

has played but a marginal role in world affairs. When

momentous problems are at stake, it is more often than not

either bypassed or ignored.

71. This highly unsatisfactory state of affairs has led to

the belief that the Charter no longer adequately meets the

vital needs of our time and must be so revised as to

responsive to the aims and aspirations of Member States. It

seems to my delegation that, in so far as the machinery and

methods of operation are concerned, there is undoubtedly

much to be said in support of this point of view. Indeed, it

was in recognition of the growing importance of the

Afro-Asian States in the United Nations that Articles 23, 27

and 61 of the Charter were amended in 1963. It must be

admitted, however, that the effectiveness of the United

Nations as an instrument of peace depends not so much on

the letter of the Charter as on the spirit in which its

provisions are carried out. It is difficult to believe that the

ills that at present afflict the United Nations can be cured

merely by Charter revision, however desirable that may be.

72. It seems to my delegation that the purposes and

principles enshrined in the Charter represent the highest

and noblest ideals ever conceived by man. If there is a gap

between Charter goals and reality, the reason is that it is

not always easy for man to live up to his most cherished

ideals. But this does not mean that he should stop trying.

On the contrary, the effective functioning of the United

Nations demands urgent and serious efforts on the part of

its Member States to make a reality of the aims of the

Charter. It is the failure of Member States to make good

their commitments to the Charter that is responsible for the

state of frustration in which the United Nations now finds itself.

73. The United Nations is facing critical times. Its effectiveness

and even its raison d’étre have been called into

question. Yet there are those in the Assembly who are

ready to strengthen the forces of lawlessness and aggression

by adding to United Nations membership a regime which

has nothing but contempt for the purposes and principles

of the Charter. If they are allowed to have their way, the

future of the Organization will be bleak indeed. Let us hope

that the disaster which overtook the League of Nations in

the 1930s will not be repeated by the United Nations today.