People's Republic of China, 2000

Please allow me to extend my warm congratulations to

you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the

General Assembly at its current session. I am confident

that, with your wisdom and experience, and with the

support and coordinated efforts of the member States,

the Millennium Assembly will successfully complete

all its work. At the same time, I would like to express

my appreciation and thanks to Mr. Gurirab for the

contribution he made as President of the General

Assembly at its last session.

The Millennium Summit, which attracted

worldwide attention, has just concluded. The United

Nations Millennium Declaration is a consensus reached

by world leaders on how to meet the major challenges

facing mankind today. The Declaration reviews and

sums up the course that the United Nations has

travelled over the past 55 years. More importantly, it

offers a blueprint for the United Nations in the new

century and the new millennium and important

guidance to people around the world in their pursuit of

peace, development and common progress. I would like

to add my voice to the call to action made by

Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the closing ceremony

of the Summit. We should work together to turn the

consensus reached at the Summit into action and usher

in a new era of peace and development for people all

over the world.

It is the primary mission of the United Nations in

the new century to uphold the purposes and principles

of its Charter, promote democracy in international

relations, maintain world peace and stability and

facilitate the development and prosperity of all

countries. The United Nations Charter is a

manifestation of the peoples' aspiration to equality,

justice and freedom. Over the past 55 years, the United

Nations has adhered to the Charter aims of

safeguarding peace, developing friendship and

promoting cooperation, as well as the core principles

guiding international relations, such as sovereign

equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of

States. It is precisely for these reasons that the United

Nations has grown in strength and its membership

increased from 51 to 189. This Organization is still

playing an irreplaceable role in world affairs.

The history of the past 55 years has amply proved

the effectiveness of the purposes and principles of the

United Nations Charter. Today, global issues have

made our interests intertwined and modern technology

has made our communication easier. In these

circumstances, we need more than ever to face our

common challenges together on the basis of equality,

mutual respect and democratic consultation. The

purposes and principles of the Charter are by no means

outdated, but are rather of greater relevance today.

Democracy in international relations requires

compliance with the principle of sovereign equality, as

5

provided for in the United Nations Charter. Countries

differ in size, strength and wealth, but they are all

equal members of the international community. None

should be discriminated against and their state

sovereignty brooks no encroachment. The internal

affairs of a country should be managed by the people of

that country and major world affairs should be decided

by all countries through consultation. The response to

global challenges calls for worldwide cooperation and

coordination. This is a necessity of our times and a

prerequisite for the establishment of a fair and just new

international political order. It is also the foundation

and source of vitality for the United Nations in the new

century.

The reform of the United Nations should give full

expression to democracy in international relations. The

reform is aimed at better safeguarding the fundamental

rights and interests of all Member States and,

especially, at truly reflecting the will of developing

countries, which make up the bulk of United Nations

membership. It should not merely satisfy the needs of a

few countries. The reform of the Security Council

should seek primarily to increase representation of

developing countries and should be based on extensive

deliberations among Member States. It is against the

will of the overwhelming majority of Member States to

set arbitrar deadlines or to force the passage of

immature plans.

There is general agreement among the United

Nations Member States on basing the scale

methodology of regular budget and peacekeeping

assessment on the principle of the capacity to pay. This

methodology is also one that has been confirmed time

and again by the General Assembly through its

resolutions and should therefore be abided by in

whatever circumstances. Any adjustment to this

methodology should take into full account the specific

economic conditions of developing countries. Such

adjustments should be made only when there is

consensus among all Member States through extensive

consultation, thus facilitating the normal and sound

operation of the United Nations.

Another important historical task facing the

United Nations is to respond to globalization and to

achieve the common development of mankind. The

twentieth century has seen both unprecedented

economic prosperity and the greatest polarization. In

the last decade of the century, economic globalization

has advanced at the fastest pace, while the gap between

the North and the South has continued to widen.

According to the World Bank, the revenue of the low-

income countries accounts for only 6 per cent of the

world's total, although they make up more than half of

the world's population, while that of the developed

countries is 80 per cent with only one sixth of the

world population.

It is especially worrisome that there is an even

wider gap between developing and developed countries

in the field of advanced technology. The new economy

is so far benefiting only the rich countries. Most

developing countries are still information have-nots.

Should this situation be allowed to continue, many

developing countries will long remain deprived of the

opportunity to participate in technological progress and

economic growth and the world will be further

polarized.

To prevent poverty from swallowing up

achievements of development and to prevent social

injustice from shaking the basis of global stability, the

United Nations must play its due role in narrowing the

gap between the rich and the poor and bringing about

common prosperity to the world. It is an unavoidable

major responsibility of the United Nations in the new

century to promote the establishment of a new

international economic order based on cooperation on

an equal footing and aimed at common development

and to ensure that economic globalization benefits

everybody in the world.

The United Nations should give top priority to the

issue of development, make efforts to change the

current situation in which global economic affairs are

dominated by only a few countries and ensure

developing countries their right to equal participation

in economic decision-making. In making or revising

global economic rules of the game, consideration

should first be given to the need of developing

countries in order to facilitate their development and

reduce the risks they may face when participating in

globalization. The United Nations should also mobilize

all the resources available and encourage the

international community to narrow the “digital divide”,

and it should help developing countries to seize, as far

as they can, the opportunities brought about by the

scientific and technological advancement driven by the

information revolution. The United Nations also has

the responsibility for introducing new rules to the

world to make science and technology truly serve all of

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mankind and the lofty cause of peace and development

in the world.

As drastic and profound changes are taking place

in the international situation, what kind of security

concept should be embraced is a major subject before

the United Nations and all its Member States. Global

strategic stability is the foundation on which world

security rests. And the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile

(ABM) Treaty is an important cornerstone for global

strategic stability. Any move to undermine the totality

and effectiveness of the Treaty will have a profound

negative impact on world peace and security. The

proposal for a national missile defence system that is

prohibited by the ABM Treaty is essentially aimed at

seeking unilateral military and strategic supremacy, and

thus a typical example of the cold war mentality. Such

a plan, if implemented, will only bring serious negative

consequences to the security of the whole world. The

adoption by the General Assembly of the resolution on

preservation of and compliance with the ABM Treaty

(A/54/54 A) at its fifty-fourth session by an

overwhelming majority is an indicator of the firm will

of most countries in the world to maintain and strictly

observe the ABM Treaty. The United Nations should

continue to show serious concern over the attempt by a

certain country to develop a missile defence system to

the detriment of global strategic stability, and it should

take necessary measures to stop this dangerous

development.

Security is mutual and relative. No country

should enhance its security at the expense of that of the

others. To seek absolute unilateral security is not

feasible and will lead to greater insecurity. With

increased international contacts and exchanges,

countries of the world will find themselves sharing

more common interests and facing more common

challenges. Security can only be realized through

dialogue on an equal footing and in the spirit of mutual

understanding and mutual accommodation. It can only

be maintained on the basis of mutual respect and

peaceful coexistence, and it can only be consolidated

through mutually beneficial cooperation and common

development. The only way to protect the fundamental

interests of all countries and enhance universal security

is to replace the old security concept based on military

alliances and military build-up with a new one that is

characterized by equality, mutual trust, mutual benefit,

cooperation and settlement of disputes through

dialogue.

In recent years, China, Russia, Kazakhstan,

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have reached, within the

framework of the Shanghai Five and through

consultation and cooperation based on equality, an

agreement among themselves on confidence-building

in the military field and reduction of military forces in

the border areas. This offers something useful for the

international community to draw upon in its

exploratory efforts for a new security concept.

We have noted with pleasure the positive changes

in the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the

positive outcome of the successful historic summit

between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

and the Republic of Korea. It has shown once again

that dialogue and consultation based on equality serve

to enhance mutual trust and improve relations between

States. We appreciate the efforts made by both the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the

Republic of Korea to promote peace, stability and

development on the peninsula and in the region.

We deeply regret that the tripartite summit at

Camp David failed to produce any agreement. We

believe that the Middle East peace process will move

forward as long as the parties concerned earnestly,

patiently and unswervingly engage themselves in

negotiating and seriously implement the agreements

that have already be reached among them on the basis

of the relevant United Nation resolutions, in

accordance with the principle of land for peace and in

the spirit of mutual trust and mutual accommodation.

In the twentieth century, mankind suffered a great

deal from the scourges of war. In the twenty-first

century, humanitarian crises of a massive scale must be

prevented, and the tragedy of innocent people being

slaughtered on a large scale must not be allowed to

repeat itself. The United Nations shoulders a primary

responsibility for the maintenance of world peace, and

therefore it should work harder to stop conflicts and

eliminate wars.

In the present-day world, hegemony and power

politics still exist. Territorial disputes, ethnic feuds and

religious rifts have all led to incessant regional

conflicts. Some countries and regions hope that the

United Nations will assist them in stopping conflicts,

which we fully understand. At the same time, we must

not fail to see the complexity of international

intervention and the danger of inappropriate

intervention. The United Nations intervention should

7

aim at eliminating the root causes of a given conflict

rather than delaying its settlement. It should aim at

facilitating reconciliation between the conflicting

parties rather than deepening their hatred and hostility.

We are of the view that major powers and groups of

countries should respect the sovereignty and territorial

integrity of the countries concerned rather than

meddling in their internal affairs or triggering new

conflicts.

In the new circumstances, peacekeeping

operations remain an important means for the United

Nations to fulfil its obligations in safeguarding world

peace and security. In this regard, it is essential to

ensure and enhance the Security Council's

responsibility and political leadership in peacekeeping

operations and to ensure the observance of the

purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.

United Nations peacekeeping operations should be

launched with a sense of realism and within the

capacities of the United Nations. The limited resources

should be put to where they are most needed.

Human beings are the most precious among all

the creatures on earth. To promote human development

and protect all the rights and interests of mankind is the

primary responsibility of all countries. China is the

most populous country in the world. The Chinese

Government has taken upon itself to safeguard the

independence and dignity of the Chinese nation and to

ensure the almost 1.3 billion Chinese the right to a

decent life and all-round development. It has regarded

this as its sacred duty and will do all it can to achieve

this end.

Human rights improvement is an ongoing

process. The human rights conditions of a country are

up to the people of that country to assess and improve.

Since people live under different circumstances, the

form in which human rights are embodied changes with

these circumstances and with time. Therefore, how to

protect and promote human rights depends on the

actual conditions and specific needs of a country. To

arbitrarily impose a fixed set of human rights rules,

regardless of the differences in the specific

environment and reality, will not serve the interests of

the people of any country. To interfere in other

countries' internal affairs in the name of protecting

human rights in order to advance one's own political

agenda is simply to blaspheme and betray the human

rights cause.

The United Nations should vigorously encourage

dialogues and exchanges among different civilizations

and countries on human rights and discourage

confrontation and exclusion — which are the general

trend of the human rights movement. In providing

humanitarian assistance, the United Nations should

give equal priority to the prevention of conflicts and

the protection of human rights, on the one hand, and to

the reduction and elimination of poverty and the

promotion of human development, on the other hand.

In this context, the United Nations should work in

close coordination and cooperation with the countries

and Governments concerned, instead of bypassing

them, and ensure human rights for the majority of the

people. Otherwise, such operations will trigger a

humanitarian disaster of a greater scale. Only when the

above-mentioned principles are abided by can the

United Nations play a useful role in protecting human

rights.

A few days ago, from this solemn podium

Chinese President Jiang Zemin proclaimed to the

whole world the Chinese people's firm determination

to turn China into a strong, prosperous and united

country with a high degree of democracy, and to

promote world peace and development. In the past 20

years and more since the inception of reform and

opening-up, China completed the first and second

phases of its modernization strategy. With the advent of

the new century, China will begin the third phase of the

strategy and enter a new stage of accelerated

modernization. Once China becomes a member of the

World Trade Organization (WTO), there will be major

breakthroughs in its opening-up. China will honour its

commitments and seriously fulfil its obligations, while

enjoying its rights.

Although there will be difficulties, risks and

challenges on the road ahead, China is capable of

removing every obstacle and achieving its grand

objective of modernization. China will unswervingly

stick to its independent foreign policy of peace and

further develop its friendly relations with the rest of the

world on the basis of the five principles of peaceful

coexistence. A strong and developed China will not

only benefit more than a billion Chinese people but

also serve prosperity and progress worldwide.

To resolve the question of Taiwan once and for all

and complete the reunification of the motherland is a

shared aspiration of the entire Chinese people,

including our Taiwan compatriots. Adherence to the

8

principle of peaceful reunification and one country, two

systems in resolving the Taiwan question will serve the

development of the two sides on either side of the

straits, contribute to amity and unity among

compatriots on both sides, and facilitate peace and

stability in the Asia-Pacific region. The Chinese

Government and people have committed themselves

more strongly than anyone else to a peaceful

reunification. They have demonstrated the utmost

sincerity and made the greatest efforts to this end. We

are convinced that — with the concerted efforts of the

entire Chinese people, including those living in

Taiwan — China will be able to realize its complete

reunification at an earlier date.

We are entrusted with the important task of

charting a course for mankind for the coming century.

Let us join hands and work together to build a more

secure, prosperous and progressive world in the new

century.