1、1Call for a United World“The international community should continue to go forward hand in hand.” ?C President Hu Jintao, September 23, 2009, at the General Debate of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly THE General Debate is the highest platform of the UN General Assembly. During the 64th se
2、ssion, over 140 state leaders spoke on the theme: “Effective responses to the global crises ?C strengthening multilateralism and dialogue among civilizations for international peace, security and development.” President Hu made a speech entitled “Work Concertedly Toward the Future,” specifying China
3、s views on current international situations and major global and regional issues. He stated, “Faced with unprecedented opportunities and challenges, the international community should continue to go forward hand in hand, committed to peace, development, cooperation and the principles of win-win and
4、tolerance; it should push for the construction of a harmonious world marked 2by lasting peace and common prosperity, and work unremittingly for the lofty cause of peace and the development of all mankind.” Retrospective Since China returned to the international community, its state leaders have give
5、n six speeches at the United Nations, conveying the countrys views and its standpoints on international affairs and important global and regional issues. In April 1974, then Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping led a Chinese delegation to the Sixth Special Session of the UN General Assembly and delivered a sp
6、eech at the General Debate, where he elaborated on Chairman Mao Zedongs “Three Worlds” theory. Deng stated that China belonged to the Third World; it would stand firmly against any form of hegemony, and would never exercise hegemony itself. On behalf of China, Deng proposed the establishment of a ne
7、w international order. In October 1995, President Jiang Zemin went to New York and attended the Special Commemorative Meeting of the UN General Assembly for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. He called on member countries to work together to 3build a new international econom
8、ic relationship marked by mutual benefits and complementarity, to create a harmonious international environment that allows member countries the freedom of choice, and to pursue similarities but also tolerate differences, so that the world could tackle in concert challenges to the existence and deve
9、lopment of humankind. In September 2000, Jiang Zemin spoke again at the UN Millennium Summit and pushed for a stronger role for the United Nations. He called for necessary and rational reforms of the UN and its Security Council and the establishment of a just and reasonable international political a
10、nd economic order. He also advocated common development and prosperity for all the member countries during the course of economic globalization. In September 2005, President Hu Jintao spoke at the summit on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, stressing that the UN Securi
11、ty Council plays an indispensable role in resolving crucial issues concerning world peace and security. On September 22, 2009, when President Hu Jintao attended the opening ceremony of the UN Summit on Climate Change, he pointed out that the worlds response to this was in the common interests of all
12、 countries and voiced Chinas 4commitment to tackling the issue. Relationship-building China and the United Nations went through a precarious period in their work relations. China was a founding member of the United Nations, but after new China was founded in 1949, the United States and other Western
13、 countries exercised a policy of isolation with respect to the PRC, depriving it of its legitimate right to a seat in the UN due to different ideological systems and the general environment of the Cold War. Through unremitting efforts over 20 years, China regained its legitimate rights in the United
14、 Nations at the 26th General Assembly in October 1971. Since then, it has actively conducted multilateral diplomatic activities centered round the United Nations. China is supportive of UN reform, as expressed by Jiang Zemin at the 2000 Millennium Summit. In June 2005 the Chinese government publishe
15、d its views on possible reforms, emphasizing the missions of promoting multilateralism, enhancing the authority and efficiency of the United Nations and boosting its capacity to answer new threats and challenges posed by the 5modern world. That the canon and principles of the original UN Charter sho
16、uld be maintained is a given, but it should also meet as much as it can the demands and concerns of all its member countries, particularly its numerous developing members. On the issue of the Security Council reform ?C the core of the UN reform, China also believes that the councils authority and ef
17、ficiency to answer global threats should be enhanced, and that priority should be given to enlarging the representation of developing countries on the principle of balancing regional voices and those of different cultures and civilizations. In September 2005, President Hu Jintao made four reform pro
18、posals at the UN 60th Anniversary Summit: perseverance with multilateralism to realize common security; perseverance with cooperation for mutual benefit to realize common prosperity; adherence to the spirit of tolerance to build a harmonious world; and continuance of an active and steady policy to p
19、romote the UN reform. As a permanent member of the Security Council, China has always pushed for the UNs leading role in resolving important issues concerning world peace and security. It is active in peacekeeping missions that are in compliance with the UN Charter and anti-piracy actions under the
20、framework of the 6Security Council resolutions. In December 1988, China joined the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, and sent its first group of military observers to the UN Truce Supervision Organization in 1990. In April 1992, it dispatched its first peacekeeping force of 400 men to
21、 Cambodia. In December 2001, China set up a peacekeeping affairs office under the Ministry of National Defense to take charge of coordination and management of Chinese military participation in UN peacekeeping operations. Since 1990 China has sent more than 10,000 troops to 18 peacekeeping operation
22、s of the United Nations ?C the largest in number among the Security Council permanent member countries. In December 2008, authorized by the UN Security Council, the Chinese Navy dispatched a fleet on escort mission in the Aden Gulf and waters off the Somali coast. On November 6, 2009, the Ministry o
23、f National Defense called an international cooperation and coordination meeting on the escort mission in the Aden Gulf. Participants included Russia, Japan, India, EU Navy, Multi-national Navy Forces, NATO and other countries and international organizations that were carrying independent or joint es
24、cort operations. As China gets increasingly involved in UN missions, the 7United Nations is realizing Chinas growing importance in international affairs. When visiting the peacekeeping training center under the Chinese Ministry of Public Security in October 2004, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan rema
25、rked that Chinas involvement would add a new and important force to UN peacekeeping missions. In May 2006, he said during a speech at Peking University that Chinas relations with the United Nations were significant to the future of the organization. When meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao in July 2009,
26、 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the UN hoped to strengthen its cooperation with China and work with it to resolve the issues and challenges of the current international financial crisis, climate change and food security, and various regional conflicts, in order to propel the fulfillment of
27、its millennium development goals. Chinas actions on climate change have won the recognition of the international community as well. Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, once predicted that by the time Chinese President Hu Jintao spoke at the UN Climate Change Summit, China would have become the “worlds leader” in coping with climate change.
