Mr. President,
The Chinese Delegation
wishes to thank the Secretary-General for his reports on the
Work of the Organization and on Implementation of Millennium
Declaration. The reports have reviewed the work in different
areas carried out by our Organization over the past year and
highlighted the challenges still facing us. They also put
forward many thought-provoking ideas. We need to give
further attentive study and in-depth consideration to the
two reports. I now wish to make the following remarks in
relation to the two reports.
1. The role of the
United Nations. In his report on implementation of the
Millennium Declaration, the Secretary-General pointed out
that collective security mechanism is the best response to
both old and new challenges. This view is undoubtedly shared
by the vast number of Member States. During the general
debate of the current session, almost all the countries have
affirmed the irreplaceable role played by the United Nations
in todays world affairs and the need to maintain and
strengthen it. Development of the international
situation over the past year has proved once again that
multilateral approach with the United Nations at its core
cannot be cast aside in removing different kinds of security
threats facing the world and in achieving common
development. It is in the common interests of all countries
to safeguard the authority of the United Nations. Under the
current circumstances, we should continue to adhere to and
earnestly implement the purposes and principles of the UN
Charter and make active endeavor to enhance democracy and
the rule of law in international
relations.
China supports the United Nations in
conducting necessary and appropriate reforms so as to keep
pace with the times. These reforms should be aimed at
improving the efficiency of our Organization and increasing
its capacity to respond to various challenges and promote
economic and social development, thus better enabling the
United Nations to meet the needs of the 21st century. We
welcome the proposal of the Secretary-General to establish a
High-level Panel of eminent personalities. The Chinese
Delegation will continue to take an active part in
discussions on reform of the General Assembly, the Security
Council and the Economic and Social Council in a
constructive manner.
2. Peace and Security. As
is stated in the work report, the past year has been a
trying year for the United Nations. The war in Iraq at the
beginning of the year posed a serious challenge to the
collective security mechanism represented by the United
Nations. Though the war has come to an end, peace is still a
far cry. We hope to see the restoration of security and
stability in Iraq and the resumption of the exercise of
sovereignty by the Iraqi people at an early date. We are in
favor of adopting a new resolution by the Security Council
that is effective and supported by all sides. The resolution
should set the timetable for the political process in Iraq
and explicitly state the important role played by the United
Nations.
The situation between Israel and
Palestine remains a source of concern. The peace process
over the past year has witnessed ups and downs. The history
of the Middle East has shown that to counter violence with
violence will only lead to a dead end. Negotiations and
dialogues are the only way out. We urge Israel and Palestine
to stop violence and all acts that may increase the tension,
resume talks as early as possible and create conditions for
continued implementation of the Road Map.
In Africa, positive progress has been made in
the settlement of such questions as the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and Liberia. However, it is still a long-term
and arduous task to achieve peace in some areas of Africa.
The international community should attach greater importance
to the conflicts in Africa and provide stronger support to
peace-keeping operations there.
We are still
confronted by terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction. Effective solution requires consistent
measures that can touch their root cause. Greater efforts
through international cooperation should also be made on the
basis of the purposes and principles of the UN
Charter.
3. Development. To achieve
coordinated, balanced and common development in the world
and to attain lasting peace and stability, it is vital to
implement millennium development goals. I would like to
share my views with you on this
question.
First, globalization should be
managed and geared towards universal enjoyment of benefits
by all countries through joint participation. The United
Nations should actively accelerate reforms, improve
international financial system, establish a more open and
fair multilateral trade system, reinforce its role of
coordination in the field of development and promote the
right of participation and decision making of the developing
countries.
Second, the United Nations should
give priority to development and make efforts to establish a
culture of development, strengthen development agencies and
ensure development funds. The United Nations should make
financial aid, technical transfer, capacity building, market
access and poverty elimination key areas of cooperation and
strengthen cooperation and partnership of government,
private sector and civil society so as to implement
development goals in a comprehensive and balanced manner.
Third, the key to accelerating the
implementation of millennium development goals lies in a
fair and reasonable evaluation framework. This framework
should both evaluate the progress in different countries and
supervise and evaluate the fulfillment of development aid
commitment. We support the proposals made by the
Secretary-General on encouraging the developed countries to
set a timetable for fulfilling their commitments on trade,
debt relief and aid. We also support the United Nations in
holding an important conference in 2005 to comprehensively
evaluate the progress in implementing millennium development
goals.
4. Public health. In the first half of
this year, the outbreak of SARS in some regions and
countries shows once again that all countries should make
continued efforts to consolidate public health undertakings.
The international community should strengthen cooperation to
improve global emergency mechanism. We call on all countries
to support the incorporation of global public health
capacity building in UN development programs and other plans
and enhance international and regional cooperation. The
Chinese Delegation will submit a draft resolution on this
question at the current GA session. We hope that it will
receive support from all countries.
Mr.
President,
As you rightly pointed out at the
opening session, the current GA session is faced with many
challenges and arduous tasks. The Chinese side supports your
vision for the work of the current session and agrees with
you that the General Assembly should be action-oriented. The
Chinese side supports strengthened authority and role of the
General Assembly. We will take an active part in the Working
Group on Revitalization of the General Assembly. We believe
that the current GA session will achieve positive results
through concerted efforts.
Thank you, Mr. President.