Fifty years in the UN
China plays crucial role in supporting organization, its sustainable development goals
On Oct 25, 1971, half a century ago, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758, which recognized “the representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations and that the People’s Republic of China is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council”.
Consistent with its status as a permanent member of the UN, the PRC has contributed to the strengthening of the organization and promoted international cooperation as a factor for peace and development.
It is the only one of the permanent members that does not have military forces deployed in other nations other than its 8,000 soldiers who make up the UN Peacekeeping Forces. It is also the second-largest contributor to the financing of that body.
Beijing establishes and forges intergovernmental relations based on mutual benefit and respect, regardless of the political character of the governments.
China advocates that the entire international community assumes responsibility for strengthening the UN and that a reform of the entire system, postponed for decades, should be undertaken to democratize the institution, reinforce multilateralism and increase its effectiveness.
It firmly defends the right of the self-determination of peoples and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and rejects any attempt at hegemony. Hegemony and unilateralism are practices incompatible with the principles of the UN and the objectives of building a world of peace.
It denounces all the attempts, of some groups of nations, to try and create parallel mechanisms to act outside the organization and promote a system of global governance alien to the principles and objectives of the UN.
China, centered on socialism with Chinese characteristics, shows the world the exceptional success of an economy that has gone from backwardness to a global leadership in just a few decades.
Its success in eliminating extreme poverty — achieving this goal in 2020,10 years before the 2030 goal set by the UN — has been taken by the UN as a reference.
China’s willingness to share its experience in the development of the industrial sector, trade liberalization and agricultural development is viewed by the UN as strategic contributions to humanity. China is now the world’s second-largest economy, and it is expected to be the largest in a few years.
The Chinese initiative presented and proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013 for a global partnership to build modern Silk Roads of connectivity is open to any country that wants to participate. The Belt and Road Initiative is an extraordinary contribution to the purposes of the UN since the huge global project to build muchneeded infrastructure and facilitate interconnection means development.
China’s international practice at the UN is based on non-interference, respect for national sovereignty, contributing to an environment of peace, not trying to export or impose models and values alien to the historical and cultural traditions of other peoples, and promoting a sustained global scenario in cooperation. Reinforcing multilateralism based on international law, stimulating respect for comprehensive human rights, promoting a green economy and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, are prerequisites for world peace.
With all this, China shows the way to consolidate the objectives set out 76 years ago in the UN Charter. These objectives are currently under threat from unilateral and confrontational policies.
The author is director of the Center for Analysis and Studies on China and Asia and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.