The United Nations raised the five-star red flag for the first time 50 years ago! The former deputy foreign minister recalled cooperating with the "poor buddies" to curb hegemony: the veto power also belongs to you

Source: World Wide Web

[Global Times-Global Network Report Reporter Zhao Juezhen, Lin Xiaoyi, Pang Yue] On November 1, 1971, the national flag of the People's Republic of China was hoisted at the United Nations Headquarters for the first time. On October 25 not long ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority of 76 votes in favor, 35 votes against, and 17 abstentions, deciding to restore all rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations and to recognize the government representative of the People’s Republic of China It is the only legal representative of China in the United Nations.

In November of the same year, the first United Nations delegation of the People's Republic of China left for New York, including Zhou Nan, who later became the vice minister of foreign affairs, the head of the Chinese delegation to the Sino-British Hong Kong negotiations, and the director of the Hong Kong branch of Xinhua News Agency. From 1971 to 1981, Zhou Nan worked in New York as the first batch of Chinese diplomats stationed in the United Nations for ten years. He recalled in an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Global Times recently that China’s restoration of its legal seat in the United Nations was a result of changes in the international situation and national independence. China’s return to the United Nations has contributed to the international community’s efforts to maintain peace and justice and oppose hegemony. Zhou Nan said that China is already a major supporter of the United Nations, and the future cooperation between China and the United Nations "has an infinitely bright future."

Global Times: Please recall the scene when China regained its legal seat in the United Nations in 1971.

Zhou Nan: At that time, China was able to restore its legal seat in the United Nations. There were two things that were not expected: the Americans did not expect it, and we did not expect it.

The idea of ​​the Americans at the time was to delay for a year as long as possible. When Kissinger (visited China in October 1971) was leaving, he said that you will not be able to enter (the United Nations) this year, but you may be able to enter next year. He meant that it would be a year if it could be delayed, but he also knew that it would not last long.

In fact, we didn't expect it ourselves. Chairman Mao said to Qiao Guanhua and others before the UN delegation left, "There are two major victories this year. One is Lin Biao's self-destruction, and the other is the restoration of his legal seat in the United Nations. I did not expect these two major victories."

At that time we were watching TV, the first vote of the UN General Assembly to restore China's legal seat was to break the so-called "important issues". The issue of restoring China's legal seat as an "important issue" is a trick played by the United States and Japan. If passed, a 2/3 vote is needed to restore China's legal seat. The main reason for raising "important issues" is that 1/2 cannot be stopped. Even if it is 2/3, the supporters (in the United States) are decreasing year by year, and the opponents are constantly increasing.

Once 2/3 is broken, only 1/2 of the vote is needed to restore China's legal seat. So as soon as the final vote was passed, the audience boiled. Representatives of Asian and African countries all cheered and applauded, the most prominent being Salim, the representative of Tanzania. We are very familiar with Salim. He used to be the ambassador to China, Tanzania's permanent representative to the United Nations, and the foreign minister and prime minister of Tanzania. He has deep feelings for China. In the video, Salim was dancing relatively high and dancing. The American media said that he was dancing in the venue and hated him deeply.

I saw an interview recently. A reporter asked Salim, Western media said you were dancing at the time. Salim said: "So what if I dance? If I have the opportunity, I will dance again. Unfortunately, there was no African waist drum team to invite accompaniment." He was indeed a tough guy and a true friend.

Global Times: You also mentioned that many people did not expect China to be able to restore its legal seat in the United Nations in 1971. Looking back, why did the turning point happen in 1971?

Zhou Nan: When Nixon left his visit to China, he said that his 7-day visit changed the world. Chairman Mao said: "Did he change the world? I think the world changed him."

What changes in the world order at that time changed Nixon and the United Nations? One is that our "two bombs and one satellite" have gone to the sky, and our strength has increased. There is also a national independence movement that we have supported these "poor buddies" for many years. They are independent one by one, thank us very much.

With the development of the international situation, especially the trend of national independence movements in the third world countries is getting stronger and stronger. After the Bandung Conference in 1955, the national independence movements in Asia and Africa, especially in Africa, developed rapidly. The composition of the United Nations is also changing. In the 1950s, the United Nations had just been established and was still under the control of the United States. At that time, there were not many countries in the United Nations, except for the United States and Europe, which stood together, and Latin America, which they could control, and sporadic Asian countries.

Later, African countries became independent one after another, and the United Nations increased a large number of members. These newly joined African "poor buddies" generally support us, so it is becoming more and more difficult for the United States to control the United Nations. Chairman Mao said that it was mainly the "poor buddies" from developing countries, especially African countries, who brought us into (the United Nations).

Another point is that Kissinger’s secret visit to China and Nixon’s upcoming visit to China came out during the meeting. It turned out that some countries under the command of the United States were awakened: You let us be cannon fodder, but you yourself secretly went to fight with China” Hug", we are not suitable for this kind of "bad guy", and they have changed their voting attitudes one after another.

Global Times: What is the significance of China’s restoration of its legal seat in the United Nations in 1971, and what impact did it have on the international situation at that time?

Zhou Nan: The changes in the world situation and the world pattern have helped us restore our seat in the United Nations. After we resumed our seats, we united with the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and other countries, held high the banner of opposing colonialism and hegemonism, supported the national independence movement and developed the national economy. Form a broad anti-colonial and anti-hegemony united front, increase the aspirations of the third world countries, curb the prestige of hegemony, and thus promote the development of the world situation in a direction that is more beneficial to the third world countries.

We say to the third world countries that our veto power does not only belong to us, it also belongs to you. We vote for you when needed.

A prominent example is the re-election of the UN Secretary-General. The candidate supported by us and third world countries is Salim of Tanzania. Americans who harbored a grudge against Salem's "dancing" incident were firmly opposed and put forward their candidates. He vetoed it once we mentioned it, and we vetoed it once they mentioned it, forming a veto battle between the two sides. At that time, in the Security Council, our seats were relatively close to those of the United States. A counselor in the United States asked me, when will you veto it? I replied that one day you veto Salem, we will veto you one day. We will stay with you till the end. The matter was deadlocked. Later, some neutral countries began to mediate and proposed de Cuellar as the candidate for secretary-general. For de Cuellar from Peru, both sides were acceptable and the problem was resolved.

So our veto power serves the third world and developing countries.

This one is dialectical. Changes in the international situation prompted China to resume its seat in the United Nations. China's accession in turn greatly increased the strength and morale of third world countries, supported non-aligned countries and developing countries, and promoted further changes in the world situation. Throughout the 1970s, the United Nations was booming. Even at the request of African countries, the Security Council moved to an African country for a meeting, specifically supporting the national independence of African countries on the spot. Another meeting was held in Panama to support Panama's recovery of sovereignty over the Panama Canal from the United States.

Global Times: You worked in the United Nations for ten years (1971-1981). What events do you remember most?

Zhou Nan: The delegation (November 1971) arrived in New York, and the attention of the American people and the media was overwhelming, and every little thing about the delegation could be published in the newspapers. There are also American college students from all over the world who went to the Roosevelt Hotel in New York where we lived to demonstrate the Model UN (Model United Nations).

When I was working at the United Nations, I often encountered proposals from developing countries that were rejected in the Security Council, but they still had to be submitted to the General Assembly for a vote, where they often received overwhelming support. Although the resolutions of the General Assembly are not legally binding, they are effective in creating public opinion, and many developing countries are accustomed to this method.

When I first arrived at the United Nations, Bush Sr. was the permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, then Sculley, and then Monikhan. Once, a resolution opposed by the United States in the Security Council was passed in the General Assembly, and Monikhan shouted angrily in front of the public, "This is the tyranny of the majority."

The United States also has a majority in the United Nations. At that time, this is "democracy" and "the minority obeys the majority". Now that the majority cannot be controlled, it is said to be the "tyranny" of the majority. There are so many contradictory things like this.

After getting acquainted at the United Nations, I would also joke privately with representatives of some countries. Once an African country launched a proposal to oppose racial oppression and support national independence. Of course the United States is against it, and the United Kingdom is also against it. I joked with the representative of the United Kingdom at the time, how your British Empire always follows behind the United States. He told the truth: You don't know that we, the UK, have a lot of investment in South Africa, how can we oppose ourselves. This shows that "democracy, freedom, human rights, and justice" (what they say) are hypocritical.

A more obvious example is the war in Iraq. The United States struggled to persuade its allies in the Security Council to support him. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who just passed away, went to the UN Security Council and said that the investigation found that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and asked the UN to take action. Without the authorization of the Security Council, this (the Iraq War) itself is illegal.

As far as the United States is concerned, it should use the United Nations as much as possible when it has the majority, and adopt a negative attitude when it cannot grasp it. The United States owes the most dues to the United Nations, and former President Trump directly withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council. After Biden was elected president, he felt that something was wrong and rejoined in order to cause trouble from within.

Global Times: What are your expectations for future cooperation between China and the United Nations?

Zhou Nan: In the future, we still need to rely on the further development of national power, so that our influence will be greater. China is now a major supporter of the United Nations. We support the United Nations, uphold the UN Charter, support the authority of the United Nations, pursue multilateralism instead of unilateralism, and maintain international peace and justice. In short, if you get more help, you will be invincible if you earnestly implement the various tasks proposed in the chairman's speech.

We promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and the United Nations is also a platform. It can be said that the future is infinitely bright.

This article comes from [Global Network], and only represents the author's point of view. The national party media information public platform provides information release and dissemination services.

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