ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT PAYS OFFICIAL VISIT TO CHINA, 27-31 MAY

Press Release
GA/SM/166

ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT PAYS OFFICIAL VISIT TO CHINA, 27-31 MAY

Meets with Chinese Premier, Foreign Minister and Other Senior Officials

The President of the General Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, returned to New York on Wednesday from a five-day official visit to China. He visited Beijing, as well as the Special Administrative Regions of Macau and Hong Kong.

In Beijing, the President held talks with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and Deputy Foreign Minister Ji Peiding. He also delivered an address to the Foreign Affairs College of China, which conferred on him the title of honorary professor.

In Macau, the President met with Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah and with Yuan Tao, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. In Hong Kong, he held talks with the Chief Secretary for Administration, Anson Chan, and with Deputy Commissioner Tang Guoqiang of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Arriving in Beijing on 28 May, where he was a guest at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the Assembly President held extensive talks with Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on bilateral and multilateral issues. The President spoke about Africa, which he said was “burning and bleeding because of conflicts within and between countries”, citing the situations in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Eritrea and Sierra Leone. The good news out of Africa, he said, was the growing regional cooperation among the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) nations, countries in East Africa, positive political developments in North Africa, including in Libya, as well as in Morocco regarding the question of Western Sahara. He also talked about economic and commercial relations between China and Namibia, and about China’s impending World Trade Organization (WTO) membership.

On specific United Nations issues, the President spoke about the need to respect the Charter and to uphold the authority of the Security Council, which was not the case when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces attacked the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; about his vigorous opposition to the notion of humanitarian intervention, which he saw as contravening the sanctity of the Charter and the sovereignty of States; about the Beijing +5 Special Session on Women, to be followed by the Copenhagen +5 Special Session on Social Development; and about what he saw as the major task for the remainder of his presidency, namely, the preparations for the Millennium Summit in September, including its outcome document.

Responding, Mr. Tang said China believed that Africa was a continent of hope, particularly in this century. China had always pursued an independent policy of peace, and its relationship with Africa was an important component.

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China was deeply concerned about the conflicts in Africa. Some of the factors -- ethnic, religious and territorial -- were issues left over from history, but others stemmed from interference by Western Powers. He cited the efforts taken by the Security Council in each of the countries mentioned by the Assembly President.

Foreign Minister Tang said the United Nations was the most widely representative and intergovernmental organization. The world was undergoing changes, and in order to deal with the problems and new challenges, the role of the United Nations was essential and irreplaceable, and must be strengthened. For that to occur, the purposes and principles of the Charter must be maintained and strengthened, as must the authority of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security; and all countries should be entitled to equal participation in United Nations affairs.

He said President Jiang Zemin attached the greatest importance to the Millennium Summit and intended to head the Chinese delegation. To ensure the success of the Summit, it was important to heed the views of the developing countries, and the Assembly President could play a role in ensuring that. The outcome document should be brief, precise and forward-looking, and should strengthen the Organization. China attached great importance to the two Special Sessions, on Women and Social Development. It would adopt a very constructive approach and hoped for positive results.

Foreign Minister Tang said China believed that the United Nations Charter and other norms of international law must be upheld. Consequently, China was firmly opposed to humanitarian intervention, which it saw as hypocritical and extremely dangerous, leading to interference in the internal affairs of States, at will. China, he continued, stood for the universality of human rights. No country had perfect human rights, and it was important to constantly improve on them. China also supported dialogue on human rights, and was so engaged with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Developing countries should cooperate closely on this issue of human rights and other burning issues.

To meet the requirements of change in the twenty-first century and strengthen solidarity with African countries, Foreign Minister Tang said China would host a Sino-African Forum, to which the Foreign Minister of Namibia was invited.

At a banquet hosted by Minister Tang, he and the Assembly President continued an exchange of views on such topics as the “Group of 77” developing countries and China debt cancellation, China-Japan relations and the situation in Myanmar. Concerning Taiwan, Mr. Tang said that so long as Taiwan accepted the “One China policy”, any other issue could be discussed. The Assembly President said Taiwan was engaged in “chequebook diplomacy” aimed at buying the support of developing countries. He cautioned China to remain vigilant, at the United Nations, against the efforts to inscribe the issue of Taiwan on the Assembly’s agenda.

On 29 May, the Assembly President met with Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. He reviewed, for the Premier, the topics he had discussed with Foreign Minister Tang, including the conflicts afflicting Africa, the forthcoming activities of the Assembly, as well as China’s commitment to strengthening the United Nations role.

Prime Minister Zhu said China was deeply concerned about the conflicts in Africa, where women and children were the most affected victims, and hoped that peace, development and tranquillity could take root. China would continue to do its part in achieving those objectives. China believed that peace and stability in Africa were essential, and that the international community should help Africa without conditions, while respecting the sovereignty of African States. China was a trustworthy friend of Africa, and would always make its contribution to peace and prosperity there. In that connection, China would be hosting the Sino-Africa Forum in October.

Later that evening, the Assembly President was the honoured guest at a banquet hosted by China’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ji Peiding, at the St. Regis Beijing.

The President had met, earlier on 29 May, with African Ambassadors to China. He told them that Africans had reason to be ashamed of what was happening in their continent. While it was true that some of the conflicts now bleeding and burning Africa had their roots in colonialism, there was no reason why the Africans, at this point in time, could not demonstrate wisdom and leadership and not fall prey to outside manipulations. There was no reason for the wars now raging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sierra Leone or Burundi, he said. Long before the decolonization process started, Africans knew that solidarity was important, that sustainable development would depend on unity at home and that African family as a whole was essential. “A family doesn’t act the way people are behaving in Africa today”, he observed.

On the positive side, the President said, political, economic, constitutional and legal reforms were under way, and the people were being mobilized for development in individual countries. Regional and subregional organizations were also working to promote trade and security cooperation, and he cited the efforts of the Organization of African Unity’s Central Organ in conflict prevention and mediation.

He said many people had expressed the wish that the twenty-first century would be the African century. Today, an African was United Nations Secretary- General, one was President of the General Assembly, another was Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement and still another chaired the Group of 77. Collectively, they had tried to project a positive image of Africa at various forums, including at the recent South Summit in Havana, Cuba, and they intended to continue along this path of trying to project Africa’s positive image in world issues as one of renaissance and rebirth. At the Security Council, many meetings had been convened to consider Africa’s worthy causes. The President also reported to the ambassadors on the upcoming Assembly Special Sessions on Women and Social Development, and what he characterized as “the main event of the year”, namely, the Millennium Summit, 6-8 September, where world leaders were expected to converge to agree how best the United Nations could be strengthened to secure the goals of the Charter and how to reform the United Nations to make it more responsive. Finally, he called on African Governments to cooperate with China to make the Sino-African Forum a resounding success, thereby strengthening cooperative relations in all fields of mutual interest.

On 30 May, the final day of his visit to Beijing, the Assembly President was greeted by the President of the Foreign Affairs College of China, Ambassador Yang Fuchang. He addressed the faculty and students on the current international situation and on China-Namibia relations, after which Mr. Yang conferred on the President the title of Honorary Professor and awarded him a Certificate of Honorary Professorship, “in recognition of the outstanding research and remarkable

contribution in the field of diplomacy and international relations by Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Namibia and President of the fifty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly”.

In his address, the Assembly President said the current state of the world could hardly be characterized as being safer, kinder or more cooperative in terms of peace, human security and sustainable development. That was because there were lingering and hostile cold war-related attitudes, strategic rivalries and might- makes-right inspired projections of power. In spite of remarkable human progress and unprecedented economic growth, technological breakthroughs, information technology and increasing generation of wealth, and notwithstanding the alleged promises of globalization, social disparities existed everywhere and poverty continued to grow to dangerous proportions even in industrialized and wealthier countries. This did not augur well for the so-called new world order. He believed that peoples everywhere saw the United Nations as the best place to find solutions that would remove from their minds and hearts wars, want and fear. The President then went on to state his position on globalization, poverty, debt cancellation, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, children and armed conflict, and humanitarian intervention. He also spoke about Namibia-China relations. (For the full text of the President’s statement, see Press Release GA/SM/168 of 1 June.)

The Foreign Affairs College of China is the sole institution of higher learning affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Its mission is to meet the country’s needs for well-trained diplomats, researchers and professional personnel in international relations, international economy and international law.

The President departed Beijing for Hong Kong in the afternoon on 30 May.

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