Not long ago, on October 25, the United Nations General Assembly passed 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 recognize th

Source: Global Times-Global Network

[Global Times-Global Network Report Reporter Zhao Juezhang Lin Xiaoyi Pang Yue] On November 1, 1971, the national flag of the People's Republic of China was raised at the United Nations headquarters for the first time. Not long ago, on October 25, the United Nations General Assembly passed 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 recognize that the representative of the Government of the People's Republic of China is China's only legal representative at the United Nations.

In November of the same year, the first United Nations delegation of the People's Republic of China set off for New York, including Zhou Nan, who later became Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, head of the Chinese delegation to negotiate the Sino-UK issues, and president of the Hong Kong Branch of Xinhua News Agency. From 1971 to 1981, Zhou Nan worked in New York as one of China's first diplomats to the United Nations for ten years. In an interview with a Global Times reporter, he recalled that China's restoration of the legitimate seat of the United Nations was driven by the background of changes in the international situation and the formation of a wave of national independence movement, and China's return to the United Nations has contributed to the international community's maintenance of peace and justice and opposition to 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 is "unlimited bright."

Zhou Nan recently interviewed a Global Times reporter in Beijing

Global Times: Please recall the scene when China restored its legal seat in the United Nations in 1971. Zhou Nan: There were two unpredictable cases in which China was able to restore the legal seat of the United Nations: Americans did not expect it, nor did we expect it.

The Americans thought at that time that they could delay it for a year. When Kissinger (visiting China in October 1971) left, he said that you can't join the United Nations this year, and it's possible next year. He means that it can be delayed for a year, but he also knows that it won't be delayed for a long time.

actually didn't expect it myself. Before leaving the United Nations delegation, Chairman Mao told Qiao Guanhua and others, "There are two major victories this year, one is Lin Biao's self-destruction, and the other is the restoration of the legal seat of the United Nations. I did not expect these two major victories."

At that time, we watched TV. The first vote for the UN General Assembly to restore China's legal seat was to break the so-called "important issue." Taking the issue of restoring China's legal seat as an "important issue" is a trick played by the United States and Japan. If it is passed, then 2/3 of the consent votes are required to restore China's legal seat. The main reason why "important issues" are raised is that 1/2 can't stop them. Even for 2/3, the number of supporters (in the United States) is decreasing year by year, and the number of opponents continues to increase.

Once the 2/3 is broken, it only takes 1/2 to restore the vote to legal seats in China. So once the final vote was passed, the audience was in full swing. Representatives of Asian and African countries cheered and applauded, and the most prominent one was Tanzania's representative Salim. We are very familiar with Salim. He once served as ambassador to China. He was Tanzania's permanent representative to the United Nations at that time. He also served as Tanzanian Foreign Minister and Prime Minister, and had a deep relationship with China. In the video, Salim danced high and danced with his hands. The American media said that he was dancing in the venue and hated him to the core.

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

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

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

What changes had happened in the world pattern at that time that changed Nixon and the United Nations? One is that our "two bombs and one satellite" has entered the sky and our strength has increased. Another is the national independence movement that we have supported these "poor buddies" for many years. They are all independent, thanks very much.

With the development of the international situation, especially the national independence movement in third world countries is becoming more and more powerful.After the Bandung Conference in 1955, the national independence movement in Asia, Africa, and especially Africa developed rapidly. The composition of the United Nations is also changing. In the 1950s, the United Nations was just established and was still under control of the United States. At that time, there were not many countries in the United Nations. In addition to the United States, Europe and other countries, there were Latin America that they could control and sporadic Asian countries.

Later, African countries became independent one after another, and the United Nations added a large number of members. The newly joined African "poor buddies" generally support us, so it is becoming increasingly difficult for the United States to control the United Nations. Chairman Mao said that it is mainly because of the "poor buddies" in developing countries, especially African countries, that have brought us into (United Nations).

Another thing is that during the meeting, news came that Kissinger secretly visited China and Nixon also wanted to visit China. It turned out that some countries under the command of the United States had realized: It turned out that you asked us to be cannon fodder, but you secretly "embrace" China. We are not good at such "bad people", and they have changed their voting attitude one after another.

China's first UN delegation head Qiao Guanhua (second from left), "meeted" Bush, then Permanent Representative to the United Nations at the time, (first from right). The fourth left in the picture is Zhou Nan.

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

Zhou Nan: Changes in the world situation and changes in the world pattern have helped us restore our seats in the United Nations. After we restored our seats, we united countries such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the G77 and other countries to hold high the banner of opposing colonialism and hegemony, support the national independence movement and develop the national economy. Form a broad anti-colonial and anti-hegemony united front, increase the ambition of third world countries, curb the majesty of hegemony, and thus promote the development of the world situation in a direction that is more conducive to third world countries.

We and the third world countries say that our veto power not only belongs to us, but also to you. When needed, we vote for you.

Zhou Nan (front row) attended the meeting at the United Nations

A prominent example is the re-election of the UN Secretary-General, and the candidate we and the third world countries support are Salim of Tanzania. Americans who hold grudges against Salem's "Dancing" incident firmly objected and raised their candidates. We mentioned that he rejected it once, and they mentioned that we rejected it once, forming a veto battle between the two sides. At that time, we were in the Security Council, and our seats were relatively close to the United States. A counselor from the United States asked me, when will you reject it? I replied, you reject Salim's day, and we also reject your day. We will accompany you to the end. This matter was stalemate, and later, some neutral countries began to mediate and proposed De Queliar as the candidate for Secretary-General. For Dequelia from Peru, both aspects are acceptable and the problem is solved.

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

This is dialectical. Changes in the international situation have prompted China to restore its seat in the United Nations. China's joining has 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 African countries for a meeting, specifically supporting the national independence of African countries on site. Another meeting was held in Panama to support Panama to regain the sovereignty of the Panama Canal from the United States.

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

Zhou Nan: delegation (November 1971) arrived in New York. The American people and the media paid attention to us were overwhelming, and the delegation could enter the newspaper for every little thing. There are also American college students from all over the world to the Roosevelt Hotel we stayed in New York to showcase Model UN (Simulation United Nations).

When I worked at the United Nations, I often encountered proposals from developing countries being rejected by the Security Council, but they still had to submit them to the General Assembly for voting, where they often achieved overwhelming majority support.Although the resolutions of the Congress are not legally binding, they are effective in creating public opinion, and many developing countries are used to this method.

When I first arrived at the United Nations, Bush was the permanent representative of the United Nations, then Scully, and then Monikhan. Once the resolution opposed by the United States in the Security Council was passed at the conference, and Moni Khan shouted in a panic, "This is the tyranny of the majority."

When the United States also had a majority in the United Nations, this was "democracy" and "the minority obeyed the majority". Now that you can't master the majority, it's the "tyranny" of the majority. There are many such contradictory things.

After getting familiar with the United Nations, I will also joke with representatives from some countries in private. Once, African countries launched a proposal to oppose racial oppression and support national independence. Of course, the United States opposed it, and the United Kingdom also opposed it. I joked with the British representative at that time, why did your British Empire always follow the American butt? He told the truth: You don’t know that our UK has a lot of investment in South Africa, how can we oppose ourselves? What does this mean (what they say) "democracy, freedom, human rights, and justice" are all hypocritical.

A more obvious example is the Iraq War. The United States tried to convince the Security Council's allies to support him at the time. Former US Secretary of State Powell, who had just passed away, went to the UN Security Council and said that the investigation found that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, demanded that the United Nations take action, and also put a slide show, but France and other countries did not support it, so the United States went alone. Without the authorization of the Council, this (the Iraq War) itself is illegal.

For the United States, when mastering the majority, try to make use of the United Nations. When it cannot master it, adopt a negative attitude, and withdraw if it doesn’t work, or delay, or even avoid paying membership fees or cheating. The United States owes the most UN membership dues, and former President Trump also directly withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council. After Biden was elected president, he felt something was wrong and joined again to make trouble from the inside.

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

Zhou Nan: In the future, we will still 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, and do not engage in unilateralism, and maintain international peace and justice. In short, if you get the truth and help others, and conscientiously implement the tasks proposed in President Xi’s speech, you will be invincible.

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.