YouSaid · the spoken record

YIFRU

lines on the record: 356
first: 1961-09-24
most recent: 1969-09-24
sittings or episodes: 8
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“The sudden flare-up early in June of a full-scale war in the Middle East — which, considering its short duration, was singularly remarkable for its ferocity and the widespread catastrophe it brought to a whole region — has compounded a difficult situation which was already complicated by forces and passions released by two previous wars in less than twenty years involving the same countries. While the flame of war has been extinguished, thanks mainly to the timely intervention of the United Nations, the smoke released by it still hangs heavily and the embers are still burning. 142.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The underlying causes of the deterioration are, of course, many and varied. But as the report of the Secretary-General and statements in the General Assembly indicate, there is general agreement as to its apparent and immediate causes. 140. As all the combatants introduce more men, war material and sophisticated weapons, the hostilities in Viet-Nam are growing in intensity and ferocity, with the result that with each passing day an acceptable solution to the problem is getting more unattainable, while at the same time the ugly passions of hatred and revenge are spreading unchecked and the toll on the lives of combatants and civilians alike, and the general destruction and havoc brought about by the war, are increasing at a frightful rate. 141.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“On the contrary, if we go by present indications in the patterns of international behaviour, it will not be pessimistic for anyone to foresee an untoward movement away from the general détente which has been such a welcome development in international relations, and in the acceleration of which so much hope and faith have been placed by the nations of the world. 138. Thus, an examination of those causes which have held back that auspicious development should be the overriding concern of the United Nations at this session of the General Assembly. It is therefore in this spirit that I wish to add, to the accumulating reservoir of assessment flowing from the general debate, my Government's considered views concerning the general deterioration of the international situation. 139.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Looking back today at the post-war years, in the light of history, despite the many tribulations and agonizing moments of danger we have lived through, we all agree that there has been a gradual — even though at times hesitant — process of amelioration of conditions favouring peace. It seems, however, that in the last couple of years we have been hard put to it to see or discern a qualitative improvement in those conditions. That pause, moreover, does not seem to forebode better times.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“If the twenty-second session of the General Assembly, in keeping with the sober tone and assessment of the Secretary-General, is to fulfil an important function to the international community, beset at this time by a crisis of confidence, it cannot but engage in a critical exercise of self-analysis and introspection, in an atmosphere not only free from recrimination and a "holier than thou" attitude, but marked by dispassionate and reasoned exchanges of views inspired by our immense responsibility to the peoples of the world we represent, whose ardent desire for peace we know all too well. We cannot slacken our efforts for peace without being derelict in this great responsibility to our own peoples. 137.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“So dismal indeed have our achievements been that our highly esteemed Secretary-General, a person who is not easily given to excessive optimism nor to unrealistic pessimism, could only say to us in the introduction to his annual report that developments on the international scene in the past year have been discouraging. 136.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The more frank the Governments of Member States have been in the expression of their views at these annual sessions the more enhanced has their value undoubtedly been. At no time in the recent past, however, have we more reason than at this session of the Assembly to be most critical and searching in our assessment of the international situation, if only because we do not have very much this year to cheer about. 135. So little has in fact been registered in the past year in terms of positive achievements that this year's stock-taking might usefully and quite appropriately be devoted to some soul-searching and introspection.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“I wish also at this moment to pay a tribute to the great contribution which Ambassador Pazhwak made to the United Nations as President of the twenty-first session of the General Assembly, on whose shoulders fell the task of also guiding the Assembly at its fifth special and fifth emergency special sessions. Indeed, without his experienced guidance our work in one of the busiest years in the history of the United Nations would have been more difficult than it has been. 134. The general debates of the General Assembly, in which I am today privileged to participate, have in the years since the inception of the United Nations served the international community admirably. They have provided a widely attended forum for drawing up a balance-sheet of achievements against setbacks, hopes against disappointments.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“131. Mr. President, having had the good fortune of working with you within the framework of bilateral relations between our two countries, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate you upon your election to the high office of the Presidency of the twenty-second session of the General Assembly, and at the same time, to pay a tribute to your great abilities as a statesman and a diplomat. 132. That you, Sir, the Foreign Minister of a socialist country with which Ethiopia has had good relations over the years, and with which it is now enlarging the scope of its economic and political relations, as testified to by the recent exchange of official visits by our two Heads of State, should be President, is a source of great satisfaction to my Government. 133.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“My delegation does not offer ready solutions to the manifold problems that disturb mankind today. I must repeat that the key to these problems lies not in our hands, nor, indeed, in those of other small or medium-sized nations; it rests with the great Powers of today. It is fervently hoped by my nation, as, I am sure it is by other nations represented in this Assembly, that the great Powers, fully recognizing that the means for the well-being and progress of mankind — or its extinction — lie within their absolute grasp, will elect to fulfil their sacred responsibility towards their fellow-men, and ensure that future generations shall live in peace, security, economic abundance and social harmony.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“One of the most urgent, I hardly need remind this Assembly, certainly concerns the twin problems of nuclear proliferation and the continuing nuclear test explosions. It is the solemn duty of this Organization, as the one body evolved and created by men for the solution of common ills, to give this matter its immediate and most earnest attention. 42. Allow me to add here that all our objectives — political, social, cultural, and economic — can be achieved only under the aegis of the United Nations. Hence, it is imperative that the machinery of the United Nations for the implementation of our common goals should be further strengthened, and the Organization itself rendered a truly effective instrument for the fulfilment of the underlying principles of the Charter. 43.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“The idea is certainly not new, but one cannot help experiencing a quickening of the pulse, a feeling of joyful expectation, in reflecting that one day in the not too distant future the great and powerful of this world will heed the universal yearning and co-operate with one another to help to solve problems of food, population, housing and disease, and to eradicate the evils that limit and benight the mind of man — illiteracy, prejudice and bigotry born of ignorance and deprivation of the education which opens up new horizons to the world of art and imagination. 41. However, cognizant of the fact that everything worth endeavour in this world has its basis in hard facts and plain hard work, I feel that I must, in closing, turn once more to some specific considerations.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“It is the deep and abiding hope, the profound yearning, of all the peoples of this earth, especially those of the smaller nations, that the great Powers may instead of wasting their resources and energies in hostilities towards one another, pool these resources and energies for the benefit of lesser developed nations.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“The great Powers, in particular, which wield such immense power and influence in practically every significant area of the world today — political, economic, social, technological — to such a degree that they have polarized a great part of the rest of the world in sympathy, support, or alliance with one or the other side, must perforce learn not merely to abide one another, but to consolidate or join their tremendous resources for the common good of mankind, I believe that it is not mere wishful thinking, but a matter of swift and relatively easy accomplishment, to hope that the great Powers, cognizant of the moral responsibility that power confers, will in the near future join forces in the endeavour to find solutions to the urgent problems that plague the world.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Barriers, physical and cultural, are falling everywhere and, as a concomitant, people must perforce learn to live with one another —despite differences in race, creed and social and economic circumstances — or perish.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“We believe that the General Assembly should give due consideration to that part of the Secretary-General's report to which I have alluded and make the appropriate appeal to all concerned. 40. in conclusion, I should like to express the hope that the representatives of the great Powers, in particular, will seize and utilize to the utmost the opportunity afforded by this meeting in assembly to engage in a frank and open exchange of views, with the constant thought that so much of the well-being of peoples everywhere lies, in great measure, within their control. As has so often been remarked, the world is rapidly shrinking as vast reaches of interstellar space come within man's ken and the means of communication become swifter than ever.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“It is significant that, in the introduction to the annual report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization [A/6301/Add.l], the loss of momentum of international aid is singled out as the gravest single factor in the developments of the year since the last session of the General Assembly. My delegation expresses the earnest hope that the more affluent States Members of the Organization will do all in their power to help to improve this situation; for we believe that in a body politic, such as the United Nations community of nations, there should be unceasing effort to close the widening gap in living conditions between the developed and the under-developed nations, thus enabling all States, great or small, to contribute to world economic and social progress.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“If, in my remarks thus far, I have dwelt at some length on the international political situation, to the exclusion of the economic and social activities of the Organization, it is not that my Government attaches little importance to the latter. On the contrary, like many other nations represented in this hall, we fully recognize the outstanding achievements of this Organization in the social and economic field, particularly in the amelioration of the lot of peoples throughout the world, and in bringing about effective international co-operation in these spheres. Nevertheless, we must express some concern over the fact that the momentum of economic development anticipated as a result of the establishment of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) two years ago has not been as encouraging as expected.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Secondly, since it has become increasingly apparent that a change in the composition of the International Court of Justice is urgently called for, my delegation would like to propose that such a change be instituted on the lines adopted in enlarging the membership of the Security Council and of the Economic and Social Council in order to ensure an equitable geographic distribution of Member States in those organs. The Ethiopian delegation specifically urges the amending of Article 3 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice with a view to enlarging the membership of the Court so that it will reflect the increase in the family of nations and thereby ensure the effective representation of all regions in that body. 39.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“In the first instance, unlike the International Court of Justice, this Organization, as the successor of the defunct League of Nations, is bound by its Charter to uphold the paramount interests and well-being of the people of South West Africa. In the circumstances, therefore, my delegation reiterates its appeal to this Assembly for the revocation of the Mandate over South West Africa and the assumption by the United Nations of its responsibility for the administration of the Territory. 38.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“While comments in the international Press at the time the Court's decision was announced revealed the relief felt by certain Powers at the fact that a substantive decision on the merits of the case was at least delayed, the Government of South Africa evidently jumped to a hasty conclusion, namely, that the decision of the Court was a licence to proceed to an outright annexation of South West Africa and the extension to that Territory of the racist policy of apartheid. My delegation has made a separate statement on the question of South West Africa [1414th meeting], and that being so, I should like to limit myself, in this regard, to reiterating just two points. 37.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Of no less concern to the family of nations represented in this hall is the future of the Territory of South West Africa, In the wake of the calamitous decision handed down by the International Court of Justice, contrary to its previous rulings and on the flimsy technical ground that the Governments of Ethiopia and Liberia did not have sufficient legal interest in their claim, a shocked world could not but question the integrity of the Court and its freedom from political and other pressures. Noteworthy is the fact that the decision handed down by the Court was arrived at by a minority of the Judges and required the deciding voice of the President of the Court.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“As I have suggested earlier, what we urge on the United Nations vis-a-vis the Rhodesian situation is nothing short of effective measures in the form of mandatory sanctions. 35. The virulent racism of South Africa and the suppressive colonial war being waged by Portugal in the African territories under its administration should not, we believe, be regarded merely as means to frustrate any effective move on the part of the United Nations, but as logical areas which an effective mandatory sanction should encompass. My delegation, therefore, would urge the General Assembly to give its serious thought and immediate attention to this matter. The fate of the League of Nations in the 1930s and its subsequent extinction should be a lesson writ large for all of us in this Organization. 36.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“In this connexion, we noted in recent press reports that mandatory sanctions against the minority rebel regime in Southern Rhodesia are not favoured by a certain permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations, the reason being that such sanctions would be ineffective unless they applied to South Africa as well; however, any application of sanctions against South Africa would, it fears, have adverse effects on its trading relations with that country. 34. We should like to state that, much as we respect the legitimate concerns of States Members of this Organization, my Government is certainly not prepared to endorse the superiority of the economic interests of individual States over the sanctity of the principles of the Charter and the interests of the majority of the Member States of this Organization.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“It is pertinent at this point to call attention to those countries, both inside and outside the membership of this Organization, which still continue to supply the racist Governments with the means to carry out their oppressive, inhuman policies, in spite of numerous resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council which request, inter alia, the cessation of the sale of arms and ammunition to South Africa.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“The 'old adversary is dead, but in his place is one far more brutal and more inaccessibly conscienceless, from all evidence and reports. If such is the case, then the developments in South Africa augur ill for both the continent and the world, and it behooves the United Nations and the rest of the community of nations to take stringent, effective measures as soon as possible, in order to prevent the spread of this malignant growth on the world body before it engulfs everything in its path. 33.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Vorster probably will pursue and extend most of the major policies of his fallen predecessor with less pretence, less camouflage, less downright hypocrisy. "Mr. Vorster, for example, is likely to be more open in his support of Prime Minister Ian Smith's white regime in Rhodesia. Dr, Verwoerd saw to it that adequate assistance was extended to keep the rebel regime afloat, but he never formally recognized it as an independent state and always pretended that South Africa was merely carrying on 'business as usual' with its neighbours north of the Limpopo." I have quoted the editorial at length because it is quite to the point and should serve as a warning against any relaxation towards the South African Government and its policy of apartheid.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Verwoerd symbolizes so utterly the Republic's oppressive racial policies and police- state laws as the fifty-year-old Minister of Justice who enforced them and wrote many of them. No other nationalist leader would be so certain to inflame African opinion and offend sensibilities outside Africa as the man who was imprisoned by his own Government for underground pro-Nazi activity during World War II. "The appointment of Mr. Vorster means simply that South African nationalists in fear have turned over the reins of government to the most extreme, most ruthless, most totalitarian of their party leaders, whatever the eventual consequences. "The only positive thing that can be said about this selection is that Mr.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Since the inept handling of the situation by the constitutional authorities responsible for Southern Rhodesia has unfortunately precipitated matters, my Government urges that the United Nations community, in all conscience, take effective measures as early as possible. 32. I should like at this stage of my remarks to refer to an editorial in The New York Times in its issue of 14 September 1966. In connexion with the choice of a new Prime Minister for the Republic of South Africa, the editorial stated: "South Africa nationalist leaders have flouted world opinion in the most dramatic manner possible by selecting Balthazar J. Vorster as their new Prime Minister. "None of the other prospective successors to Hendrik F.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“In view of the critical situation in Southern Rhodesia, we would urge that the competent organs of the United Nations act now, before it is too late, and, pursuant to the relevant provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter, take the necessary appropriate measures. We are fully aware of the implications of such a procedure and of the resistance that certain Interests are bound to offer. However, it is our belief, as it is the belief of other countries which are concerned about international peace and security, that the commercial and economic interests of a few should not be allowed to endanger the interests of the great majority of nations and to shackle the United Nations in the performance of its main functions.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“To the extent that the communique's reaffirmation of the British determination to end the rebellion in Southern Rhodesia, to release the nationalist leaders who have been arbitrarily detained, to apply the principle of "one man, one vote", to repeal repressive and discriminatory laws — to the extent that these promises are all implemented, to that extent will Ethiopia find satisfaction and put faith in the actuations of the United Kingdom Government in Southern Rhodesia. We also welcome the realization by the British Government of the necessity of instituting mandatory economic sanctions against the rebel regime in Southern Rhodesia, although I must state that we have a certain reservation regarding the restrictive term "selective" used in connexion with the matter of effective mandatory economic sanctions. 31.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Let there be no doubts about this. African patience and genuine endurance are by no means inexhaustible, and the fundamental rights of entire peoples cannot indefinitely be trampled upon with impunity. 30. However, there appears to be some hopeful note in the recent Commonwealth communique issued in London on 14 September 1966. The Ethiopian delegation finds this, on the whole, encouraging.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Thus, while the United Kingdom Government vacillates in indecision, while it alternately attends Commonwealth conferences and engaged in fruitless negotiations with Ian Smith — all the while endeavouring to absolve itself, before world public opinion, of any responsibility for the Southern Rhodesian situation and trying to convince everyone that everything is being done to restore the Territory to its constitutional status — Ian Smith is busily consolidating his power and tightening his grip on the destiny of the millions of Africans in the Territory. 29. Should Smith commit himself completely to the vicious policy of apartheid and form an unholy alliance with South Africa and Portugal, then the world may well expect to see, in the not too distant future, the continent of Africa convulsed in the most savage racial wars.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“It is now ten months since then and, the economic hardships and sacrifices of the courageous people of Zambia notwithstanding, the rebel regime of Southern Rhodesia, supported by like-minded racist regimes such as the Governments of South Africa and Portugal, has, as we know, been able to survive thus far any inconvenience that the British economic boycott is supposed to have inflicted. Nor have the recommendations of the Security Council contained in its resolution 217 (1965) borne any fruitful results. The grim fact is that the rebel regime in Southern Rhodesia has, with the assistance of South Africa and Portugal, successfully circumvented the effectiveness of the Security Council resolution just referred to.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“27. The subsequent events are, of course, known to the whole world. Despite the United Kingdom Prime Minister's prior warning that any move towards a unilateral declaration of independence by the settler regime would be regarded as an unconstitutional and treasonable action, the United Kingdom Government, instead of discharging its responsibilities towards the majority of the population in Southern Rhodesia, to the Charter of the United Nations, and to the community of nations, was content to institute a partial and ineffective economic boycott and to tell the world that the rebel regime would be brought to heel in a matter of weeks. 28.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“If I might refer once more to my statement at the twentieth session of the General Assembly, I said then; "...I must solemnly draw the attention of the General Assembly to the fact that any attempt by the settler regime in Southern Rhodesia to declare unilateral independence will be fraught with far- reaching consequences affecting the peace and security of the African continent." [1348th meeting, para, 44,] Yet, despite these protests and warnings, the Government of the United Kingdom proceeded to transfer control of the armed forces in the Territory, as well as other attributes of sovereignty, to the minority settler regime in Southern Rhodesia, and, despite repeated assurances to the contrary by the British Government, Ian Smith made his long-threatened unilateral declaration of independence on 11 November 1965, thus nullifying in one bold stroke all the assurances of the United Kingdom Government that the rights of the vast majority of the indigenous inhabitants would not be jeopardized.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Long before the illegal seizure of power and authority in Southern Rhodesia by the minority settler group, my Government had expressed serious misgivings about the systematic transfer of the means of effective power and authority by the United Kingdom Government to those who now wield it to their advantage. Furthermore, Ethiopia's representatives in the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, as well as in the regular sessions of the General Assembly, had given warning, publicly in this hall, that the situation was fraught with dangerous consequences.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“It is therefore our recommendation that the General Assembly should, while making the appropriate appeal to all concerned, renew the mandate of the Special Committee on Peace-Keeping Operations in order that it can continue its quiet negotiations with a view to evolving guidelines acceptable to all. 25. Of the various other international problems affecting world peace and security — matters of the utmost concern to the General Assembly — I wish to make specific reference to the situation in Southern Rhodesia, the question of South West Africa, and the policies of apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa. 26.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Through the quiet work that the Committee has carried out this year, it has been possible for both large and small Powers to consider calmly and conscientiously the various possibilities enshrined in the future of peacekeeping operations." 24. Obviously, none who has at heart the best interests of the future of the United Nations and its peace-keeping role will disagree with the contention that the Organization, in order to fulfil the manifold tasks assigned to it by the Charter, must, primarily be solvent. There is scarcely any divergence of opinion on this score.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“But because of the inherent difficulties in negotiating formulae acceptable to all concerned and reaching agreement on concrete proposals to recommend to the General Assembly at its present session, the Special Committee has, regrettably, not been able to indicate any further progress. The very able Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Francisco Cuevas Cancino, the representative of Mexico, aptly summed up the whole situation when, at its last [22nd] meeting on 13 September 1966, he said: "The difficulties inherent in this question and the divergencies of opinion are only too well known to all, but I refuse to become victim to a mistaken and dangerous pessimism.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“I believe we all know that any specific disarmament measures and the paramount goal of an international treaty on general and complete disarmament cannot be achieved in a power vacuum, as it were. It is vitally important, therefore, that the United Nations security system be strengthened and rendered more effective. Such a step, however, is inevitably tied up with the settling of outstanding issues related to the financing of United Nations peace-keeping operations. The United Nations Special Committee on Peace- Keeping Operations, which was set up during the nineteenth session [see General Assembly resolution 2006 (XIX) of 18 February 1965] and of which my country is privileged to be a member has, as we all know, continued its discussion of the problem in the current year.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“While the Ethiopian delegation will endeavour to present specific suggestions on disarmament matters when the subject is discussed in the First Committee, I should like at this juncture to urge that the General Assembly make a solemn appeal to the Governments of the French Republic and the People's Republic of China to discharge their obligations to mankind by participating in disarmament negotiations and effectively making their contribution towards the realization of general and complete disarmament. My delegation firmly believes that any disarmament measure to which not all the nuclear Powers are parties will remain ineffectual and illusory. 23.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“How, indeed, are the various specific measures discussed at the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament to be implemented, as preliminary steps to a treaty on general and complete disarmament, if the major nuclear Power remain— as it appears — hesitant in taking the necessary initiatives commensurate with their great responsibilities for the preservation of international peace and security? To this fundamental difficulty is added the truly vexatious problem of the non-participation of two of the nuclear Powers. 22.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“But in spite of the tireless endeavours of the non-aligned members of the Committee to achieve some progress toward negotiating a nonproliferation treaty, the gaps which remained between the positions of the major nuclear Powers with regard to nuclear armaments within alliances have, unfortunately, militated against any positive outcome. In this connexion, the joint memorandum of the nob- aligned members of the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament, as well as the separate memorandum submitted by Ethiopia, offers, in our view, sound suggestions for the major nuclear Powers to act upon. 21. But, in the meantime, how is the frightful prospect of the further spread of nuclear weapons to be avoided?”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“But, to date, the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament has failed to make any appreciable progress in achieving its principal mandate — to negotiate a treaty on general and complete disarmament — and on the specific measures referred to it from time to time by the General Assembly. 20. We recall that the problem of the spread of nuclear weapons had engaged the serious attention of the General Assembly at its last session and that considerable time was devoted to it both in the First Committee and in plenary meetings. Pursuant to resolution 2028 (XX) of the General Assembly, the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament gave urgent consideration to the question of negotiating an international treaty to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“However, it should also be apparent that, if our objective is survival, there is no alternative. Obduracy and increasing harshness of attitude will certainly not carry us closer to the solution of our problems. 19. Another matter of grave concern to my Government — and, I am sure, to other Governments — is the vexations impasse in disarmament negotiations. It is true that, since the establishment of the Eighteen- Nation Committee on Disarmament, there has been a better understanding of the complexity and difficulties of the disarmament problem and of the respective positions of the great Power groupings and alliances.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“If the allegation is true, then it creates an unfortunate situation, and I wish in this connexion to express my delegation's fervent hope that the Government of the People's Republic of China will, as befits a great people and a great nation, become cognizant of its responsibility towards humanity and the preservation of civilization, to which the people of China have over the centuries contributed so magnificently. My delegation would therefore urge the General Assembly to invite the Government of the People's Republic of China to membership of the United Nations as soon as possible, and to join the family of nations in solving some of the most urgent problems of mankind. My delegation is aware that such a proposal may sound, in view of the apparent intransigence of world politics, rather naive.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“In this connexion, my delegation finds it encouraging to note from reports in the Press that even those who have traditionally opposed the representation of the Government of the People's Republic of China are reconsidering their past positions and attitudes. I wish to express my delegation's earnest hope that their decision will be tempered by an awareness of the realities of the times and the recognition of the fearful consequences involved in disregard of those realities. 18. It is pertinent in this regard to take note of the occasional but persistent reports in the news media that the Government in Peking has made certain extraordinary demands as prerequisites to its admission to membership in the United Nations.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Yet, how can we continue to think of achieving a comprehensive test-ban agreement, a non-proliferation treaty, nuclear disarmament, and general and complete disarmament, while continuing to exclude from negotiations and from membership in the United Nations a Government which represents one of the world's most populous nations and which, at the same time, is a world Power to reckon with? Our plea for the participation of the Government of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations is based not only on the Organization's ideal of universality, but — even more importantly — on the clear, cold reality that, for better or for worse, the People's Republic of China must perforce be a party to any international arrangement or treaty, if it is to have any measure of effectiveness and universality.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“It therefore behooves the General Assembly to employ to the utmost all its resources and energies towards having the parties concerned and their allies set an early date for a cease-fire, and, to this end, to make a formal appeal to all concerned. 17. Closely related to the events in Asia and, indeed, to the entire world situation, is the question of the representation of the Government of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations. My Government has on previous occasions stressed the vital necessity of the participation of the People's Republic of China in the councils of nations, and our views on this subject have become even stronger in the interval since the last General Assembly session. In matters that concern international peace and security, one cannot be less than realistic.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)