YouSaid · the spoken record

Schumann

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS SCHUMANN

lines on the record: 129
first: 1969-09-24
most recent: 1972-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
sources: un-general-debate

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“Consequently, those who would charge us, not only without proof but against all proof, with risking pollution which our experiments, and ours alone, might entail would be taking to task not us, but the indisputable and indeed undisputed authority and the conscience of a scientific committee of the United Nations. 61. Let me add that those explosions-by the very fact that they take place in the atmosphere-are not registered by even the most sensitive seismographs on the American continent, which respond to all variations, however weak, in the earth's crust; consequently, they cannot have any , relation to any seismic shock. You will then understand that we trust good faith and common sense to do justice to the simple truth. 62.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“We have not been satisfied with the installation of a system, now five years old, to survey the development of radio-activity at various points of the globe on our own. 59. We have invited scientists and researchers from the countries concerned to take part in our observation and surveillance work. This is a unique and unprecedented effort of international scientific cooperation. Each year we report the results of these observations to all the Members of the Organization, without concealment or hindrance. 60. We have duly reported to the United Nations committee qualified, as its name indicates, to evaluate the harmfulness or harmlessness of atomic radiation.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“For it is only to avoid submission to any system of blocs and I deliberately repeat myself of hegemony that we have had to provide ourselves with the means of deterrence, after having asked in vain for an internationally controlled ban on nuclear arms. In this field as in others, the desire for independence is a contribution to world equilibrium and, consequently, to peace. However, our experiments -I voluntarily refrain from mentioning experiments for which other countries are responsible- would, in our view, cease to be legitimate if they were to endanger life-first of all, of course, the life of man, but also the life of the flora or fauna on land and in the sea. 58. Have we set ourselves up as the sole judges of the adequacy of the precautions taken, and first of all the remoteness of the test sites? Not at all.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“But the balance they hope to reach that way is not the only thing which could be called upon to avert the risk of nuclear war. In the absence of a true disarmament agreement between the five, but in the hope of opening ways towards it, would it not be possible as of now also to plan nuclear-Power co-operation to prevent accidental, mistaken or surprise release of the terrible weapons at their disposal? Establishing such a security system will surely provide a practical means of moving toward a world where the risks accompanying the existence of nuclear arms, while not yet eliminated, could at least be reduced. France, for its part-and I confirm and announce this formally-is ready to contribute to that. 57.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“But it remains nonetheless highly in favor of any undertaking for true disarmament, which in an age of nuclear armaments demands, first of all, settlement of the problem of those armaments. How can that be achieved, if not by consensus between the States which possess them? That is why France just recently again recalled that it favored a conference of the five nuclear Powers. It hopes that the requirements for such a conference will one day be met. 56. Is this to say that for the moment nothing can be done to reduce the threats which weigh on humanity? The United States and the USSR have, for their part, begun talks to lessen the risk of nuclear confrontation between them. To that end, in Vienna and in Helsinki, they are planning to set mutual limits on the development of their strategic arms.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Several bans, whose effectiveness remains to be demonstrated, have been declared on the proliferation of nuclear arms or on their deployment in areas which were up to now inaccessible to man. 54. Those bans, whatever their individual merits, are unfortunately misleading and can give rise to the belief that disarmament has begun, while the existing arsenals and their power to destroy never stop growing. A "disarmament" carried out in this way can only promote the development of hegemonies and would tend to divide the world by installing an order in which only the super-Powers would retain the ability to exercise their sovereignty. 55. France has obviously not acquiesced in such a prospect. That is why it has insisted on keeping the possibility of providing itself with the necessary means to secure its defense and maintain its independence.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“We consider that the multiple development of co-operation extended to everyone in order to reduce those factors is imperative if one intends to deal with the problem of European security in depth. 53. But this problem is also, of course, political and military. France, in so far as disarmament is concerned, neither can nor will be content with words or appearances. Disarmament must be the elimination of existing arms under effective international control, and the prohibition of any new manufacture of them. And yet, the result of all the efforts made in New York, Geneva and elsewhere since the end of the Second World War is that no arms have in fact been destroyed. On the contrary, we are witnessing the most fantastic arms race the world has ever known.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“To reinforce existing ties between all the countries of Europe on the level of economy, culture, science or technology; to open new paths for their co-operation; to lower the barriers which here and there still prevent or hinder the movement of people, the exchange of information, the movement of ideas; to bring about a genuine mutual interpretation, without impairing State Sovereignty, which would by drawing the peoples closer together, enable them to improve their intellectual and material living standards: is not all this contributing at the same time to increasing the security of the continents, and we think that mistrust, lack of understanding, and even glaring inequalities in development, are also factors of instability; we note that these still exist in Europe, and not only between what is still called the East and the West.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“That title would be incorrect; everyone agrees-and has agreed for some time now thai the two great North American countries should have a place in it. I hope, then, that we would try to live up to the title which summarizes a great design: "Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe". "Security", "co-operation" it is important that those two words remain linked together, because the concepts they encompass are complementary and indivisible. 52.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“By setting the example, it has shown first that the decisions and rivalries which seemed so persistent could be overcome, then that the refusal to accept any kind of hegemony was, for peoples too long torn by divisions, the best justification and the most effective stimulus for a necessary rapprochement. In learning that Berlin had become the place and the symbol of agreement, everyone said to himself that the time had come for "the whole of Europe" to keep its appointment with destiny. 51. What name will history give this conference for which preparation must now enter the decisive stage? "East-West Conference"? Certainly not that. Our plan is certainly not to endorse or even to organize a confrontation of the two camps, but on the contrary to reduce it enough to make it fall into disuse. "European Conference"?”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“On the one hand, the European Economic Community is being enlarged, which means that it has an ever-stronger attraction, that it will henceforth be considered irreversible and that its internal difficulties are the manifestation of growing pains. On the other hand, the progress and consolidation of detente justify this reference to "the whole of Europe" that the six countries meeting in The Hague nearly two years ago took care-on France's initiative to include in the final communique of their summit conference. This I repeat, is parallelism, not coincidence. 50. ' Western Europe was for a long time a community of suffering and anxiety. Through economic integration and political co-operation it is becoming a community of hope.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“That will be even more true the day it brings together 250 million men and women to whom several million others will be joined through more or less close ties. 47. Latin America can bear witness to this. I had the honor of presiding over the Council of Ministers of the Community when a colloquium-which should not be the last-both reminded us of our affinities, to which France attaches such importance, and encouraged us to continue increasing our exchanges on all levels. 48. Nevertheless, how can one talk today of Europe before the nations which comprise it, and also before those which observe it, without being struck by the parallel progression of two phenomena which is its present day characteristic? 49.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“We put ourselves on this level as early as 1964, when we suggested that a system of preferences such as the one which had been set up between the associated African States and the European Economic Community should become generalized. We are striving to stay on that level when we insert into our own plan the goal proposed by the United Nations, in other words, when we set our rate of participation in development at 1 per cent of the gross national product. 45. What are we trying to say? Simply that the responsibility of the industrialized States is committed and cannot be denied. 46. On several occasions during this analysis we have mentioned the European Economic Community. We have observed that its very structure keeps it from becoming inward-looking.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“My country, guided by the experience it has been able to acquire in its relations with the African countries to which it is attached by ever-closer ties of friendship, has made itself and will continue to make itself the untiring advocate of a real organization of markets for basic commodities, where the essential goal is to seek stable, just and remunerative prices. As I have once said: "The problem is not to throw a few provisions into the abyss of hunger, but to throw a lifeline to enable millions of human beings to climb out through their own effort." We are here-why not say so? -on the level of principles.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“It rests entirely on the idea that the drive against under-development must be a concerted action, undertaken jointly and in close co-operation by the two groups of nations. What will remain of this fine plan if one of the two groups on which the major responsibilities fall begins by dividing against itself and in some way denying or destroying itself? 43. In those conditions one can imagine the anxiety in the third world caused by the recent announcement of certain trade restrictions. Because they strike indiscriminately at all States, it is in fact the weakest among them which may be hurt the most. 44.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“To violate them is therefore to replace them by the absence of rules. 42. So, if the industrialized States reached a point of preferring anarchy or-and this amounts to the same-the unstable law of the strongest to a set of agreed conditions for harmonious development, who, in the long run, would benefit? The betting-dangerous, like all betting-is open. But, while it is difficult to be a winner in this game, it is easy to pick out the first loser. It would undoubtedly be all the victims of under-development. Let us reread the text relating to the International Development Strategy which was solemnly adopted on 24 October 1970 by the General Assembly [resolution 2626 (XXV)] and which should in principle determine-let us not forget-the relations between industrialized and developing countries throughout the present decade.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“This is one of the goals and this is already, to a certain degree, one of the results of the detente whose political advantages it is superfluous to stress. A great Power or group of Powers could no more be kept .on the sidelines by an outside agency than they themselves could remain aloof from circuits of communication, whether technical or scientific, economic or cultural. 41. However, the other crack is moire disturbing, because it is threatening the structure from within: respect for the international rules which were accepted by Common agreement by all countries, large and small, led the West to make. an unprecedented leap forward. These rules are called free trade and fixed exchange rates. They are irreplaceable. No one has the power, however strong he may be, to substitute other rules for them.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The Bretton Woods Agreement, the Marshall Plan, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: one would be pushing forgetfulness or ingratitude very far indeed in failing to mention the benefits and farsightedness of the initiatives which substituted equality of rights, stability, freely endorsed rules of truly international codes for the evils of compartmentalization, that is, shortsighted egocentricity and unchecked competition, which is anarchy. Once and for all, history has given a large part of the credit to the United States. But two cracks have successively threatened the order of this magnificent structure. 40. First, it has always been obvious that world equilibrium presupposed -even demanded- the participation of the countries of Eastern Europe, and foremost that of the Soviet Union, in the main currents of exchange.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“We believe-as everyone here knows-that refusing to accept any kind of hegemony is the best contribution a country can make to the birth of a truly international community. We must, however, to justify this conviction, assume the consequences and the risks it entails. 38. Let me take as the first example monetary relations between nations. We are, in fact, here to increase the chances for peace. Now, no one questions the fact that one of the best ways to achieve this is to bring about, for all world economies, the set of conditions needed for truly balanced growth. In the face of this immense task-and the poorest peoples feel this urgency most deeply the major countries have a special responsibility. How can they and how should they undertake it? Recent history gives us the beginnings of an answer. 39.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“It would be, literally, senseless." I did not mention these three short sentences to proclaim the superiority of one "certain conception" over another, or to give myself the right to trace the boundary between the realm of ends and the realm of means. More modestly, I shall have attained my goal if I succeed in showing members the meaning France wishes to give its policy. 37. We belleve-as everyone here knows-that the affirmation of national independence of nations, far from being the expression of nationalism, that is, egotism, is on the contrary the manifestation of a profound solidarity: solidarity which brings people together-regardless of distances or differences-people whose sole ambition is not to part with the choice of their own destiny.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“twenty-fifth anniversary session without also paying the same tribute to a man who has preserved and guided our Organization for 10 years with patient and serene energy. May U Thant accept our gratitude. It is yet too early to bid him farewell. 4 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and under Water, signed at Moscow on 5 August 1963 (United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 488 (1963), No. 6964). 5 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-fifth Session, Annexes, agenda items 27, 28, 29; 30, 31, 93 and 94, document A/8191. 36. A former French diplomat recently wrote: "One cannot say that politics, the realm of means, is identical to ethics, the realm of ends. But a policy which did not have ethical ends and a certain conception of good and evil, would have no sense.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“34. It is toward Asia where all the problems of the world are in ferment, but whose ancient wisdom never shuts out the possibility of dialog, that our thoughts turn, Mr. President, in welcoming your election. The example given by your country strengthens our hopes. The age-old nature and quality of the relations which unite Indonesia and Europe and which the recent visit to your islands by the Queen of the Netherlands again illustrates, cause us to welcome- even more the choice the Assembly made in naming you to succeed a great European, Mr. Hambro, that great President of the twenty-fifth session. 35. However, I do not wish to mention the eminent role played by the President of our Assembly during the .”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“These are the principles in which today's youth, restless, boisterous and demanding, is trying to find an ideal again, as quite recently the World Youth Assembly showed us here. 112. May so much assembled hope give us the strength to overcome our weaknesses. The enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights requires, first of all, that arms be silent. This is why, on the eve of a re-examination of our consciences, we are resolved are we not? to be worthy of the trust which people put in us, by placing more clarity, wisdom and boldness in the service of peace.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“We have not forgotten the words which the President of the Federal Republic of Cameroon used in speaking about this in the General Assembly last year [1756th meeting]. He would have proved to us, had it been necessary, that respect for the Charter and concern for its effectiveness are in the long run the true means to fight for the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 111. In truth, these principles on which our Organization is founded have lost none of their vitality and power of attraction in twenty-five years. These principles are evoked by peoples everywhere in the world to defend their independence or to obtain, at long last, the right freely to choose their destiny.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“I am thinking of those journalists on dangerous missions who have often, by their very objectivity, contributed to the freeing and liberation of unfortunate peoples and whose fearless, professional conscience has led them to an unfair death. As long ago as 1968, the International Congress of Montecatini turned to the United Nations to ensure that these indispensable witnesses should receive legal protection suitable to their mission. Our forthcoming discussions regarding respect for human rights in times of armed conflict should make it possible for us to respond to this appeal. 110. But the protection of human rights is indivisible. It obliges every Member of the United Nations to condemn discrimination, first and foremost racial discrimination, apartheid, whatever the pretext or method.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“The celebration of the awe-inspiring anniversary of which I spoke at the beginning may have started last week when a wholesome and significant unanimity was reached in the Security Council [see resolution 286 (1970)] in denouncing, in the face of a new form of premeditated violence, the hijacking of aircraft as well as any other interference with international civil air travel, and reprisals against innocent people. Respect for human rights is not an obligation only for States but also for peoples;, groups, individuals and especially those who may have cause to invoke it. 109. The same moral strength of the collective con-science should be brought to bear to find a remedy through specific steps to the inadequacy of the international protection of basic rights. One example, among so many others, comes to mind.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“It showed this also by affirming that its mission prevented it from transforming itself into a bloc confronting other blocs. It is not only for itself that it wishes to be an independent center of progress and prosperity. Today, everyone can see that the building of Europe is in fact inseparable from European detente and thus from world peace. 107. Moreover, the bonds of solidarity which, thanks to the Yaounde Conventions, join it to Africa are only one example of the mission which a reconciled Europe can assume in the world. It is right that, from the shores of the Mediterranean to the whole of Latin America, people should turn towards that Europe and place their hopes in it. For it is known that, fortified by its own originality, it will certainly not threaten but rather encourage the independence of others. 108.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“At the same time he thus reminded us that the agreement of the Four is the true way to arrive at our goal without divesting the United Nations as a whole of the irreplaceable responsibilities it assumes and should continue to assume in that part of the world. 106. Without naming them I have just mentioned two European countries, my own and the United Kingdom. It is not by chance that I link them. The Conference of The Hague, as you know, opened up a new chapter. In making public its decision to make its work irreversible, the European Economic Community showed not once but twice that it wanted to be neither exclusive nor inward-looking. It showed this first by opening itself to all European States which accept its rules and goals Britain as well as Ireland, Norway as well as Denmark, to mention only the present candidates.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“That is, far from becoming a means for one State to put pressure upon another, they should propose procedures of implementation which would be both substantial and well-balanced for all the rules laid down by the Security Council resolution [242 (1967)], whether it be a question of withdrawal from conquered lands or guarantees of peace, freedom of navigation or the rights of the Palestinian refugees. 105. Now who can permanently defend the spirit and letter of this resolution? Who can somehow be the permanent representative of the international community, if not precisely the whole formed by the permanent members of the Security Council? "The area of agreement between the Four is much wider than the area of disagreement", our Secretary-General rightly said at a recent press conference.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“How, then, to move away from trusteeships and guardianships, even involuntary ones, without losing the advantage of beneficial rapprochements? The third and last point gives the reply. It is necessary that recommendations be drawn up not for the advantage of one State or one ethnic group, one religion or one culture, but in order to re-establish, in a region which has already given so much to mankind, a zone of cooperation between all ethnic groups, all religions, all cultures which exist there side by side, in the respect for boundaries and the rights of all the States. It is also necessary that these recommendations be mutual.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“The more we consider it to be indispensable, in view of reappearing and growing threats, to do everything possible to ensure respect for the cease-fire and to do away with obstacles to negotiations, the more we see that the sharing of power or influence cannot form a basis for peace. "If the situation is disturbing for the bordering countries", a high-level Arab official, the Foreign Minister of Tunisia, recently said, "it is because it makes the Mediterranean one of the centers of encounter or of confrontation of the two greatest world Powers as was Europe during the fifties which means that its destiny is not completely its own". Now is not our basic maxim precisely this: that no one, except that country itself, may decide the fate of a nation? 104.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“As for France, we find involved, on the one hand, our oldest ally and, on the other, a great friendly country with which France has developed closer and closer bonds of co-operation. The President of the French Republic, who has surely not forgotten his reception by President Nixon, was a few months ago the guest of Washington. In a few days, he will be the guest of Moscow. When, in one of the most troubled areas of the world, the movement towards peace receives a new impetus from the dialog happily re-established between Moscow and Washington, it is only natural that we should rejoice about it. That is our first point. 103. And here is the second.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Hegemony, exclusive or shared, is the surest way of preventing the United Nations from breathing and therefore from acting. 101. Three consequences flow from this double statement. First the dialog and rapprochement of the major Powers are desirable and beneficial. Secondly, the international community cannot have guardians. Thirdly, due to the very fact that they are immune to the temptation of guardianship, a special duty falls to the countries which, though not among the highest ranking Powers, are permanent members of the Security Council. 102. Those three principles are fully applicable to the crisis in the Middle East. All of us welcome with relief the determination seen in the leaders of the two Powers which possess the most fearful strategic weapons to replace controversy by negotiation.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“No one considers that the collective effort in favor of the peoples who have the right to claim it is sufficient or satisfactory. No one can regard it as normal that a quarter of mankind is outside the United Nations. On the other hand there is a third danger of which less is said but which should be squarely faced the danger that threatens the balance of responsibilities on which the Charter, and therefore the United Nations itself, is founded. I repeat: the balance of responsibilities. It would disappear if the strongest Powers shirked their own responsibilities; it would equally be upset if they pretended to assume the responsibilities of others, or if others relinquished the responsibilities which their status as Members of the United Nations gives them.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“More than half of these credits will be absorbed by public aid which itself comprises more than 80 per cent in grants. 99. Those who have been associated with the work of General de Gaulle, and, primarily, the present President of the Republic, believe that decolonization itself creates obligations. That is why and I say so weighing every word they are and expect to remain attentive to all requests which reach them from Africa. That is also why they feel authorized to say to you: may common action for the development of the third world become our mutual obsession at last. 100. But serious as they may be, the weaknesses resulting from certain absences and a certain deficiency are at least known and, most often, admitted.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“It is easy to understand that those countries cannot, without a certain bitterness, compare this prophecy with the sentence I noted in the last annual report of the World Bank: "The work of the commission headed by Mr. Lester Pearson on joint action for the development of the third world has given rise to wide-ranging discussions in official circles." 98. Is there anyone here who could possibly believe that the stage of discussion even wide-ranging discussions should not be over? France recently defined the objectives of her new Plan. Figures and percentages will hardly be found in it. It is a rule of conduct which will not surprise economists. But we did make one exception: whatever the circumstances, credits devoted to aid to development will remain above 1 per cent of our gross national product.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“One would have to mention twenty names to pay a just tribute to the intelligence, depth and generosity of the reports and studies that have made it possible to map out the problems without hiding the difficulties. This is all to the good. And now? Well, now the time has come to harness the goodwill of States. The time has come to obtain from each one of them commitments equal to its capacities. What the preliminary work shows is that it is no longer possible to mention any real reason, any acceptable excuse, to further delay this moment. 97. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development forecast last month at Geneva, the "year 2000, without new collective efforts, will see the share of the developing countries in world exports drop to 10 per cent".”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“But, at this point, we have one more reason to welcome it. It brings us closer to the day when "the whole of Europe" that Mr. Georges Pompidou spoke about at The Hague Conference will be present here in this Assembly. Let us not say that we are still far from this, but let us rather say that we are less far. 96. However, when we think of the United Nations as it should be, we must not divert our attention from what it is. Now, this shows up another weakness. Of course, it is not responsible for the growing disparity between the standards of living and the conditions of existence of countries which make up this Organization. On the contrary, to its credit, it has emphasized, analyzed, sometimes revealed, this increase in iniquity.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“If the General Assembly encouraged them either to persist or to commit themselves more resolutely to this task, it might well be that the dynamism of peace would be released in Asia. Then the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Organization could almost do without our speeches. It would be celebrated by the gratitude of the peoples of Viet-Nam, Cambodia and Laos, beloved by France, and for whom the President of the French Republic would at last no longer have to ask for justice. 94. But it is not in Asia alone that the service of the truth presupposes the recognition of realities. 95. The conclusion of a non-aggression treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union is in itself an element of detente, understanding and co-operation one of the basic steps that General de Gaulle had wanted, announced and prepared.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Everybody deplores the fact that the United Nations cannot bring an end to a tragedy which scandalizes the conscience and common sense of the world because the majority of those whom it concerns above all are unable to bear witness here to their suffering, their ruin and their dead. 92. However, the debate on which, in the long run, the end of this artificial state of affairs depends is postponed from one year to the next as if it were a scholastic disputation or an oratorical joust. Avoiding the issue prevents the United Nations from assuming its responsibilities and the People's Republic of China from exercising its own. 93. The Soviet Union and we congratulate it on this has renewed its dialog with Peking. The United States, in turn, can only feel a little more, with every passing day and year, the desire to resume the dialog.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Our Secretary-General, to whom I wish to pay a just tribute here, has never been more worthy of his lofty function than recently when he asked us in effect: Shall we, under the pretext that the debate on the question of China has been going on for twenty years, behave as if it could go on for another twenty years? 91. Let us consider this carefully. On the one hand, the whole world recognizes as has just been done in Oslo in particularly felicitous terms by ti.e democracies of northern Europe, whose heartening vitality I noted once again last week in Finland that only a political solution, a negotiated solution, can bring an end to the unjust, interminable drama which has bathed South-East Asia in blood. On the other hand, everybody recognizes that this political, negotiated solution requires the participation of China.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Our weakness, secondly, is the inadequate effort made by the most fortunate peoples in aiding the struggle of the least favored peoples against hunger, disease, stagnation; and, lastly, our weakness is the resignation to a certain division of power which, unless we take care, will perpetuate the split in the world and, under cover of opposing blocs, condemn the majority of nations which paid so dearly to win the pride of their independence to choose one hegemony or submit to it. 90. Must we then, in the first place, take the universality of the United Nations for an illusion? What is actually an illusion is to believe that the Organization can perform its task while remaining incomplete.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“Why let us speak plainly this gnawing sensation of impotence to which none of us is resigned? 88. I will give my three answers before I justify them. None of them grant me this at least is dictated by concern, fear or resentments special to my country or to a group of countries. In mentioning them I am referring only to the principles which, a quarter of a century ago, gave birth to the Charter. 89. In three sentences here they are: our weakness, first of all, is the void caused by the absence from among us of a large part of mankind.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“What qualities do we need today, if not boldness in the face of challenge, and faithfulness to the principles of the law, so that we may justify our existence, that is, in the long run and in spite of every thing, successfully to counter violence with equilibrium? I shall try neither to cover every topic nor to mention every continent, nor to define once again the attitude of my country with regard to crises which are threatening or shaking the world, but merely to reply to the question which, as we all know, as we all feel in our hearts, and as was said by all the speakers this morning, the people, all the peoples of the world, are asking themselves and asking us as the spectacular ceremonies approach next month: Why so much disappointment in the face of so much hope?”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“If I had hesitated to choose this path, the character of the statesmen whom we have happily chosen to preside over our work after Mrs. Angie Brooks-Randolph whose competence and authority all of us greatly appreciated would have been enough to suggest it to me. This statesman not only represents the moral strength of a legal tradition; the name he bears, and I say this with emotion, is associated with the history of the founding of an international community. His father, whom I knew in my youth, was twice President of the Assembly of the League of Nations and represented Norway at the San Francisco Conference, in which you yourself, Mr. President, did take part. Finally, you remind us of the indomitable courage which earned the victory over Nazism without which the very name of the United Nations would never have found expression. 87.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“84. Within one month, when we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of this Organization, we will emphasize its merits, too often ill-appreciated, recall the services that it has always rendered in spite of all its setbacks and redefine the hopes which we still place in it as a founding Member. "Patience," said a famous French moralist, "is the art of hoping". 85. But today, as this anniversary draws near, is it not our duty to proceed to a certain examination of our consciences without hiding any truth, without masking any reality, carefully avoiding giving lessons that we are less ready to receive and especially taking for our criteria not the interest of any given country no matter how legitimate but the future, the duties and the opportunities of the international community that we claim, that we want to be? 86.”
1970-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 25 (1970)
“There is a vast movement among the young people of all countries who are noisy and sometimes provoking but essentially generous and impatient to give mankind a new page, a new chapter, to write. 104. Why do men and women come from all over the world to New York, to this annual Assembly? Because, despite all the tragic events that have occurred—and perhaps because of them—they remain deeply convinced that true solidarity can be created and strengthened. 105. In this speech, my first from this rostrum as Foreign Minister of France, I have desired to tell the Assembly that France will use all its energy and its faith to promote that solidarity.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We must still be, at all times, determined to apply them to their fullest extent. 102. If we celebrate principles and anniversaries too much without clear evidence of progress, we risk disappointing a generation which is not content with words but expects our Organization to help to mobilize the century’s resources on behalf of more liberty for each and more justice for all. 103. The resources at our disposal are far from negligible: immense progress in the exact and natural sciences, in technology, in communications; less spectacular but no less important progress in the sciences of man and society. There is a growing awareness—shown excellently in the recent African Festival at Algiers—of the great human communities’ spiritual resources which will restore the ideal of a peaceful and creative society.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Our representatives are still participating actively in this work of codification; and I am happy to announce to the Assembly that the French Government has decided to request Parliament to authorize France’s accession to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination [resolution 2106 A (XX)] an instrument which should be one of the pillars of the new international law. For many years we have striven to respect both its letter and its spirit. 101. We consider that this gesture by France manifests the importance that we attach to the studies and efforts undertaken by the United Nations. We know full well, however, that in the promotion of human rights and the fundamental freedoms, in the struggle against intolerance and discrimination, to create the appropriate international instruments is not enough.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Yet, just as I am not unaware of the extent of the efforts being made to promote development, I should not like to remain silent about the major role played by the United Nations in promoting human rights; and on this encouraging note I should like to conclude. 99. Since the Charter signed in San Francisco and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly in Paris in 1948, the United Nations has been progressively erecting a monumental work, to which France—predictably, since it is faithful to the traditions of 1789—attaches particular importance. 100.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)