YouSaid · the spoken record

U Thi Han

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS U THI HAN

lines on the record: 131
first: 1962-09-24
most recent: 1968-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
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 division of the world into rich and poor nations is a potential threat to international peace and order, just as much as the existence of vast inequalities in wealth and gross social injustices in a society is a potential source of social friction and strife. 77. A more ambitious, imaginative and comprehensive programme than any tried to date seems to be indicated to cope with the situation. Such a programme should, in our view, be so designed as to enable developing countries not only to achieve progress but to consolidate the progress achieved, laying emphasis on helping developing countries help themselves.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“The preoccupation of nations during the past two decades with problems of peace and security has prevented them from giving the kind of attention needed to this very important problem, with the result that wholesale poverty, want and disease continue to scourge more than two-thirds of the human race, while the rest of mankind is going through a period of unprecedented affluence. Such a situation is not only intolerable but is fraught with grave dangers because the widening gap between rich and poor nations is, ultimately, far more explosive than the ideological gap that divides nations. In a world rapidly becoming smaller as the result of advancing science and technology, divergent political and social systems can and must coexist in peace; but massive poverty and super abundance cannot.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“It is because of the same considerations and concern for peace that we strongly favour, inter alia, universal disarmament under appropriate and adequate control, the holding of a world disarmament conference to be attended by all the nations of the world, the prevention of the further spread in any form of nuclear weapons and the prohibition of their use, and the prevention of all nuclear weapons tests, including underground tests. 76. Finally, planning for peace calls for much more vigorous collective action by all nations to raise living standards throughout the world.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Mankind has lived for far too long under the tyranny of armaments, and ways and means must be sought urgently whereby the process of disarmament could be effectively put under way. Only thus would it be possible to lay a secure foundation for peace. Only thus could future generations be spared the anguish, so well known to our generation, of having to live, day and night, with a viper in the coat pocket. 75. Burma's consistent interest in the question of disarmament is motivated by these considerations, not by visions of the promised cornucopia for developing countries which, we are often told, would be the concomitant of general and complete disarmament, though, of course, we do agree that the material resources released by such disarmament could gainfully be used to raise general living standards in the world.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Perhaps never before have nations wished so much to be freed from the armaments burden, and yet never before have they found it so difficult to give up the weapons in their possession. Indeed, history teaches that the more deadly the weapons become and the further the armament race goes, the harder it becomes for nations to get rid of them, no matter how strongly they may desire it. The arms race is going forward, unchecked, and the world, which in the past has discovered one "ultimate” weapon after another, may well be on the verge of discovering, or stumbling upon, a new weapon more "ultimate" in its deadliness than the atomic and hydrogen weapons. Disarmament, which is hard enough to achieve now, may then become impossible.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“While I am dealing with the question of strengthening the United Nations, I should like to reiterate the long-held view of the Government of the Union of Burma that the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations and all its organs should be restored without further delay. We believe that the absence from our Organization of the legitimate representatives of a quarter of the human race has been, and will continue to be, a major source of its weakness. 74. Planning for peace also requires that meaningful steps be taken towards general and complete disarmament, for the armaments race has become one of the greatest scourges of humanity. It has wasted far too much human energy and resources, served to increase fear and mistrust between nations, and kept the world in a constant state of insecurity and tension.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“It could also persuade us to make increasing use of United Nations machinery, and avoid the tendency to bypass it in seeking adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace. True to form we needed the traumatic experience of last year's session to realize how important to us the Organization really is. The agreement that has made it possible for this year's General Assembly to function normally is indeed welcome, and much credit is due to all those who have patiently worked to produce it. The efforts must, however, continue till a final solution that is acceptable to all concerned has been found. 73.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Accepting this could lead us to the decision not to let disappointments or dissatisfactions over the inability of the United Nations to resolve certain contentious issues prompt us to take precipitate actions that could weaken the Organization, undermine its authority or jeopardize its future. As we say in Burma, when mice get into the granary, we must destroy the mice, not burn down the granary. 72. Lastly, it is important to remember that if there were no United Nations today, we should be trying very hard to set one up. Comprehension of this simple truth could make us more convinced of the need to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations effectively to fulfil its duties in the maintenance of international peace and security, and in the promotion of international co-operation in accordance with the Charter provisions.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“In other words, we must not find fault with the United Nations idea. 70. It is important to remember that the United Nations can be only as strong — or as weak — as we, its Members, make it. Understanding this simple truth could enable us to avoid blaming the Organization for what, in reality, are our own faults and failures. It could also make us pause to think whether we have not been doing too little for the United Nations while demanding too much from it. 71. It is likewise important to remember that in the context of history, disputes and differences are but transitory, while the United Nations is not.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“In short, we must bend our efforts, collectively and individually, towards bringing about a world order such as that envisaged in the United Nations Charter. 69. Planning for peace also requires that the United Nations be strengthened in every way possible. We must of course recognize that the Organization has certain shortcomings, such as, for instance, the lack of universality in its membership, and we should exert every effort to strengthen and develop it in consonance with the changed conditions and needs of the present-day world so that it may truly become an effective instrument, not only of international peace and security, but also of international co-operation. But we must not find fault with the principles, the purposes and the basic organizational framework of the United Nations.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“By the very nature of things, "peace” based on the balance of terror is not peace; security based on the concept of "defence through deterrence" is insecure; understanding generated by terror cannot endure. We must have the vision — and the courage — to do away with these false concepts and seek new ways and means of maintaining and promoting international peace and security through the positive motivation of goodwill, not through the negative motivation of fear of extinction. We must seek to preserve and strengthen the ground rules of peaceful coexistence that have been painstakingly worked out, and must recognize and respect the right of all nations, large and small, freely to choose their own social systems without interference or pressure from any country or group of countries.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“In short, we consider that it is time that the nations of the world started planning for peace in earnest, setting targets and, wherever possible, the time in which they are to be attained. This may appear naive; perhaps it is. But nothing should be left untried for the sake of peace and the future of mankind. 68. Planning for peace requires that we, the nations of the world, make a new set of values, a new code of conduct, to guide our relations with each other. We must discard old ways and old concepts that have been found to be inconducive to peace and understanding among nations, and refrain from reasserting in any shape or form outmoded and anachronistic doctrines and practices.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Looking back dispassionately and objectively, we are increasingly led to the view that mankind has arrived at a crossroad in history where it must choose between drifting along the same old path, and taking a new turn and proceeding by conscious action and with a sense of purpose and direction towards a more promising and orderly world. While we would be the last to hold the view that the beginning of the end of the human race is near at hand, we nevertheless consider that the moment of decision is fast approaching and that unless we, the nations of the world, choose the right path and take timely steps to avert the dangers that lie ahead, we may find ourselves being swept inexorably towards disaster by forces which we ourselves have created but which we, through lack of vision, can no longer shape or control.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“My observations on the course through which, the world has drifted in the past twenty years may appear to some to be somewhat cynical. To them I would say that we in the Burmese delegation are not unmindful of the many worthy accomplishments achieved by the world during that time, and if I have refrained from referring to them, it is because we feel that this year, which marks the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, as well as of the end of the Second World War and the first use ever of the atomic bomb by man against man, the human race perhaps needs to be reminded more of its shortcomings and failures than of its achievements.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Far too often in the past have we found settlement becoming possible only after collision, agreement only after struggle, and detente — even of a limited and partial character - only after narrowly-averted catastrophes. And far too often has our world failed to consolidate and enlarge the area of such agreement and understanding as had been achieved at so great a risk and, often, at so high a cost. 66. All this is the measure of our world's failure to live up to the ideals and high principles which we ourselves laid down twenty years ago to guide our thoughts and actions. It is also a sad commentary indeed on the wisdom, resourcefulness, and good sense of our age, and on our fitness to be the temporary custodians of human civilization. 67.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“It is equally tragic that even this imitation peace can be maintained, precariously, only by the so-called balance of terror. It is a disquieting thought that force — the threat or use of which in relations among nations in a manner inconsistent with the purposes of our Organization is forbidden in the Charter — has in practice become the condition of peace; that the uneasy peace of our world can be maintained, not through collective action, but only through mutual terror, only through a massive threat of mutual annihilation. Peace, it seems, is attainable only as the synthesis of conflict, not through common sense and spontaneous goodwill.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“This senseless waste of human energies and resources has not only placed all mankind constantly under the sinister threat of total annihilation, but has created deeper divisions in an already grievously divided world, has bedevilled relations among nations, and has made peace — genuine, lasting peace — ever more difficult to attain. 65. The inevitable result is that conditions in this world of ours have not evolved in the way envisaged in the Charter. Indeed, conditions that are a far cry from those envisaged in the Charter have generally prevailed and, disturbingly enough, are increasingly being accepted as normal. It is tragic that our world, not having known genuine, total peace for two decades, should have come to accept as peace, absence of global war.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Thoughts and actions of nations, therefore, came to be directed more towards making massive preparations for a possible future war than towards creating conditions for lasting peace and widening prosperity in the world. Thus, against his best interests and, frequently, his better judgement, man has for these past twenty years been devoting by far the greater part of his creative genius, his creative energies and his creative resources towards increasing his capacity for self- destruction, towards making and perfecting diabolical weapons which he knew, instinctively, must never be used. 64.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“They veritably placed within his grasp a golden key to a golden future, the means and the opportunity, as never before in history, to build for himself a better and fuller life and, for the generations to come, a new international order for which the United Nations, its Charter and its family of related agencies represented the ideal and provided the institutional framework. 63. However, sadly enough, having understood and conquered in large measure the mystifying forces of nature surrounding him, man found himself unable to gain mastery of himself or of his fears or to overcome his suspicions towards his fellow man. In the years following the founding of the United Nations, trust and understanding that had existed among nations at the end of the Second World War quickly gave way to fears and suspicions.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“This heartening event has been possible only because of the statesmanship of the leaders of both India and Pakistan, and we earnestly hope that this presages the development of better relations between the two countries which will make possible the peaceful settlement of the problems outstanding between them. 62. It is now twenty years since fifty-one nations of the world, determined to banish war for all time and to create a peaceful, happy and prosperous world, drew up an international charter of peace, justice and freedom for all mankind and on its basis founded the United Nations. Those twenty years have indeed been most eventful. During that relatively short span of time, monumental achievements were made by man in the fields of science and technology.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“I should also like to say how glad we are to welcome among us as new Members the Gambia, the Maldive Islands and Singapore. Their admission to the United Nations, in itself a happy event, gives us great satisfaction because it takes our Organization a step further towards achieving universality of membership, which is a sine qua non for the strength of the United Nations and for the weight and effectiveness of its actions. We feel sure that these new Members will have many positive contributions to make to our Organization. 61. Though it is rather late in the day, I do not wish to let this opportunity pass without expressing our sense of relief at the ending of hostilities between two of our good friends and neighbours, India and Pakistan.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“58. Mr. President, allow me first of all to convey to you the sincere congratulations of the Burmese delegation and my own on your election as President of the twentieth session of the General Assembly. We are confident that the wealth of experience and wisdom which you bring with you will indeed prove to be of great value to this Assembly, which is meeting at one of the most anxious moments in the history of the United Nations. 59. An unprecedented honour was given us yesterday when His Holiness Pope Paul VI appeared before this great assembly of nations, bringing with him a message of peace and goodwill, transcending all barriers of race, colour or creed. We should like to express our deep gratitude to His Holiness for having thus given us the benefit of his wisdom and vision. 60.”
1965-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 20 (1965)
“Our Organization has therefore been reduced to borrowing to meet current expenditure, and is having to consider even less dignified means of raising funds. This is a very clear danger signal, and we trust that a universally acceptable solution to this problem will be found in the near future; for it would be a tragic paradox if what we hope is a major "détente" in the cold war were to be accompanied by the demise of the United Nations for lack of what, by the international standards of today, amounts to an insignificant sum of money.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“We trust that similar beneficial results will emerge from the extension of the United Nations good offices to other areas such as Yemen and certain parts of South-East Asia. In the economic and social fields, too, the steady and usually unadvertised task of assisting developing nations to improve the lot of their peoples has been carried forward under the umbrella of the United Nations Development Decade. 97. But having said all this, it is well that we should recognize that the United Nations now lives under a shadow —the shadow of financial bankruptcy. For a variety of reasons, some Member States of our Organization have not found it possible to pay their allotted share of the costs of peace-keeping operations.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“My delegation believes that on the whole, the year under review has been a good one for our Organization, While the major role In the Caribbean confrontation had of necessity to be played by the nuclear superpowers, no one can deny that the timely intervention of the United Nations contributed powerfully to taking the edge off the immediate crisis. We consider that this contribution is an excellent justification for the existence of the United Nations, Elsewhere, too, successes have been registered. In West Irian, a festering trouble spot has been removed thanks to the good sense and good will displayed the Governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands, and to the good offices of the United Nations. Our congratulations go to all concerned.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The United Nations Congo operation has lasted more than three years, and it has proved to be a heavy burden on the Organization —how heavy it is, is revealed by its present shaky financial position, Burma has loyally supported this United Nations effort from the start, and has no regrets on that score. But now that the situation in the Congo is, in our judgement, basically no worse than that obtaining in many other Member States, we feel that the reasons for terminating the United Nations military operation far outweigh those for retaining it for a further period. It is accordingly our view that the United Nations Force should be completely withdrawn by the end of this calendar year, and we trust that this will be done. 96.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Referring to another major problem of the United Nations, that of the former Belgian Congo, my delegation is happy to concur with the views expressed by the Secretary-General in the introduction to his annual report, that with the improvement in the situation, "… the time has now come when the Congolese Government should assume full responsibility throughout the Congo for the maintenance of law and order," [A/5501/Add.1, sect. V.] and also that: "… the time has come when, for various reasons, it is necessary to envisage the early withdrawal and winding-up of the United Nations Force in the Congo," [Ibid.] 95.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“In common with a large number of States of like mind, Burma has severed all relations with South Africa, in a joint endeavour to prevail on its Government to abandon its policies of apartheid. We also strongly support the recent resolution of the Security Council calling for an embargo on the export of all arms and ammunition to South Africa. We hope that these measures will succeed in persuading the Government to change its attitude before time runs out. 94.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“We trust that the colonial Powers in all these cases will follow the path of wisdom and thus obviate, both for themselves and for the peoples of the territories concerned, the anguish, sacrifice and suffering which will otherwise become inevitable. 93. One of the most potentially dangerous situations of our present-day world arises from the policy of apartheid practised by the Government of the Union of South Africa. Universally condemned, this policy is doomed to fail in this day and age. Yet the Government of South Africa stubbornly clings to it, and to make matters worse, it seems to be determined to carry it through and to sustain it by force of arms if necessary.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Here I should like to stress that we fully sympathize with the position of the African States on these two issues; and short of taking extreme measures which might compromise the purposes and principles of the United Nations, and prove self-defeating, we are prepared to give them full support. We regret, too, that the situation in Southern Rhodesia —where the British administering Power, while displaying some flexibility in cooperating with the United Nations, maintains its constitutional position— continues to give rise to serious concern, To us, the outcome in all these cases is clear; they will all gain their independence. The only question is whether it will be through peaceful evolution or through violent means.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“We welcome the progress towards independence made in the course of this year by a number of territories, including Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Kenya and Zanzibar. 92. We regret, however, that the same cannot be said about the Portuguese African territories and South West Africa, where the Governments of Portugal and of South Africa continue to pay no heed to the aspirations of the indigenous people to Independence, or to resolutions adopted by the United Nations in repeated attempts to ease the serious situations which have arisen out of Portuguese and South African intransigence.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“And now a few words about the problems arising out of the continuance of colonialism in certain parts of the world, particularly Africa. Having ourselves secured independence shortly after the end of the Second World War, we felt that we were under a strong moral compulsion to help all those peoples still under colonial domination to free themselves. In that spirit, we have over the years given our support to all anti-colonial struggles, and are gratified that, largely as a result of the successful outcome of these struggles, the membership of the United Nations has more than doubled during the last fifteen years. It remains our policy to continue to give all help within our capacity until colonialism has been banished from this planet.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“But the task is a vast and complicated one —how vast may be gathered from the fact that in their current arsenals the United States and the Soviet Union each have the capacity to kill the world's population many times over. Up to a few months ago, the absence of political will made any kind of progress towards disarmament impossible. The recent agreements, though only first steps, suggest that political will is now not altogether absent. We hope this trend will grow and develop speedily. But even if it does, we must not expect miracles, because the task of dismantling the vast and highly complicated machinery of war, under international supervision, will inevitably take time. That, however, would be an added reason for making as early a start as possible. 91.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Among these we would include a NATO-Warsaw Treaty non-aggression pact, measures to reduce the risk of war by surprise attack, miscalculation or failure of communications, and measures to prevent the further dissemination of nuclear weapons, whether into areas of the earth's surface where they do not already exist or into new environments such as outer space. We feel that a resolution of the Assembly which, while urging the Committee of Eighteen to continue its search for an agreement on disarmament, laid special emphasis on collateral and partial measures could prove most useful in the present context. 90. In the introduction to his annual report, the Secretary-General says that: "The achievement of disarmament continues to be the most important problem of our time," [A/5501/ Add.1, sect. II.] With this view few would disagree.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Meanwhile, we hope to see the limited test ban Treaty —which is of significant value in and of itself— come into force at a very early date, and we hope that it will prove to be the first step towards a comprehensive test ban treaty and, beyond that, towards wider and even more significant agreements. 89. To begin with, we believe that the greatest prospects of success lie in the field of what are called collateral and partial measures of disarmament. We think that the more propitious climate resulting from the signature of the test ban Treaty should itself be used to promote and develop new agreements especially in the "ripe" areas.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“For its part, Burma would have preferred a comprehensive treaty covering underground tests as well, because we consider that the continuance of underground testing, especially if it is on a significant scale, would run counter to the spirit and perhaps even the purpose of the limited test ban Treaty and thus slowly undermine it. For this reason, we believe it to be essential that efforts to reach agreement on the discontinuance of underground nuclear weapon tests should be continued, and we note with satisfaction that this is expressly stated in the preamble to the limited test ban Treaty.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“As I said then, we are happy indeed to be able to congratulate the great Powers on these achievements. At the same time, and at the risk of being accused of some immodesty, I think it is only fair to state that part of the credit for these successes —and particularly for the limited nuclear test ban Treaty— should rightly go to the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament, which laid the groundwork for the Treaty. We are happy that this has been recognized by the Secretary-General in the introduction to his annual report on the work of the Organization [A/5501/Add.1].”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Adequate representation, I would venture to think, is a concomitant of universal membership, and without adequate representation in the various organs of the United Nations the emerging nations of Asia and Africa are denied the right to assume their full responsibilities in this assembly of nations. Equitable geographical representation and rotation of membership is a principle which delegations assembled here readily accept. To put this principle into practice without further delay is the appeal I make to delegations which hold the key to the door that keeps us out. I am hopeful that this year the appeal of my delegation, and of other delegations, will not go unheeded. 88. I referred earlier to the two agreements concluded between the nuclear Powers during recent months.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“I should like to touch here on a related matter, namely, the need for a fair and equitable representation of States in the various organs of the United Nations, and the attendant issue of the rotation of this membership. As you know, a great number —in fact the overwhelming majority— of Asian and African countries emerged into sovereign nationhood only after the Charter of the United Nations had been framed. It may, therefore, be that in the early days of the United Nations it was understandable that under-representation should be our lot. But it could never have been the intention of the framers of the United Nations Charter, certainly not of the present membership of the United Nations, that this situation should go unremedied.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“I would not wish to cite examples of such discriminatory practices, but a rather obvious example which will spring readily to the minds of delegations is the refusal to extend the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations to the People's Republic of China and to other States which are still not Members of the United Nations or members of its specialized agencies. My delegation strongly believes that such discriminatory practices are in the long run not merely self-defeating, but tend to dissipate the beneficial effects of those regulations devised for the honourable discourse of nation with nation and man with man. 87.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“However, our experience shows that where the separate Governments of a divided nation seek to gain admission to an international forum, it invariably happens that one Government gains admission to the exclusion of the other. Again, accession to certain international conventions is limited to the Government of one half of a nation and denied to the Government of the other half. That there is no justification for such a discriminatory practice will be apparent to all delegations when it is seen that discrimination and restrictions have been applied to conventions intended to secure highly humanitarian objectives and to other conventions which, for effectiveness, should be adhered to universally. 86.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“We believe that this ostrich-like behaviour of burying its head in the sand can only harm the United Nations, and that the development of this world body will remain seriously retarded until this glaring anomaly has been removed. 85. I would like here to refer also to the apparent existence of dual standards under which nations are admitted or denied admittance to many forums of international discussion and negotiation, and to the many conventions and agreements formulated at these forums. It would appear to my delegation that in the international community, universality rather than selectivity should be the guiding principle in regulating attendance and membership at international forums held under United Nations auspices, or under the auspices of specialized or related agencies.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Even more, the fact that a quarter of the world's population continues unheard in important international forums is a veritable abandonment of that same common sense which was made so manifest at the time of the Caribbean confrontation, and without which the concept of sovereign nationhood among the diverse communities that make up mankind becomes both farcical and futile. Speaking specifically of the United Nations, we believe that the strength and effectiveness of the Organization depend to a very great degree on the extent to which it reflects the world as it really is. An organization which refuses to face the facts of international life to the extent of ignoring the existence of a Government which has so clearly established itself as the effective Government of China imposes a severe handicap on itself.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The fact that the People's Republic of China continues, to our regret and concern, to be deprived of its rightful seat in the United Nations need not, in our judgement, bar it from the disarmament negotiations. After all, the People's Republic of China participated in the Conference on Laos on an equal footing with all the other great Powers. 84. I know I express the views and feelings of a great many nations —nay, the majority of the nations whose representatives are here in this Assembly— that the continued enforced absence of the People's Republic of China from many forums of international discussion violates the norms of universality and mutuality which regulate relations between nations in the present day.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“While speaking of the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament, it would be unwise and unrealistic for us to ignore another glaring omission. I refer, of course, to the absence of the People's Republic of China from the negotiating table. It has been said that no disarmament treaty would be meaningful in today's circumstances unless it bears the signature of the People's Republic of China, If that is true today, it would become even more true with the passage of time. Consequently, my delegation feels that the time has come for us in the Assembly to be giving some thought to this matter. To allow matters to drift would, in our judgement, only create more and greater problems in the future.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The new era which we hope these agreements herald is the concern not only of the great Powers but also of all of humanity, and we consider that we have a duty to humanity to give maximum impetus to this breakthrough in the cold war. 82. As you are no doubt aware, Burma is a member of the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament which has been meeting in Geneva since March 1962. In practice it has been a committee of seventeen only due to France's refusal, to participate. During the Committee meetings we regretted seeing the vacant seat which was reserved for France. It is our sincere hope that France will yet be able to reconsider its position, and that we shall be able to welcome it at the Committee table in the near future. 83.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“We congratulate the Powers on these agreements. We appreciate that they constitute first steps and that the road ahead, before we reach the goal of genuine world peace, is still a long and difficult one. Nevertheless, we are aware that these are very essential first steps which will lead, we hope and trust, to the eventual goal of complete and general disarmament among nations. It Is with this hope that we welcome both these agreements, and with which Burma, though not a nuclear Power or even a potential nuclear Power; put its signature to the limited test ban treaty. Though this treaty has no practical effect so far as Burma is concerned, we, in common with most countries similarly placed, felt that it was important for political, moral and psychological reasons that Burma should sign the treaty.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“It is therefore no accident that the period immediately following on the Caribbean confrontation should have been a period of intense diplomatic activity, especially among the great Powers, and particularly between the two main nuclear Powers. My delegation, which has been convinced of the virtues and absolute necessity of peaceful coexistence for a decade, heartily welcomes this new development which has led to the first two agreements to be reached between the great Powers in eighteen years of almost continuous negotiations on disarmament. I refer, of course, to the agreement to establish a direct communications link between the Heads of the Governments of the Soviet Union and the United States, the need for which was clearly demonstrated during the Caribbean confrontation, and to the recently signed limited nuclear test ban treaty.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Thus was developed the concept of the "great deterrent" based on the paradoxical premise that the more modern and potent the means of waging war, the better became the prospects of maintaining peace. The Caribbean confrontation disproved that. The world was lucky indeed to have "got away with it" on that occasion; but it was a close thing, and altogether too dangerous to be repeated at any time in the future. The Caribbean confrontation exploded the myth that in this nuclear age a nation's security depends on armaments. It showed that the security of all nations depends, in the final analysis, on common sense and good will. It showed that in the modern world there is indeed no alternative to peaceful coexistence, and that coexistence based on balance of terror was a false coexistence. 81.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Thus the confrontation in the Caribbean may have ushered in a new era, given birth to a new set of values in relations between States and peoples. Ever since the advent of the hydrogen bomb, we have heard it said that there was no alternative to peaceful coexistence. We have no reason to doubt that all those in high places and in a position to influence events really believed this. But such was the state of mistrust and suspicion in the world that the logical conclusions remained undrawn. Instead there came into existence a form of "coexistence" based on the balance of terror. Peace, it was said, would be kept only if each side in the cold war was known by the other side to be in a position to deliver immediately a retaliatory blow inflicting "unacceptable" damage.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)