YouSaid · the spoken record

ROMULO

lines on the record: 501
first: 1957-09-24
most recent: 1994-09-24
sittings or episodes: 17
sources: un-general-debate

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“In due course, the Philippine delegation will submit specific proposals spelling out the changes I have briefly touched upon. We are well aware that structural reforms alone will be futile without the will to translate the Charter into reality. But we consider it wise to have the instrument ready when the will to make it work manifests itself, as it must if the survival of man in conditions of dignity and peace is to be assured. 73. This is all the more necessary, in our view, as the time draws near for embarking on the Second United Nations Development Decade. The preparations for this momentous undertaking should provide a common ground for the concerted efforts required to cope successfully in the 1970s with the same formidable challenge that the First Development Decade, unfortunately, has failed to surmount. 74.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The second principal area of change would be, in the broad sense, political. It would include measures to improve the peace-keeping capacity of the United Nations; enhance its ability to initiate collective security arrangements in areas vulnerable to aggression or subversion; and augment its resources for conciliation, mediation and arbitration of international disputes. 71. The third main area of change would be in the economic and social fields. It would centre on measures to facilitate the formulation of a global strategy for development, based on a workable partnership between the rich and the poor nations intended to bridge the steadily widening poverty gap which threatens to tear the international community asunder in the coming decade. This is a crisis we must watch because it is coming. 72.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It would include measures to ensure: first, that this general debate—this important function in which we are now engaged—should be more meaningful, more productive, less wordy, and closely geared to the vital problems confronting the Assembly, not local parochial, national problems, intended only for home consumption; secondly, that the decision-making process, including the voting procedures, should facilitate the taking of more effective and realistic decisions capable of being translated into viable programmes enjoying wide support; and thirdly, that there should be more effective co-ordination of United Nations activities and programmes, with overlapping agencies duly integrated and assessment procedures established to make certain that maximum results are achieved and that proliferation of agencies stop. 70.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“My delegation would tike to see included in the agenda of the next session of the General Assembly, coinciding with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, an item on the review of the United Nations Charter. We envisage three main areas of change. 69. The first would be functional.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“On 21 September 1966, in his address to the General Assembly, President Marcos declared: “... the review and revision of the Charter... already years overdue ...can no longer be deferred. A whole new world has emerged” —and come into being in the twenty years since San Francisco—“the Charter should faithfully reflect the realities and the vital needs of this new world. Only thus can the United Nations become an instrument fully responsive to the aims and aspirations of Member nations...” [1411th meeting, para. 29]. “For the United Nations itself, there is a clear and admitted need to perfect its organization, to improve the techniques employed in its manifold operations, and to bring to its work, particularly in the developing countries, an even greater sense of mission and dedication.” [Ibid., para, 28.] 68.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“After twenty-four years it is certainly necessary to scrutinize them closely and see how they may be made more useful and effective in our rapidly changing world. 66. That was the reason for the provision in Article 109 for a General Conference to review the Charter ten years after its coming into force. That Conference unfortunately was not held; we were told by the great Powers that it might open a Pandora’s box of problems. No one has checked if the lock on that Pandora’s box has remained in place. If it has, the box itself must be full of holes, because the problems it is supposed to contain are out in force, bedevilling the United Nations and its Member countries— and making it an ineffective instrument for peace. 67. First in 1955, then in 1966, the Philippines formally reiterated its proposal for a review of the Charter.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The joint statement of their meeting last spring, to which I have referred, is a succinct summing-up of the most urgent of the major concerns of the United Nations. More than that, it provides the basis for an agenda for constructive action in the next decade. 65. A fundamental review of the structure, powers, and procedure of the United Nations is an important item in the Quebec agenda. It is a proposal which my delegation considers both appropriate and timely. It is true that the purposes and principles of the Charter were, in a very real sense, written for the ages—valid not only for this generation or the next but also for the generations to follow. But the machinery and the methods for their realization were not meant to be immutable.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Those are the considered views of some of the past Assembly Presidents and a group of political scientists and United Nations representatives who conferred in Quebec on the role of the United Nations in the coming decade. Their suggestion that major changes be made to update the United Nations and make it a more efficient instrument for achieving the goals of the Charter deserve, I believe, the most careful consideration by this Assembly. 64. During their tenure, these past Presidents served the General Assembly with the whole-hearted dedication that has become an honoured tradition. They have since kept in close touch with United Nations affairs meeting together with other close observers and students of the world. Organization in 1965 in San Francisco, in 1967 in Burgenstock, Switzerland, and again in 1968 in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“New roles for the United Nations are opened by world problems such as population, pollution, and the new frontiers of the sea-bed and outer space. Increasing international contacts and the growing interdependence of nations compel new forms of co-operation. The failures of old structures and programmes open the door for new. The idealism of many young people, and their determination to participate in building a better world, should be enlisted to strengthen the United Nations. “The twenty-fifth birthday of the United Nations in 1970 should be more than mere ceremony. It is time for a searching examination of the strengths and weaknesses of the United Nations—and new determination to make the United Nations adequate to the dangers and opportunities of the 1970s.” 63.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is a warning that coincides with the significant alert sounded by Secretary-General U Thant in the introduction to his report that is before us—a report which is marked by a sustained tone of gloom, and in which he says that “time is running out” [A/7601/Add.1, para. 198] for efforts to save world peace. The Quebec statement of past Presidents and Permanent Representatives and students of political science declared: “As we enter the 1970s, the world sits on time bombs: an accelerating arms race, rising racial hostility, exploding population, the widening economic development gap and the lag of human institutions behind scientific progress. “Major changes in the United Nations are needed to make it more capable of maintaining peace, justice and freedom under law... “New opportunities lie before us.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“I feel that it would be useful to bring to the Assembly’s attention the conclusions of some of the past Presidents of the General Assembly, some Permanent Representatives and other friends of the United Nations who participated in the fourth conference on the United Nations of the next decade which was held in Quebec from 22 to 27 June 1969 under the auspices of the Stanley Foundation. A sense of profound, pervasive, revolutionary change, presenting mankind with both danger and opportunity, informed their deliberation and manifests itself in the joint statement in which they sought to convey a message of warning well worth reiterating from this rostrum.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The Secretary-General’s observations on this point are worth pondering. In his statement at the opening of the forty-seventh session of the Economic and Social Council in Geneva on 14 July 1969, he finds that: "... while science and technology speed forward with inventions and discoveries which were beyond imagination even a few decades ago, young people are less content with the sluggishness of the institutions and the structures of political, economic and social life. Many of them are impatient, understandably impatient, with injustice and they question the existing channels of institutional change... “It seems obvious that, during the years ahead, societies all over the world will have to adapt their priorities and allocate their resources to take into account the demands of youth.” 62.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The greater the power projected from outside into Asia, the more compelling the need that it should operate in harmony with Asian aspirations, towards goals compatible with Asian independence and dignity.” 60. There is a portentous stirring among the peoples of Asia today as they become more and more deeply involved in the great enterprise of transforming their ancient societies through economic and social development. As in other parts of the developing world, Asia’s youth is in the forefront of this gathering march towards that glittering goal of the Charter: “better standards of life in larger freedom”. 61. I believe that this Assembly should pay special attention to the emergence of youth as one of the most important factors in the process of change in the developing countries.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Asia is in the process of firmly establishing a principle applicable to other regions, namely, that Asian problems are primarily the concern and responsibility of the Asian countries themselves. 58. They—the Asians—are asserting, in the words of His Excellency President Ferdinand E.Marcos of the Philippines, their right to “a rule compatible with the recovered dignity of their new status, and, in keeping with the purposes of Asian nationalism, demanding that others place their relationship with them on a basis of equality and mutual respect”. 59. Relevant to the new relationship between Asian and non-Asian Powers that might be formed after the war in Viet-Nam has ended is President Marcos’ perceptive warning: “To function in Asia without full Asian support is to build on shifting sand.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Yet another is the dynamic resurgence of Asia after centuries of lethargy under Western domination. China, whose ancient civilization was a fertile source of inventions helpful to the build-up of Western power and affluence, has acquired the nuclear technology needed to reclaim its place among the great Powers. Then again, responding belatedly to the challenge of the industrial revolution, Japan nevertheless has forged to the front rank of today’s economic giants, sparking what may turn out to be a new Asian renaissance. 57. It is also in Asia that the political limits to the exercise of great military power are being most sharply defined and restrained.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The reason is partly because the pace of change in our world has become so rapid that it is no longer measureable by the ordinary time scale, and partly because its depth and scope are transforming life and society everywhere on our planet to a degree unprecedented in history. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that we are today living in a different world from the one for which the United Nations Charter was designed twenty-four years ago. 54. Among the changes affecting the structure of the United Nations is the emergence of super-Powers possessing ultimate weapons in over-kill quantity but unable to impose peace and order in the world. ‘one of us who signed the Charter in San Francisco knew anything about the atom bomb. 55. Another is the emergence of Africa as a major factor in world affairs. 56.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Moreover, the Philippines, having regard to Malaysia’s recent difficulties, has exercised the utmost restraint with respect to this question, which, we continue to hope, could be adjudicated by mutual consent. 52. I now turn to the more general issues of concern to this Assembly. It gives one pause to realize that the United Nations is not yet a quarter of a century old. In 1944, as an observer for the Philippines, which at that time had not yet regained its independence, I was a witness to the historic initial steps to organize the United Nations at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, and afterwards I had the honour to lead the Philippines delegation at the formal founding of the United Nations in San Francisco. That was in 1945, only twenty-four years ago. Yet it seems already to belong to another age. 53.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“This step is in consonance with the Manila Accord of 1963, under which Malaysia and the Philippines agreed: “...to bring the claim to a just and expeditious solution by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration or judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties’ own choice in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Bandung Declaration”. 51. I submit that it is hardly possible to envisage a more friendly and reasonable approach to this particular problem. A further touchstone of Philippine sincerity in this matter is our continued co-operation with Malaysia in the regional economic and social programmes of ASEAN, the Association of South-East Asian Nations, which also includes our good neighbours, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We remain fully committed to the protection and promotion of fundamental human rights, mindful of the fact that their violation anywhere in the world constitutes a direct threat to peace as well as a derogation of the essential dignity of man. 50. At this juncture I should like to refer briefly—and in the most friendly way—to the Philippine claim to Sabah. We are pledged to pursue this claim only by peaceful, orderly means under the rule of law, and therefore we reiterate our standing proposal to submit the case to the International Court of Justice, by whose decision the Malaysian Government and ourselves should abide.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“They should not be deprived of it at the peace table. 48. We note with alarm and anxiety the lack of progress reported by the Secretary-General in the crucial field of disarmament. This continuing impasse, reflecting a basic disagreement between the two super-Powers, fosters a global climate of insecurity which makes it more difficult to settle particular disputes like those in the Middle East and Viet-Nam. We shall lend our full support to all initiatives towards effective disarmament and international control of strategic nuclear weapons and the prevention of the development, production and stockpiling of chemical and bacteriological (biological) weapons. 49.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We remain opposed to the admission of Communist China into the United Nations and this is a position we shall maintain as long as Communist China pursues its intransigent policies and its support of so-called wars of national liberation which so often masks aggression by proxy. Like its other Asian neighbours, we are prepared to coexist with Communist China and the Chinese people but we have a right to insist that coexistence be based on mutual respect and scrupulous regard for international law. 47. We look forward to a negotiated settlement of the war in Viet-Nam but frankly hope that it will not be a peace at any price. The people of South Viet-Nam have the fundamental right to determine freely their own destiny in accordance with the principle of self-determination. They have earned that right in the crucible of war.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We feel his loss keenly. 44. Permit me first of all to state the Philippine position on some of the pressing problems on our agenda. 45. We share the profound concern about the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, where the protagonists appear to be once again on the brink of open war. We have pondered this intractable problem deeply, weighing carefully in our minds and in our consciences the various solutions proposed. Mindful of the claims, the interests and the aspirations of both sides, and considering them in the context of the common need for the restoration of peace with justice in that troubled area, we maintain our support for the Security Council’s resolution of 22 November 1967 [242 (1967)] as the basis for an equitable settlement. 46.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“My assurance, therefore, of the unstinting support and co-operation of ‘my delegation is more than a ritualistic gesture. It is a token of recognition of the magnitude of your task and an expression of earnest hope for your success as President of what we all pray will be a constructive and fruitful session of the Assembly. 43. The sombre context of our deliberations has been accentuated by the death in office of your distinguished predecessor, Mr. Arenales of Guatemala. He was a man of brilliance and perception. He had an even rarer quality: moral courage. At the risk of being misunderstood, of becoming unpopular, he dared to do his duty by speaking what he conceived to be the truth about certain weaknesses of the United Nations. His intellectual honesty was matched by his uncompromising devotion to the high office entrusted to him.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“41. Madam President, it has been ten years since I last took part in the deliberations of the General Assembly. I consider it a privilege to return to this rostrum as leader of the Philippine delegation and in that capacity to extend to you my sincere felicitations on your election to the highest office attainable in this distinguished body. 42. Twenty years ago, as President of the fourth session of the General Assembly, I had the great honour of occupying the same exalted position. I remember it as a unique vantage point, providing an exhilarating view of the state of the world. But it is also the point of convergence of the world’s problems. I know from experience what a lonely eminence the office of President can be and how heavy its burdens can become.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We know that whatever happens, the Soviet empire will never again be the same after the ruthless crushing of the Hungarian revolution. 26. The twin scourges of war and imperialism remain the two outstanding questions on our agenda. The General Assembly has no task more important than to help encompass their speedy elimination. The Philippine delegation, I assure you, will join in the earnest effort to accomplish that task.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“They are bound to realize that whereas the classical Western imperialism is on the way out in Asia and Africa, they now find themselves under a new form of Imperialist domination more potent and oppressive than any that the world has ever seen. Among them also the same spirit of nationalism, which the Communists have fanned in other places for their own ends, will remain alive and grow in strength until it explodes in their own faces. 25. This is not an idle prediction. In the souls of the peoples that have lost their freedom and independence and succumbed to communist domination, the pride of national identity and the will to freedom are not dead. Of them it can truly be said that their heads are bloody but unbowed. Soon or late, they will rise again to claim the freedom and dignity they have lost.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“International communism is often condemned as the principal instigator of national freedom movements. The Communists are guilty, of course, but rather less so than Powers like the United Kingdom and the United States which, by liberating their colonies, have shown other subject peoples that colonialism is no longer in fashion and that there is a way of liquidating it without bloodshed and without an after-math of hate. Each day which marks the peaceful grant of freedom to a colony is certain to make harder still the job of keeping the others in continued subjection. 24. Nor will the example of the United Kingdom and the United States be lost to the peoples that have fallen under the yoke of communist imperialism.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Where the United Kingdom and the United States gained friends and allies, the other Powers not only lost their territories anyway but also missed the chance of retaining the loyal friendship of their peoples. Moreover, the experience of the Federation of Malaya and Viet-Nam conclusively proves that colonial peoples seeking their freedom will defend that freedom against communist interlopers, provided they are not driven to the extremity of accepting communist aid in order to throw off the colonial yoke. 22. There is still time to revise the policy of nonrecognition of the right to self-government and independence or the policy of "too little and too late". The problem of Algeria is certainly one which imperiously demands such revision. 23.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“It is unfortunately true that international communism has all too often subverted national freedom movements and taken them over for its own ends. But where this has happened, the colonial Powers have not been without blame. By condemning the native peoples to a life of ignorance and poverty, and by forcing them to take up arms in order to win their freedom, the colonial Powers have virtually opened the front gate to let the Communists in even before they themselves have had time to make a hurried exit through the back door. The disastrous consequences of a policy of refusing to recognize a people’s right to self-government and independence or of a policy of "too little and too late", are evident in the contrasting experiences of Viet-Nam and Malaya, as well as of Indonesia and the Philippines.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Those who advance this objection seem to forget that Europe itself provides historic proof of the fact that nationalism is a necessary weapon in the liberation of peoples from oppressive domination of one kind or another. If nationalism was necessary to ensure the freedom of the European peoples, it can hardly be less so in the case of the peoples that have come under their dominion. 20. But whether wise or dangerous, the speedy release of peoples from colonial rule is one of the stubborn facts of our time, History may well record this phenomenon as the principal distinguishing mark of the political biography of the twentieth century. You cannot wish this fact away, and you ignore it only at your peril. 21.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“A hardly less crucial problem of our time is the need to liquidate by peaceful means and as speedily as possible the remnants of colonialism in various parts of the world. In the twelve years since the United Nations was founded, this process of liquidation has progressed at a pace which no one could have anticipated. There are those who deplore this development as unwise or dangerous, representing a reversion to a species of nationalism leading to political and territorial fragmentation which has been outmoded by the powerful drifts towards international or even supranational modes of co-operation in the twentieth century.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“In all fairness it can truly be said of both sides that they have made concessions to each other’s point of view in the course of their prolonged negotiations. It would be a grave disservice to mankind and to the United Nations to call off the conversations at a time when the possibility of agreement is brighter than it has been in many years. The General Assembly should therefore express its earnest desire to see the disarmament talks resumed at the earliest possible moment and urge the Powers concerned to re-examine the proposals with a view to further narrowing down their differences until an agreement -- even a limited initial agreement on a limited number of points — is reached. 19.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The Soviet proposals appear to start from the premise that sufficient mutual confidence already exists between the great Powers to enable them to agree forthwith to prohibit the use of atomic and nuclear weapons. The Western proposals, on the other hand, start from the premise that progress towards disarmament and the regulation of armaments must be made step by step, each step to be taken as mutual confidence develops following the successful implementation of the preceding one. 17. Despite this divergence of approach there is evidence in the discussions of the Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission in London of the willingness of both sides continually to narrow down the differences between their actual proposals. Any move to adjourn the conversations indefinitely cannot possibly be in the interest of anyone. 18.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Peaceful coexistence and the relaxation of tension are certainly desirable goals towards which we should bend our common efforts. But it is not enough to repeat these phrases day after day and year after year, as if those conditions would materialize by the sheer power of verbal incantation. The honest and reasonable thing to do is to accept the state of mutual distrust which exists between the great Powers as one of the harsh and bitter realities of our time, and to move forward doggedly, step by step, away from there. 16. Here, it seems to me, is the real difference between the Soviet and the Western approaches to the question of disarmament.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Nor is it a secret to the Soviet Government that these alliances, together with the military bases agreements that implement them, have become a source of no little irritation between the peoples and Governments of the countries belonging to these defensive arrangements. No country likes to have foreign troops indefinitely stationed in its territory, and this is true of all foreign troops, whether Soviet or American, But in the case of my country, as in that of all countries where foreign bases are located, we are under the imperious necessity of suffering the inconveniences and irritations as well as the risks of having such bases in our territory in exchange for security against the incomparably greater danger of communist subversion and attack. 15.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Only the other day, the representative of the Federation of Malaya spoke to us from this rostrum, in a moving speech, of the sufferings and sacrifices endured by his people in their long struggle against the forces of militant communism. Is it suggested that all these are mere hallucinations and that we should heed the siren call of peaceful coexistence by renouncing the protection which the defensive alliances afford us? 14. It is no secret to the Soviet Government that these alliances have imposed onerous military and financial burdens upon all the Member countries — but especially upon the United States — of which their peoples are eager to be relieved.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“All these weak and small countries have formed alliances with the Western Powers because they have been and continue to be menaced by Communist military power as well as by the subversive policies of international communism. I know that the Communist States are trying to allay our fears by assuring us that they are dedicated to the principles of peaceful coexistence and of respect for the political independence and territorial integrity of other States. But, only a few years ago, the Philippines nearly succumbed to communist subversion and rebellion, and hundreds of Philippine lives were sacrificed in the struggle. In our vicinity, we have seen what happened in Korea and Viet-Nam.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“From these considerations it is clear that the military posture of the free world is a purely defensive one. The existing military alliances like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the South-East Asia Treaty (SEATO) and the Baghdad Pact are no more than manifestations of that defensive posture. Surely, no Soviet statesman really believes that these alliances would initiate an attack against a Power like the Soviet Union which possesses atomic and hydrogen weapons and now boasts that it has developed the means to deliver them to any point on the globe. Nor is it anything but ludicrous to suggest, for example, that tiny Luxembourg and little Denmark, along with Iraq and Iran, are plotting to attack the Soviet Union or that Thailand and the Philippines are planning to invade Communist China.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Soviet statesmen are well noted for their realism and they must surely understand that an agreement to outlaw atomic and hydrogen weapons would be of no value whatever in a situation where the free world would be compelled to use these weapons in order to repel an invasion by vastly superior enemy forces, even if such forces are armed only with conventional weapons. It should, therefore, be utterly clear to them that the free world would agree to relinquish these weapons only if such agreement were accompanied by an agreement to ensure, by means of an adequate control system, that fissionable material would never again be produced for weapons purposes, and by an agreement to reduce armed forces and to place existing stocks of armaments under international supervision. 13.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The Soviet Government continues to advocate an agreement to renounce forthwith the use of atomic and hydrogen weapons in advance of an adequate control system over fissionable material and in advance of an agreement on the reduction of armed forces and supervision of stocks of armaments. But the position of the free world on tills question has been made clear and it rests on a candid appreciation of the actual situation. The free world must rely on these terrible weapons as its only defense against the Red Army, which, combined with the armies of the Warsaw Treaty countries and of Communist China, the free countries can never hope to equal.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The Soviet Government has also indicated that it would accept an agreement for inspection of Soviet Siberia in exchange for a reciprocal right covering United States territory west of the Mississippi. Now, such proposals are obviously advantageous to the Soviet Union and detrimental to the security of others. Yet they were not scornfully dismissed for that reason, but on the contrary formed the basis of counter-proposals by the Western Powers. However inequitable such proposals may appear, they serve a useful purpose in indicating acceptance of the need for military disengagement and mutual inspection as essential elements of an over-all agreement on disarmament. 12.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“This is obviously untrue because, while the Western Powers would certainly prefer such a one-sided agreement if they could get it, they know better than to expect the alert negotiators of the Soviet Union to be thus so easily taken in. What is true, as I said a moment ago, is that both sides are bound -- indeed, they are expected — to advance initial proposals that afford them a certain advantage over the other. It will be recalled that the Soviet Government itself once proposed the withdrawal of Soviet and American troops to a distance of 500 miles east and west, respectively, of the Rhine, a proposal which would push American troops beyond the Atlantic coast, while the Red Army would retire to outposts within easy marching distance of Western Europe.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“It Is no discredit to the Powers to say that it is natural for them initially to submit proposals on disarmament which tend, to a lesser or greater degree, to afford themselves a certain advantage. It is in the nature of any negotiations on disarmament that they should do so. But it is precisely the function of such negotiations to reduce their differences and gradually to equalize the sacrifices and obligations as well as the benefits and guarantees accruing to all the Powers concerned. 11. The Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union told us the other day that the Governments of the Western Powers have the wrong approach to the question of disarmament because they are looking for the kind of disarmament agreement which would be advantageous to themselves and detrimental to the security of others.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Both the General Assembly and the Security Council have therefore given the highest priority to the question of disarmament and the regulation of armaments. I believe we can all agree that nobody wants to start an atomic war. The three great Powers possessing atomic and nuclear weapons certainly know that it would be sheer madness to do so. Yet, after years of discussion, no agreement on disarmament has been reached. The proposals and counter-proposals submitted to the Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission in London mid now presented to the Assembly show one thing clearly: the Powers have not been able to agree because mutual confidence is lacking and, specifically, because of the fear of a surprise attack. 10.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Our highest hope and our sole object in the international sphere is to unite our efforts with those of friendly countries and the United Nations in order to preserve the liberties and enhance the material and spiritual welfare of our people in circumstances of greater prosperity and larger freedom for all. 8. It is in this spirit that our delegation approaches the tasks of the General Assembly. It is in this spirit also that we shall try to indicate briefly our views on some of the principal questions before 's body. 9. We all agree that the prevention of a third world war is the principal task of the United Nations, and that disarmament is the necessary condition for the accomplishment of that task.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The time has come When we must listen carefully, think deeply, speak deliberately, and act with all possible moderation, eschewing the dubious satisfactions of a cunning argument or an effective stroke of propaganda in favour of the lasting benefit that would come to all men from every step, however modest, that is taken towards mutual understanding and the accommodation of conflicting or divergent interests. 6. The principal task of this Assembly is to help free mankind from the nightmarish fear of war. 7. The Philippine delegation represents a small country that cherishes its freedom and respects the freedom of others. We covet nothing that belongs to others, and we threaten no one. We entertain no ambitions of power or glory in the world.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“common ends." The greatest and most imperative of these ends happens to be the survival of the human race. 5. In these days of peril for all mankind, who is there so reckless as to risk our common fate on an angry word, a haughty challenge or an implacable threat? Who is there so foolhardy as to gamble away our hope of survival on a witticism or a clever turn of phrase, on the winning of a debating point or the besting of an opponent? There may have been a time when these little triumphs could yield a certain excitement, like heady wine. But that time is no more.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“As one who has participated in the work of the General Assembly since its inception, I would agree to the observation that the deliberations of this body appear to have undergone a certain mellowing. Some may attribute this to the fact that we all have grown somewhat tired of speeches, especially angry and vituperative speeches. But I would go further and say that most of us have become increasingly aware, in recent years, of the gravity of many of the issues that confront the world today, and have been sobered by the prospect of the mortal consequences of our failure. More and more, we are beginning to realize the need to use this body, not as a debating society or as a forum of propaganda, but as an instrument of conciliation, a veritable "centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of ...”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The powers of the Security Council, which are defined with precision and with an impressive panoply of form and procedure by the Charter, have not been successfully brought to bear on the grave conflicts that have lately arisen among nations. Inversely, the broad and diffuse powers of the General Assembly have acquired increasing force and definition, partly from the obvious need to fill the vacuum of authority, and partly from the conviction that in a divided world, and so long as the world is divided, we must accept the moral sanctions of the General Assembly as the only available substitute for the un enforceable political and military sanctions of the Security Council. 4. I believe we are entitled to note with satisfaction that, on the whole, the General Assembly has successfully met the ever-growing challenge to its responsibilities.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The second is that the moral authority of the General Assembly is bound to gather strength as much from the negative actions of those that wilfully flout that authority as from the exemplary behaviour of those that sincerely respect it. 3. These developments augur well for the future of the United Nations. We are not among those who look with dismay on the growing ascendancy of the General Assembly. That ascendancy was inevitable from the moment it became clear that the Security Council, immobilized by the "cold war" and hamstrung by the veto, would default on its high responsibilities under the Charter.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)