China Stands Firm in Galaxy of World's Nations
This is the seventh article written by Our Staff Reporters Chen Te'an and Zheng Yuanyuan in praise of the motherland and to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The article runs as follows:
With the proclamation of the founding of New China 50 years ago, the Chinese people have since stood up. This marks an end to the history of humiliation and suffering and a solemn declaration that the Chinese nation has begun to stand firm in the East of the world.
In the capacity as a sovereign state, China has stepped on to the world stage, the Chinese nation has straightened up its back. Chairman Mao Zedong started the diplomacy of New China all over again, the heart of it is an independent foreign policy of peace.
Shortly after the founding of New China, we were faced with all-directional US brocade in political, economic and military fields, and with the Western world's all-round embargo. The imperialists attempted to strangle the newborn People's Republic in the cradle by launching a war of aggression against Korea. The Chinese people, under difficult conditions, rose to wage the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, creating the miracle of the weak defeating the strong in the world military history. The signing of the Korean armistice agreement has rewritten the history in which China's diplomatic negotiation had always ended at the cost of national rights and interests.
In 1954, New China made its first appearance in the international stage. The Chinese Delegation went to Geneva and sat together with representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France to negotiate the Korean question and the issue of Indo China. Due to Zhou Enlai's proposal, armistice was realized in Indo China. The diplomatic demeanor of New China became more conspicuous due to the wisdom, manner and talent. The world felt the auspicious and happy atmosphere brought about by New China. During the adjournment of the Geneva sessions, Premier Zhou visited India and Burma (now Myanmar), China, together with India and Burma, declared in the form of statement to the world: We have set down a new norm for countries to get along well with one another. That is the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence-mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence. These five principles are a great creation of China for persisting in implementing the independent foreign policy of peace. The 10 principles adopted at the Bandung Conference held in the following years included the substantive contents of the Five Principles, the principles it advocated for seeking common grounds and reserving differences, mutual accommodation and mutual benefit, and avoiding conflict and war between countries have gone down in history as the "Bandung Spirit".
The question of sovereignty admits of no consultation. This is a salient characteristic of China's independent foreign policy of peace, it demonstrates punctiliousness and firmness. In 1963 when the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain signed the partial prohibition of nuclear test treaty designed to consolidate the nuclear monopoly position of the big powers, China not only denounced nuclear monopoly, but broke nuclear monopoly through its actual deeds. On October 16, 1964, when China successfully exploded its first atom bomb, the world was shocked at the rapid progress of China's nuclear technology, thinking this to be a demonstration of China's will and determination to safeguard its sovereignty and independence.
In the 1960s, national-liberation movements had been raging vigorously, the advancement of de-colonization was irresistible. As the largest developing country, China gave profound sympathy and support to the struggles of colonial countries and people.
China's diplomacy gradually broke through the tall walls set up by the United States. The period from the "Ping Pong diplomacy" in 1971 to US President Nixon's China visit in 1972 put an end to the deadlock that had lasted for 22 years between China and the United States, and opened the gate to normalization of bilateral relations.
After the founding of the People's Republic, China waged indomitable struggles in order to restore its legitimate seat in the United Nations. Following the adoption of the 2758 Resolution on October 25, 1971, all legal rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations were restored. The Taiwan authorities were immediately driven out of the seat they illegally occupied in the United Nations and all its organizations. The normalization of the Sino-US relations and the restoration of China's legitimate seat in the United Nations marked China's thorough smashing of the blocade.
After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Deng Xiaoping put forward the scientific thesis that peace and development are the two main themes of the contemporary world, which has enriched and developed Marxist outlook of the time, enabled us to realize a major change in our understanding of the theme of the present age from "war and revolution" to "peace and development", providing a theoretical basis for developing independent diplomacy of peace in the New Period. China holds high the banner of peace and development, persists in opposing hegemony, advocates the establishment of an international new order on the basis of the Five Principles, thus making it an important and steadfast force defending world peace and stability.
The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence China initiated and advocated together with India and Burma have withstood the tests in practice. Demonstrating their strong vitality, they have become the universally acknowledged norm governing international relationship. Deng Xiaoping creatively initiated the establishment of an international new order on the basis of the Five Principles. History proves that the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence have gone deep into the hearts of the people. The number of countries forged diplomatic ties with China has increased from 18 in 1950 to 163 at present. The presentation, persistence and development of the Five Principles have made enormous contributions to the defense of world peace.
China opposes the thinking of Cold War, it refrains from engaging in confrontation or resorting to the threat of force, it advocates the settlement of international security issue and disputes between nations through dialogs and cooperation. As a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations, China has played an irreplaceable role in promoting the just and reasonable settlements of major regional conflicts including the war between Iran and Iraq and the Cambodian issue, it has also played an important, constructive role in problems, such as nuclear tests by India and Pakistan and the Kosovo and Korean Peninsula.
As an important member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization and the Asian-European Conference, China has made important contributions to promoting the healthy development of regional cooperation and regional and world peace and stability.
China has comprehensively participated in and actively propelled the process of international disarmament. Beginning from 1986, China has submitted its proposals for the reduction of nuclear and conventional weapons to the UN General Assembly for five straight years, which have all been unanimously adopted. Between 1985 and 1997, China had twice unilaterally conducted large-scale disarmament, cutting its force by a total of 1.5 million, which has won widespread praises from the international community.
The great concept "one country, two systems" creatively devised by Deng Xiaoping has pointed out the sole, correct way for the return of Hong Kong and Macao to the motherland and for the peaceful reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. The principle "sovereignty belonging to me, putting aside disputes and engaging in common development" has opened a new train of thought for the peaceful solutions of the problems such as territorial and water region disputes over Diaoyu Island and Nansha Islands.
The Party's third generation leading collective with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core has, through fruitful diplomatic activities, brought about breakthrough progress in the readjustment of large-country relations. Since the beginning of the 1990s, China's proposal for the establishment of cross-century cooperative partnership has been widely identified, China has established partnership of different forms with the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Union, which has formed the framework for the sound and steady development of bilateral relations. China's all-directional peaceful diplomacy is making a bright image of China as a guard of world peace.
Today, China not only serves as a powerful pillar of world peace, but also is the source of the new driving force of development.
In the early 1980s, Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China's reform and opening drive, pointed out: "Carrying out construction behind closed-door will not be successful, China cannot develop itself without the world. So pragmatic China has opened its door wide to the world. China's foreign economic and trade pattern has undergone an historic leap. A "large economic and trading" pattern has taken shape featuring the mutual promotion of foreign economic and trade relation and the use of foreign capital and the common cooperation between foreign trade, production, scientific research, finance and taxation departments..
China is advancing to the world. Currently it has set up more than 5,000 enterprises abroad which are scattered in 139 countries and regions.
China is one of the countries witnessing the fastest economic growth over the past 20 years. Its overall national strength has notably increased, its economic aggregate has ranked seventh in the world. At the same time, China has the largest potential market with 1.2 billion consumers in the world. The market opportunities provided by China's magnificent goal for the realization of the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology have offered a new source of motive force for the development of the world economy. China has become a developing country using the most foreign capital for eight straight years, second only to the United States and its foreign exchange reserves rank second in the world.
In a sincere attitude, China has joined other Asian countries to cope with the East Asian financial crisis, providing crisis-afflicted countries with emergency aid within its power. Proceeding from the whole situation of stabilizing the Asian and even world economy, it insists on not devaluating RMB, for this is has made great sacrifices, the international community universally praises China as a "large responsible country".
The Chinese people, after engaging in hundred years of struggle and experiencing the hardship of fire and blood, have finally stood up like a giant.
As the new era is approaching, the Chinese people will, in a more heroic posture, stand firm in the galaxy of the world's nations.
Indepth 1999-09-03 Page1
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