File Photo shows Qiao Guanhua (L, front), then vice foreign minister of the People's Republic of China, and Huang Hua, then Chinese representative to the UN, reacting at the 26th United Nations General Assembly on Nov. 15, 1971. Oct. 25, 2016 marks the 45th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations. (Xinhua)
by Xinhua writer Gu Zhenqiu
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Oct. 25 is a day to be remembered in the history of China and the United Nations. On this day in 1971, the 26th session of the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 with a landslide majority, restoring the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the world body with all its legitimate rights, and immediately expelling representatives of the Kuomintang clique from the United Nations and all its affiliated agencies.
Upon the victorious adoption, a jubilant Tanzanian UN ambassador, Salim A. Salim, did a triumphant dance in the aisle of the hall of the General Assembly. The scene has gone deeper into the memory of the Chinese people. The historic resolution, sponsored by Albania, Algeria and 21 other countries, solved once and for all, in political, legal and procedural terms, the issue of China's representation in the United Nations.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the restoration of China's rightful seat at the United Nations. Ever since 1971, stupendous changes have taken place in the world, in China and in the United Nations. China's commitment to the UN Charter, however, remains unchanged. Its pursuit of world peace and development has been firm, its involvement in the UN cause has become deeper.
Before adoption of the resolution, China's seat in the United Nations had been occupied by the Chiang Kai-shek clique overthrown by the Chinese people 22 years previous. The government of the People's Republic of China made unremitting efforts to regain China's lawful seat in the United Nations.
Restoration of China's lawful rights also represented a major breakthrough in China's diplomacy and opened up a new chapter in the UN-China cooperation.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and many other senior UN officials repeatedly praised China for its strong support for and active contribution to the United Nations.
There is a consensus between China and the United Nations that "China needs the United Nations, and the United Nations also needs China."
Without China, the world's most populous country, the United Nations cannot be called the most universal international organization in the globe. And without the United Nations, China loses the most important platform of the multi-lateral diplomacy.
Over the decades since, China strove to build a new type of relationship with other countries in accordance with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence on the basis of international law. It broke isolation, blockade and military threat imposed by imperialism and hegemonism, regained its lawful seat in the United Nations, started reform and opening-up programs, became fully integrated in the international system, and made remarkable achievements in development.
China is committed to resolving hotspot issues through political means, advocate dialogue and consultation, address both the symptoms and root causes and give full play to the central role of the United Nations. China, which is committed to rule of law at home, will naturally act as a strong defender and active builder of the international rule of law.
At the same time, China, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council and the largest developing country in the world, will continue to be a firm UN supporter, vindicator and participant.
China is a firm UN supporter. China, a developing country as it is, now is the largest contributor of UN peacekeeping funding among developing countries, and also the largest contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Currently, China is the second-largest country to share United Nations' peacekeeping costs from 2016 to 2018, just behind the United States. China's contribution to the UN peacekeeping operations budget rose from 6.6 percent to 10.3 percent, surpassing Japan for the first time.
China is an active contributor to the United Nations. According to the UN Millennium Development Goals Report 2015, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty in China fell from 61 percent in 1990 to 4.2 percent in 2014, with the number of people China has raised from poverty accounting for 70 percent of the world's total.
Over the past 30-odd years since the launch of the reform and opening up drive, more than 700 million Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty.
The more China develops, the greater its needs to cooperate closely with other countries and the more it desires a peaceful and stable international environment. As China grows stronger, it will make greater contribution to the maintenance and promotion of the international rule of law, as it works with other countries to build a fairer and more reasonable international political and economic order.
