China’s vote in UN is for well-being of all countries

Founded on October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), had at the beginning been kept out of the United Nations for 22 years. However, on October 25, 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 at its 26th Session with an overwhelming majority, deciding that all its rights be restored, recognising the representatives of PRC government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the UN.

This couldn’t have been achieved without the steadfast solidarity and support of developing countries including Uganda, as Chairman Mao Zedong once pointed out, that “it was our fellow developing countries that carried China into the UN”. This is something that China will never forget. Five decades since then, China has been acting in the spirit and principle of firmly upholding common interests of developing countries.

China has been honouring her responsibilities for upholding fairness and justice in international affairs.
It believes that all countries are equal and the sovereignty and development path independently chosen by themselves should be respected. Upholding the banner of true multilateralism, China advocates all countries should safeguard the status and role of the UN, abandon the Cold War mentality, refrain from building exclusive blocs for the purpose of ideological and geopolitical rivalry, and refrain from imposing the will of a few countries and their so-called rules onto others. 

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a developing country herself, China’s vote in the UN is always for the well-being of developing countries. China has been working relentlessly to promote common development. The country  has  also been working to foster greater synergy between her own development and the world’s.  

The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China has received support from 141 countries and 32 international organisations. Under the framework of South-South cooperation, China has provided around RMB 400 billion yuan ($ 61.92 b) of development assistance to 166 countries and international organisations over the years, and has built close to 3,000 complete projects. Over the years, China has sent more than 600,000 aid workers to help over 120 developing countries in their efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.

China has been making active contribution to addressing global challenges. In the global fight against Covid-19, China has provided 1.2 billion doses of finished and bulk vaccines to more than 100 countries and international organisations by last September. 

China will strive to provide a total of 2 billion doses of vaccines to the world within the year. In addition to donating $100 million to COVAX, China will donate 100 million doses of vaccines to other developing countries to help ensure accessibility and affordability.  

On climate change, China is committed to peaking her CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.  The world is under the compounded impacts of the pandemic and profound changes across the world, both unseen in a century.  Economic recovery has been uneven. As the global cause for development stands at a historical crossroads, Chinese President Xi Jinping solemnly proposed the Global Development Initiative to the world.  

The Initiative embraces the people-centered core concept. It takes the betterment of people’s well-being and realisation of their well-rounded development as the starting point and ultimate goal, and endeavours to meet the aspirations of all nations. It focuses on development as the master key to address all problems, and strives to solve difficult issues and create more opportunities for development.

As China marks the jubilee anniversary of the restoration of her lawful seat in the UN on October 25,  it will continue to make all-out efforts in participating in UN affairs, and forge away with fellow developing countries and the rest of the world in building a community with a shared future for mankind!

H.E. Zhang Lizhong, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda