By Huan Yuping, People’s Daily
This year marks the 55th anniversary of the restoration of the People’s Republic of China’s lawful seat in the United Nations (UN).
Over more than half a century, China has steadily evolved from a participant in the international system into a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order. This journey reflects not only a major country’s growing engagement in global governance, but also how the spirit of the UN Charter has taken root in the modern world.
On Oct. 25, 1971, the 26th session of the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 by an overwhelming majority, deciding to restore all the rights of the People’s Republic of China in the UN and recognizing the representatives of its government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the UN.
In his article “Renewing Multilateralism: China and UN in the 21st Century,” former UN Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee wrote that, 55 years on, this decision endures as a defining milestone in the evolution of the international order.
Over the past 55 years, China has evolved from embracing international rules to contributing ideas for global governance. Throughout this journey, it has consistently supported the UN, upheld the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and played an active and constructive role within the UN framework. China has advanced the building of a community with a shared future for humanity and made significant contributions to world peace and development.
Stephen Jackson, the UN Resident Coordinator in China, noted that China brings a distinctive perspective from the Global South to the UN, helping to create a more balanced global governance landscape.
China has always been a builder of world peace. Guided by the Chinese nation’s deep-rooted commitment to peace, China has chosen the path of peaceful development, rejecting the traditional route of aggression and expansion taken by major powers. Among the world’s major countries, China has the best track record with respect to peace and security.
China is the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the largest provider of peacekeeping personnel among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. To date, it has dispatched more than 50,000 peacekeepers to 29 UN Security Council-authorized peacekeeping operations.
As conflicts continue to flare around the world, China has worked to promote peace and dialogue. From the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it has pursued approaches to resolving hotspot issues with Chinese characteristics and played a constructive role in easing tensions and resolving disputes.
China has consistently contributed to global development. It achieved the poverty reduction goals set under the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule and contributes around 30 percent of global economic growth.
It is now a major trading partner for more than 160 countries and regions and has signed 24 free trade agreements with 31 countries and regions. The country has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with over 150 countries and 30 international organizations, injecting fresh momentum into global development.
In response to widening global development gaps, China has actively worked to put development back at the center of the international agenda and help developing countries strengthen their capacity for self-sustaining growth, so that the benefits of development can be shared more widely and equitably among people in all countries.
China has always upheld the international order. Over the past 55 years, it has firmly defended the UN-centered international system, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing international relations, founded on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
China advocates and practices true multilateralism and actively leads and advances multilateral cooperation. It is a member of almost all universal intergovernmental organizations and a party to over 600 international conventions and their amendments. It has put forward Chinese solutions in emerging areas such as climate change and AI governance.
China has successively proposed the four major global initiatives and taken the lead in implementing them, contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to addressing deficits in peace, development, security and governance.
The world is undergoing profound change and growing turbulence, while global challenges continue to mount. The international community must build consensus and work in concert to meet the challenges of our time.
We should uphold fairness and justice, and strengthen the foundation of sovereign equality. The international community must firmly oppose hegemonic practices that allow the strong to bully the weak and must never let the world revert to the law of the jungle. International affairs should be discussed and decided by all countries together, and the legitimate concerns of developing countries must be heard and taken seriously. Only in this way can the foundations of the multilateral international order remain firm.
We should uphold fundamental principles while breaking new ground to improve UN governance. Upholding fundamental principles means adhering to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, safeguarding the international system and the basic norms governing international relations established after the end of World War II, and remaining committed to multilateralism.
Innovation means responding to the changing times by enabling the UN to adapt and reform itself, continually improving its internal governance mechanisms, enhancing its effectiveness and better reflecting the concerns of developing countries.
We should shoulder our shared responsibilities and put multilateralism into practice. The more than 190 countries in the world are all aboard the same big boat, bound by a shared destiny. Only by working together can they weather the storms ahead.
All parties should embrace the principle of extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit, explore new approaches to cooperation and develop innovative cooperation models, while continuing to advance multilateralism in response to changing global circumstances, and working together to address global challenges such as climate change, food security and digital governance.
At this new historical juncture, China will continue to be a staunch supporter of the UN and a steadfast practitioner of multilateralism, working hand in hand with other countries to build a community with a shared future for humanity and create a better world for all.
