UN General Assembly
1956

170. I state these facts for one purpose alone: to show that my Government has been consistently anti-colonial. Sun Yat Sen, the great leader of modern China, taught us to give help to all oppressed peoples. We ourselves, having suffered from colonialism, naturally sympathize with and support movements for national independence. 171. In regard to colonialism, however, China differs from some of the other Asian countries in several respects. The differences are as important as the similarities. 172. European colonialism in the last four centuries was divided into two movements. One movement of colonial expansion was initiated and promoted by the countries of Western Europe. Those countries crossed vast expanses of sea and ocean to dominate and control countries in Asia and Africa. In meeting this movement, the countries in the south of Asia stood in the forefront. They were the first victims. Indeed, many of the countries of southern Asia have known no other type of colonialism, and therefore their animosities are almost exclusively directed to countries of Western Europe.