1.	 Mr. President, it is a particular pleasure for me to associate myself with previous speakers in expressing my own satisfaction, as well as that of the Lebanese delegation, at your election to the presidency of this historic session of our Organization. It is indeed a formidable task that we are entrusting to you on this twenty--fifth anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, a time when, in varying degrees, we shall all be tempted to take stock of the work of the Organization. Who could assume this heavy responsibility better than you? Your brilliant career only serves to confirm all the hopes which we repose in you. You are also the worthy representative of the Scandinavian democracies which, like my own country, have always displayed their attachment to the ideals of peace, justice and liberty.
2.	I should like also to take this opportunity to pay a particular tribute to SecretaryGeneral U Thant, who has brought to his important task his qualities of heart and mind, his wisdom and his sense of equity, and whose indefatigable efforts to promote international peace and security fully merit our profound gratitude.
3.	This year we celebrate the twenty--fifth anniversary of our Organization. We should like at the beginning of our statement to dwell on the Organization's merits. Among its positive achievements which immediately occur to us we must, of course, point to the tremendous work of decolonization which, although it is incomplete, nevertheless has made it possible for many countries to become sovereign free States. Multilateral cooperation in the economic, social and cultural fields has very largely responded to the hope which the international community has placed in our Organization. We should like to hope that the United Nations Second Development Decade will open up a new era of prosperity and cooperation among all nations.
4.	Since the advent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the adoption of the Covenants guaranteeing economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, the United Nations has forged a framework guaranteeing the flourishing of man and respect for his values.
5.	Although some modest progress in the field of disarmament and peaceful coexistence must also be accredited to our Organization, we cannot overlook its weaknesses with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security. Too many problems have remained unsolved because of the interplay of the politics of influence and the fossilization of the world into antagonist blocs where the national interests of certain great Powers have often been contrary to the legitimate interests of the small and middle-sized nations.
6.	The United Nations, born after the most murderous conflict the world had ever known, determined not only to eliminate the pernicious consequences of that World War but, above all, to spare future generations from a new scourge.
7.	Twenty--five years after its creation our Organization has still not succeeded in attaining those two objectives. Indeed, the international community continues to suffer the pernicious consequences of that war, consequences which have been complicated by further conflicts. A quarter of a century ago the General Assembly and the Security Council symbolized, especially for the small countries, the supreme guarantee of a new international order based on peace and justice. Unfortunately, the Security Council has now become the stage where antagonism between the blocs is played out, thus freezing the positions of the great Powers and preventing the Council from taking the action that we expect from it. The French and Brazilian Foreign Ministers, in their brilliant addresses (1842nd and 1841st meetings), quite rightly drew our attention to the failures of the Security Council, whose resolutions have often in practice encountered a veto in terms of interpretation.
8.	The essential reason for the failure of the Security Council is principally the desire of certain Powers to settle international problems, not in the light of the legitimate interests of the peoples concerned, but more often in the light of their wish to maintain their zones of influence. Many conflicts have arisen since the creation of the United Nations, and at the head of the list we find the Palestinian tragedy.
A/PV.1844
9.	Israel, which is the source of this tragedy, is responsible for the convulsions running through the
Arab countries today. Because of its disregard of the resolutions of the General Assembly, and particularly its refusal to implement resolution 242 (1967) of the Security Council, Israel continues to hinder peace efforts in the Middle East.
10.	The problem in that region has been prolonged distressingly for many long years. In twenty--five years everything* that could have been said on this subject has been repeated many times. Unfortunately, the aggressive policy of Israel all through these years has opposed a just settlement of the problem.
11.	If the United Nations had in good time taken the necessary measures to compel Israel to accept and implement the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council with regard to this problem, much tragedy could have been avoided and thousands of human lives saved.
12.	The heartrending events which are occurring today in Jordan and which have occurred in other countries in the region are only one of the consequences of Israel's refusal to implement the relevant resolutions of our Organization and to recognize the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
13.	Indeed, this continual refusal has tested beyond endurance the patience of this people that has fallen victim to repeated acts of aggression by Israel. For twenty--two years international public opinion has remained indifferent to the sufferings of the Palestinian refugees uprooted from their motherland, and yet people are surprised today to see these exiles becoming, in part or completely, fighters taking up arms in their own cause.
14.	As my Government has so often pointed out, Israel, by its threats and its acts of aggression, hopes to oblige Lebanon, under pain of undergoing more acts of aggression by Israel, to constrain indefinitely by force of arms the 300,000 Palestinian refugees to which it has given refuge on its territory and force them to resign themselves to the misfortunes of their exodus. Since 1968 the Security Council has been convened four times on the request of Lebanon. Warnings have been issued to Israel, measures have been contemplated, condemnations have been pronounced; but Lebanon today remains still vulnerable to acts of aggression by Israel, which always go unpunished.
15.	Accordingly, Israel by its refusal is seeking nothing else but to destroy Lebanon from within and without, and this by forcing Lebanon to choose between undergoing Israeli raids against its own territory and population and carrying out, with regard to its own brothers on its own territory, a continuous policy of violence and civil war. The harmonious synthesis which has been achieved by Lebanon is of a significance which goes beyond its frontiers. It represents, in the final analysis, the solution for many problems in other countries, including Israel. Internationally speaking, it amounts to the ultimate aspiration of all human beings to usher in an era of understanding and fraternal cooperation. If, because of the Palestine tragedy for which Lebanon is not at all responsible, any more than are the other Arab countries, and which involves justice and the authority of the Security Council, this human experiment which has so far been carried out successfully in Lebanon were to be compromised, it would certainly amount to a condemnation of the principles, the activities and the raison d'etre of the United Nations, and in the eyes of history it would be an actual step backward for mankind.
16.	The whole world is concerned today at the impediments which are now hindering freedom of aerial navigation. Lebanon, which profoundly shares this concern, as a country which is tourism conscious and itself possesses a large airline, has a particular interest in this subject.
17.	Moreover, of all the States in the world Lebanon is the one which has in practice suffered most in the field of air travel, by the shameful and devastating attack perpetrated against the international airport at Beirut by the regular forces of Israel, which, on 28 December 1968, destroyed three quarters of Lebanon's national civil aircraft.
18.	The same States which today hold themselves up as defenders of the security of international air travel should at that time have combined their efforts with ours in the International Civil Aviation Organization in order to take the necessary measures to prevent any interference in international air traffic. It is regrettable that our appeal remained a dead letter.
19.	During recent incidents which disturbed aerial security, slanderous and gratuitous attacks were directed against Lebanon. For humanitarian reasons my country was obliged to permit two civil airline aircraft in distress to land at the international airport at Beirut. Besides those humanitarian reasons, we did this at the express request of the airlines to which these aircraft belonged as well as that of the ambassadors of the countries where these airlines are based. Other States which possess resources far superior to ours remain even now impotent in the face of the hijackings of aircraft.
20.	We consider that all States bear a particular responsibility to safeguard the security of air travel. For its part Lebanon has now initiated the necessary legislative measures to adhere to the Tokyo Convention.  Furthermore, my country has undertaken to strengthen measures of internal security to give a better guarantee to the freedom and security of air travel.
21.	In this year of the twenty--fifth anniversary of our Organization, we remain convinced that the United Nations will be able to find an equitable and appropriate solution to the Middle East tragedy. Lebanon, a co founder of the United Nations, considers that our Organization is the primary guarantee for all peace loving and justice-loving nations, particularly the small nations, including Lebanon. In twenty--five years the principles upon which the Organization rests have lost nothing of their vitality and their power of attraction. Those principles remain the hope of peoples and nations. May so much reaffirmed hope not disappoint the nations which aspire only to achieve understanding in peace, justice and progress.


100.	  It is a pleasure for me to extend to you, Mr. President, the warmest congratulations of the Australia Government and its delegation to this General Assembly on your election to the Presidency. The distinguished part you have played in the service of your country and in the development of this Organization, notably through your authoritative study of the Charter, makes you a fitting and admirable choice to preside over this session.
101.	In congratulating you I also want to express through you the thanks and appreciation of the Australian delegation for the efficient and dedicated manner in which your predecessor, Mrs. Angie Brooks Randolph of Liberia, discharged her responsibilities as President of the twenty-fourth session.
102.	As so many of my colleagues have said, this twenty-fifth anniversary session is an appropriate occasion to examine the workings of our Organization its successes and failures, its merits and shortcomings.
103.	looking back to 1945 we should keep in mind the a;'," nations of the founder Members of the United Nations in San Francisco and the problems they had to solve.
104.	Today, under the compulsion of circumstances and events, we must ask ourselves to what extent the United Nations has succeeded. Of paramount and immediate importance, we must ask whether we can make any contribution to improving its performance. This, I emphasize, is the greatest test of statesmanship and sincerity of our times.
105.	Let us recall the conditions that existed when the Charter was signed. It was an unhappy and disturbed world in which the most destructive war of all times was still being fought; a war in which my country and many others, large and small, were still heavily involved; a war which had directly or indirectly dominated people's daily lives everywhere throughout six years of struggle against violent and tyrannical oppression. It was a more disturbed world than that which had given birth a generation earlier to the League of Nations. It was a world in which there was a passionate yearning for peace and order, for a system of rules for the orderly conduct of relations between nations, for the peaceful settlement of disputes and for the improvement of the quality of life for all mankind.
106.	In this mood of hope and determination our Governments met in San Francisco. There was never much disagreement about the name to be given to the new Organization; the worldwide alliance of Powers, then within sight of final victory , had already become known as the United Nations.
107.	The forging of its Charter, on the other hand, was necessarily a more difficult process. After the traumatic experience of the Second World War the nations united in war were ready enough to recognize the need for a more broadly based and more effective institution than the League of Nations, a new institution which would have to accommodate the aspirations and interests of more than fifty nations. The major Powers had differences to reconcile amongst themselves and the rights of the smaller nations were vigorously pressed, not least of all by the Australian delegation. Thus the Charter that emerged was inevitably the product of compromise, implicit as well as explicit. This should be recognized in any evaluation of the past.
108.	The Charter was founded on the proposition that the major allied Powers, those which carried the heaviest burden of the war, would share the main responsibility for preserving the peace. If this concept was to be successful it had to be postulated on the continued existence among the major allies of the same unity of purpose that had carried them to the point of victory and on a common interest in maintaining world peace in 'he future. It was with that expectation, indeed on t! edition, that the major allies were given a special position under the Charter, with rights and obligations exceeding those of all other Members.
109.	Even before the Charter was signed, suspicion and discord had arisen amongst them. Succeeding years have seen an intensified conflict of ideologies and worldwide clashes of national interests. At times it even seemed that the objective was conflict and turmoil and not peace and security, and the promotion, rather than the suppression, of armed conflict in areas of competitive interest. Those differences of outlook, interests and ideology among the permanent members of the Security Council have prevented the Council from performing the role intended for it by the Charter.
110.	We cm speculate about what might have happened if the Military Staff Committee, so hopefully envisaged under Chapter VII of the Charter, had been allowed to take shape and to assume the functions planned for it.
111.	We might also deplore our failure to settle the question of how the costs of peacekeeping operations are to be shared equitably.
112.	Having said that, we should acknowledge that we have been spared the horrors of a third world war. Undoubtedly, the basic explanation up to the present has been the rapid development of weapon technology. Another world war has been too horrible for any nation to contemplate. No one could win. The world as a whole would be certain to suffer disastrous consequences.
113.	The United Nations may perhaps claim some small credit for providing a safety valve for public debate and a forum in which the great Powers have been forced to explain and justify their attitudes and actions. In its twenty-five years the United Nations has not been able to prevent a number of limited wars of the conventional type; nor has it found the answer to insidious threats to national integrity and security through the newly developed techniques of infiltration, subversion and insurgency.
114.	The peacekeeping record has not, however, been wholly bleak. Korea is an illustration, even without agreement among the major Powers. In the Middle East, Kashmir, the Congo and Cyprus, United Nations forces and truce supervisory teams have in the past played a significant role in critical situations which could have grown considerably worse without their presence.
115.	Despite strains, divisions and its limited record of achievement in its primary role, the United Nations has survived for twenty-five years. That indicates that many Members recognize that there is a residual or net value in the Organization and that they still hope for a future in which it will perform functions which measure up to their expectations.
116.	As we look to the future, it is surely no exaggeration to say that the reputation of the United Nations and the degree of respect it enjoys among people everywhere will hinge on its performance in helping to settle disputes among nations and in keeping the peace.
117.	Undoubtedly, there is room for improvement in the peacekeeping procedures of the Organization and the machinery provided for the settlement of disputes. But practical success in this peacekeeping role must depend ultimately on subjective factors the attitudes, intentions and honesty of purpose of the great Powers and of the individual nations concerned in particular disputes.
118.	Australia has consistently supported the peacekeeping operations of the United Nations with both men and money. As early as 1947 we were one of the three members of one of the first mediation and peacekeeping missions set up by the United Nations  the United Nations Commission for Indonesia. We contributed substantial forces to the United Nations action in Korea.
119.	At the present time we are making a significant contribution to peace observation and supervision in Kashmir, the Middle East and Cyprus. We will continue, as a member of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, to support efforts to formulate procedures designed to increase the effectiveness of future operations and to ensure that they are properly financed. We will continue to maintain our firm belief in the United Nations Charter and are convinced that in the faithful and devoted support of its principles lies the best hope for the future peace and progress of mankind.
120.	From peacekeeping and the peaceful settlement of disputes, let me turn to the painful and difficult problem of arms control and the reduction of armaments. The constant and frightening improvement in military technology and the complexity of the problems involved in effecting balanced armament reductions make the subject of disarmament a difficult one for most to understand. This difficulty of understanding is. no excuse for thinking it is an academic exercise divorced from the realities of daily living.
121.	All of us know that the continuing discussions and negotiations on the control and reduction of armaments, protracted, complex and technical as they are, can vitally affect the security of all countries. Security may be indivisible, but dangers to security vary in nature and degree from region to region and from country to country.
122.	The advent of the nuclear balance of terror and the knowledge of other equally horrifying weapons of mass destruction have brought home to us forcibly how vulnerable we are to the whims of scientific progress in the notoriously accident-prone hands of mankind. Surely it is right that our efforts to control armaments should concentrate in the first instance on limiting and controlling weapons of mass destruction.
123.	That said, it should be added that a worldwide balance of force, if it is to be effective in containing aggression and preserving security, must include the balance of conventional as well as nuclear armaments. It is with conventional weapons that the many acts of aggression have been committed in the years since the Charter came into force, and we must unhappily expect that there will be more. To pay less attention to the threat that is familiar and traditional than to the threat that is almost unimaginable but controllable is contrary to our mutual interests and welfare.
124.	I believe we can be a little encouraged by the progress that has been made in arms control and disarmament. First, Australia has signed the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII)] subject to certain understandings and interpretations. We hope it will in time become a fully effective barrier against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Secondly, indications of progress in the strategic arms limitation talks between the United States and the Soviet Union also offer some hope. Thirdly, the prospect of agreement to prevent the placing of weapons of mass destruction on the seabed is also welcome. The Australian Government hopes that the text of the draft treaty now before the Assembly  will gain widespread support. Fourthly, there are also grounds for hope that, as a result of discussion at the conference of the Committee on Disarmament at Geneva this year, we may be at or near the threshold of substantive progress towards supplementing and strengthening the prohibitions on chemical and biological weapons of war that already exist in the Geneva Protocol of 1925.
125.	I have spoken at length about the influences that affect the balance between peace and war because the paramount purpose of the United Nations must still be to preserve peace and outlaw war and because this paramount purpose has not always been well served.
126.	Let me turn now to another purpose of the Charter which can be measured by the increase in membership of the United Nations in twenty-five years. I refer to the progress from dependent status to full sovereignty and statehood of more than half of the present Members of the Organization.
127.	The circumstances in which those sections of the Charter relating to dependent Territories came to be drafted in San Francisco are worth remembering. The Covenant of the League of Nations broke new ground. It introduced and put into effect in the Mandate system the novel concept that the international community held a degree of responsibility for the guidance of colonial peoples towards self-government and independence. By 1945 that concept had been strengthened and developed by the experiences of the Second World War. self-determination for dependent Territories became the accepted goal, and was given wider and more precise expression in Chapters XI, XII and XIII of the Charter.
128.	I note here that the Australian delegation at San Francisco took a particularly active part in the drafting of those Chapters, especially those sections dealing with the rights of the peoples of dependent Territories and the obligations of the administering Powers and of the United Nations towards them.
129.	Since that time there have been profound and rapid changes, which are continuing. The Charter set the targets and the standards. It only remained for the metropolitan Powers to accept responsibility for the changes that inevitably had to be made. In most cases they were accepted willingly and generously.
130.	There was also a complementary responsibility for the dependent peoples themselves first to understand their opportunities and responsibilities and then work towards achieving them. In some cases freedom and national sovereignty came only after a lengthy and sometimes bitter struggle; in most cases they came more happily as a result of a rational acceptance of the situation by both sides and a peaceful and mutually satisfactory transfer of political power.
131.	In this process of the development of dependent peoples to nationhood the United Nations, reflecting the liberal and humanitarian instincts of mankind, and sometimes its impatience, has played a significant part.
132.	To be specific, I want to speak briefly about one dependent area of great concern to Australia, in which this process of developing is taking place rapidly. This is the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.
133.	Let me describe the position there. It is the largest of the remaining dependent Territories outside the continent of Africa; it lies immediately to the north of Australia; its area is approximately 180,000 square miles, and its population totals two and a quarter million. It is a larger unit than many Members of the United Nations. Because of its exceptionally rugged terrain and the successive waves of migration that occurred over the centuries, these two and a quarter million people are divided amongst themselves by ethnic and tribal differences and also by something like 700 different languages not different dialects, but different languages. It is this fragmented society that is now drawing together into an identifiable nation.
134.	My delegation reports each year to this Assembly about the progress made and the difficulties encountered during the preceding twelve months. The proclaimed policy is to ensure the exercise by the people of the Territory of their inalienable right to self determination. We are now doing, and will continue to do, all we can to prepare the people of the Territory for the termination of dependent status and their accession to full self-government and independence.
135.	Next year another United Nations Visiting Mission, the seventh, will go to the Territory and will be able to see for itself the striking progress that has been made since the visit of the last Mission in 1968.
136.	Earlier this year I had the honor to lead the Australian delegation to the meeting of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East, which recommended that the Territory of Papua and New Guinea be admitted as one of its associate members, a recommendation which has since been unanimously approved by the Economic and Social Council at its forty-ninth session [resolution 1523 (XLIX)].
137.	The Australian Government thinks that this approval and other activities, such as participation in the South Pacific Conference, are recognition of the growing national identity of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea and further steps along the road towards self-determination.
138.	I should like now to range northward and westward from New Guinea into Asia. Let me say that I presume to speak about the general situation throughout Asia because of the great importance to this Organization of events there and their particular importance to Australia.
139.	In our view, to judge from the agenda of this twenty-fifth session, Asia receives less attention than it is entitled to from the General Assembly. I would like to think that this was a good sign; that a peaceful and well-ordered Asia offered few serious problems to the international community. Up to a point this may be true. In the view of my Government it is fair to say that apart from the few serious and easily identifiable major problems, there is evidence throughout eastern, southeastern and southern Asia of a measure of stability, vitality and economic progress that we would not have dared to hope for twenty- years ago.
140.	Of these major problems China is critical. We shall again be considering the question of the representation of China in the United Nations. Australia, situated at the edge of the Pacific Ocean adjacent to SouthEast Asia, is more concerned with its longterm relations with mainland China than most Members of this Organization. We see plenty of evidence to our north of how much the enormous size, power, and influence of mainland China intrude into and affect the interests and the calculations of smaller nations. My predecessors in office, when speaking to the Assembly, have emphasized that the problem of China's relations with its immediate neighbors and with the rest of the world outside Asia is much greater and more complex than the question of Communist China's admission to this Assembly.
141.	We see as clearly as anyone the need for an accommodation with the Peking regime, and we are as anxious as anyone that an accommodation be achieved. But we constantly run up against the mirror image, in its conduct of its external relations, of the ruthlessness and harshness which have been a feature of the present regime's treatment of its own people. Above all, we are conscious of the need for a settlement of the future of the people of Taiwan that takes full account of the wishes of 14 million people, more than the population of Australia and oft the majority of Member countries of the United Nations. The interests and welfare of 14 million people are not to be treated as an incidental consideration in some package deal. The Assembly has a grave responsibility to ensure that the status and the rights of these people are protected and guaranteed.
142.	It is sometimes claimed that the admission of Communist China to the United Nations will act as a catalyst in opening the way to better relations between China and that part of the international community from which Peking seems to have chosen to isolate itself. We do not at present share this optimistic view. On the other hand, we suppose that the adoption by Communist China of a more reasonable attitude towards international society as a whole, and towards the purposes and principles of the Charter, would facilitate its entry into this Organization.
143.	I turn next to the gravest problem now facing us in Asia. It is an unhappy reflection of the failure of the United Nations in its primary role of keeper of the peace that the VietNam situation has never been properly debated here, let alone considered as to possible action. Everywhere else, of course, the VietNam war has been for five years and more one of the great divisive issues of our time. It is understandable that the world's conscience should have revolted against the fearful losses and hardships that the people of VietNam have suffered almost without interruption since well before the United Nations came into being. It is less understandable, in the view of the Australian Government, that the people of South VietNam who are manifestly the victims of aggression in its most naked and ruthless form and the elected Government of South VietNam which has demonstrated beyond doubt that it reflects the wishes of the great majority of the people should have had to undergo so much biased and totally unfair criticism.
144.	The outrages they have been compelled to endure from their internal and external aggressors, acting in complete defiance of the Geneva Agreements of 1954, need to be precisely stated. Intimidation, kidnapping, extortion and assassinations have the same meaning in anyone's language, whatever devices are employed to present them under the guise of "liberation".
145.	The day may come we all hope it will when the people of North and South VietNam can be reunited. In the meantime there is a well-marked boundary between the north and the south. Both halves of VietNam could begin to achieve the economic stability and wellbeing of some of their neighbors if only the regime in Hanoi could be persuaded to give up its hopeless struggle and withdraw behind the demilitarized zone.
146.	The spillover of the VietNam conflict into neighboring Laos and Cambodia is well enough known to this Assembly, at least in general terms. The representatives of those countries will, I am sure, describe it in detail.
147.	Australia has been active throughout the past decade in helping the Government of Laos to maintain a stable economy and thereby to resist the familiar pressures and encroachments of an alien and unwanted ideology.
148.	More recently the same kinds of pressure have been brought to bear on Cambodia. There the North VietNamese aggression was a blatant violation of the country's neutrality and independence. In May of this year the Australian Government took part in a regional conference of Foreign Ministers held in Djakarta to consider this enlarged threat.
149.	That meeting of Foreign Ministers was a constructive initiative by the Asian countries most directly concerned to try to ensure respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and neutrality of Cambodia. The collective view of that meeting was subsequently communicated accurately and forcefully to the Secretary General, to the Governments of the major Powers and in a number of other capitals by three selected envoys from the group.
150.	I sincerely hope that the General Assembly will recognize this as a valuable regional initiative that is not only provided for but encouraged under Chapter VIII of the Charter.
151.	A great deal has been said, and more is bound to be said in the course of this Assembly, about the situation in the Middle East. Emotions are running high as a result of difficulties that have impeded the United States effort to restart peace talks and because of the recent series of criminal acts against civil aircraft and their passengers. The present situation is extremely delicate. In these circumstances I do not believe that any more detailed comments by me at this stage would be helpful.
152.	Let me turn to one other topic. In the last twenty- five years the world has seen tremendous progress in the physical sciences and in industrial technology. These advances in science and technology will bring great benefits to mankind. They can also produce major side effects, often of a harmful kind,
153.	An international organization like this, concerned with the maintenance of peace and security and the promotion of international economic cooperation and the raising of living standards, must concern itself continuously with these developments. In our view, the United Nations has a significant and urgent responsibility to assist in the application of science and technology to national development in the most constructive and beneficial way. Conversely, we must do all in our power to minimize the harmful effects of technological change.
154.	The United Nations has a related responsibility, equally important, to devise an acceptable framework of international law in which the development of science and technology can proceed in those spheres beyond the conventional limits of national jurisdiction. At present the pace of such development is threatening to outstrip the capacity of international lawyers to devise such a framework.
155.	It is a matter of regret that the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has not been able to negotiate a convention on liability for damage caused by space objects. Australia, with most other countries, has argued strongly in favor of a convention that would provide certain, prompt and equitable compensation for the victims of space damage. This remains an area in which technology is moving dangerously far ahead of the law.
156.	Advances in science and technology have also created a need for international legal action in regard to the seas and the seabed. The problems involved are urgent, comprising both the review of old concepts and the development of new ones. The substantive decisions that must be made will be important for
Governments and their peoples and for the international community at large.
157.	Those who are responsible for taking these decisions must bear in mind that the system or systems they devise will have to deal equitably with differing and often competing national and international interests if they are to gain widespread acceptance. The alternative to coherent multilateral action with respect to the problems of the seas and the seabed could well be an unmanageable situation.
158.	Of all the consequences of the introduction and intensive application of new developments to science and technology none has given rise to wider concern than their effects upon the human environment. Our natural surroundings are being increasingly recognized as an irreplaceable part of our heritage. The problems of pollution have arisen in their starkest form in the highly industrialized countries, and it is to be hoped that those countries where pollution of the environment has not yet reached the same crisis point will be able to profit from the lessons learned elsewhere.
159.	Australia's own situation, where the noxious byproducts of industrial development are as much a subject for debate and action as the need to develop our natural resources, puts us in a particularly good position to share with all regions of the world the fruits of cur experience in coping with man's environment. As a basis on which a contribution can be made to help solve this problem the Australian Senate recently appointed a Select Committee to report on water pollution. The report has been completed and consideration is now being given to the most appropriate method of preventing further pollution.
160.	We do not need to be reminded that this year is not only the twenty-fifth anniversary of this Organization but also the first year of the Second United Nations Development Decade. We in Australia understand how fervently the developing countries want the Second Development Decade to succeed. It is in this spirit that our representatives have participated in the various United Nations and other forums which have been discussing the preparations for the Second Development Decade over the past two years, and particularly the aid programs.
161.	Three weeks ago I made an extensive review before the Australian Parliament of our policies of assistance for the developing countries. I reaffirmed our position at last week's ministerial meeting in Tokyo of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
162.	We have long thought that the only valid test of a country's approach to development assistance is its performance and its deeply felt desire to be helpful. We believe that Australia's record of performance compares well with that of others. Our aid to developing countries increased substantially during the 1960s, and I have recently been able to inform the Australian Parliament that it will again increase significantly in the first year of the Second Development Decade.
163.	The budget for 19701971 provides for $US 200 million of official development assistance that is, assistance under the direction or control of Government. It does not include private capital flows, which are outside our jurisdiction and competence. Mostly, this assistance will be in the form of grants carrying no burden of interest or repayment. This will be an increase of 11 per cent over the previous financial year. Of this amount, $60 million is appropriated to Asian countries an increase of 14 per cent over the previous year.
164.	I have also recently announced important new plans regarding Australia's intentions to assist, in particular, Indonesia, Cambodia and South VietMam.
165.	There is one other aspect of our aid program that I want to mention. We want to ensure flexibility in any statement of aims for the Second Development Decade that may be adopted this year by the Assembly. The reasons are clear. Conditions in the various developing countries are different and require different treatment. Donor countries also face a variety of conditions, and these must influence the commitments they can make.
166.	In the view of my Government there has been a tendency, especially here at the United Nations, to concentrate on the gross amount of aid rather than the quantity of official aid and the quality and effectiveness of economic aid. Thus there has been too much preoccupation with percentage targets and dates for reaching them. I have reaffirmed Australia's support for an aid target for donor countries of 1 per cent of gross national product, as defined by resolution 27 (II) of the second session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development,  which specifically acknowledges the position of capital importing countries like Australia. It is essential, however, not to let debate about the timing and level of targets distract attention from the overall need for donors to increase the amount of their total aid and particularly their official development assistance.
167.	I conclude by returning to the present condition of the United Nations and to the faults and merits most of us see in it. Like most large institutions, it threatens to become a prey to bureaucratization. There is a growing danger of rigidity in its proceedings; it threatens to be submerged under an accumulation of paper; committees and subcommittees continue to proliferate and duplication of effort seems to increase.
168.	It is a far cry from the day when the late David Owen set up the Secretariat with a desk, a chair and no telephone. Mere survival of the hectic pressures of the three months of a General Assembly session is an achievement in itself. There is a tendency to regard every United Nations resolution as an end in itself and not as a means to an end. In all this there is much room for improvement.
169.	It is not basically the Charter that is at fault, though we in Australia would be receptive to change in the Charter if it was thought necessary. We must look elsewhere. Our distinguished SecretaryGeneral, speaking in San Francisco on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing ceremony, called eloquently on all Member States to "give the Charter a chance", to give it a go and let it succeed.
170.	The Foreign Minister of Brazil, in his thoughtful address which opened this debate [1841st meeting], reminded us that, with all its shortcomings and frustrations, the United Nations is the only forum in which we can still opt for life, peace and development. As he said, let us use the Organization and let us apply the Charter. We should take this advice to heart.
171. Finally, and above all, we must not lose hope in the United Nations. We must not let ourselves drift into cynicism. We should remember at all times the late Dag Hammarskjold's statement:
"It is not the Soviet Union nor indeed any ether big Powers who need the United Nations for their protection; it is all the others. In this sense the Organization is first of all their Organization."


141.	 As my opening remark I should like as many speakers have done before me to pay a tribute to your predecessor, Mrs. Angie Brooks-Randolph, for the able, distinguished and gracious manner in which she presided over our debates during the twenty-fourth session. She addressed wise words of counsel to us from the time she took her high office until the day she relinquished the Chair, and I feel, with many others in this hall, that the Assembly is indebted to her for her able guidance.
142.	It is likewise a matter of profound pleasure and satisfaction to me to pay the respects of my Government and my delegation to you, Sir, upon your election by this august body to the Presidency of the present historic session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Preceding speakers have recalled that your family has a distinguished record covering half a century of service in the interest of international peace, security, progress and respect for international law and order. If I may be allowed to strike a more personal note, I should like to add my warmest personal congratulations to you as an old friend and resident of the Netherlands and as an eminent representative of Norway, a country with which we have always had close and friendly relations in war and in peace and with which we confidently expect soon to be even more intimately linked within the framework of an enlarged European Economic Community.
143.	We feel that the enlargement of the Community is of the utmost importance not only to Western Europe but also as a result of the ensuing strengthening of our continent to the rest of the world. It has been the constant post-war policy of the Netherlands to help build a united Europe, and to us Europe means more than the Six. The nations now applying to become members of the Community are part and parcel of the economic, political and cultural fabric of our European commonwealth of nations which is only just becoming aware of its common heritage. I believe that we in Europe are now entering a complete new era which is sure to be of the greatest benefit to all mankind. Indeed, an enlarged European Community will be far better placed to promote world trade and therefore to be of assistance to the efforts of the developing countries to strengthen their economies. We are naturally aware of the anxieties in many parts of the world about possible protectionist tendencies of the European Community; I wish to assure this Assembly that the Netherlands, in concord with other European countries, will continue to strive for better trade conditions on a world-wide scale by promoting a general system of trade preferences for the developing countries.
144.	We realize that expanding trade is one aspect of overcoming the existing differences in economic development. Granting aid is another. At this time I do not wish to examine this subject, and the whole question of the Second United Nations Development Decade, at length. During the commemorative session the Netherlands Prime Minister will have the opportunity to elaborate on this subject, on which as a whole the Netherlands people, I feel proud to say, take a united, positive stand. My countrymen show this attitude in their many voluntary contributions to development projects, but as a member of the Government I should like to mention that in the budget presented to the Netherlands Parliament the goal to bring, official development aid in 1971 up to 1 per cent of the national income has been attained.
145.	In this session we are to celebrate the foundation of the United Nations 25 years ago. The Kingdom of the Netherlands, as one of the fighting members of the great alliance of the Second World War, was one of its founding fathers. The high hopes and great expectations we cherished at San Francisco in 1945 have not been realized. True, we have avoided a new world war, but time and again armed conflicts have broken out in various parts of the world. We have made big strides forward in the realization of independence and freedom for many peoples of the world, even if not for all, but at the same time the number of disputes, and often open conflicts, has increased. It seems to me that the voice of reason is frequently ignored. More often than not violence takes the upper hand, both inside our countries and on the international plane. Terrorism, air piracy, holding innocent people as hostages, kidnapping and killing diplomats, and other barbarous acts confront us with serious problems. In the past 25 years we in the United Nations have come to realize our common responsibility for the economic and social development of all mankind, but still the poor and the hungry form far too large a part of the world population, We may be grateful on the one hand that we have the United Nations as a common meeting place to discuss world problems, but on the other hand the past 25 years have shown that progress is too slow.
146.	Peace and international security, our primary responsibility under the Charter, have almost constantly been in grave danger and, I might add, still are.
During chis session the Assembly will discuss the subject thoroughly, but let me sound a warning that more than mere words in expected at this time. So long as there is no concrete progress towards international security, my country, for one, feels obliged to spend energy and money for its defenses in order to remain free and independent and to be able to settle its own affairs in its own way. We know that to build adequate defenses by ourselves would tax our resources too highly and we remain therefore convinced of the necessity of a strong alliance with our European, American and Canadian friends.
147.	Building up military defenses, however, is not the only nor the best way to preserve peace and liberty. We in the Netherlands have always been strongly convinced of the necessity to meet each other, to talk over differences and to try to find a common basis for peaceful solutions. This does not mean dissolving existing alliances. It has been demonstrated that our own alliance, NATO, can and does play a most useful role for the promotion of detente in Europe. Our actions are concerted ones; the commitments of one ally are backed by the others and thus gain greater weight.
148.	In this connexion the Netherlands Government welcomes the important understanding reached by the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Germany. I realize that this understanding is only a first step, although an important one. We are now awaiting developments in Berlin which will ease the unhappy situation in this tragically divided city.
149.	The new approach is East-West relations, to which the Secretary-General alluded in the valuable introduction to his annual report [AI8001 /Add. 1 and Corr. 1] and of which I found many proofs in my contacts with many Eastern European colleagues, will, I am confident, be of great value in paving the way to a further relaxation of tension in Europe, possibly leading to a European security conference. In our view, a European security conference is an enterprise of such political significance that it can only be held when success seems reasonably assured. If not, the new developments in East-West relations might well be seriously damaged; therefore, I consider thorough preparation for such a conference a necessary and perhaps essential prerequisite.
150.	But there is more to it. A thorough preparation of all the subjects to be discussed and an assurance of progress is one thing, but the political climate is another. This climate is at present conditioned mainly by three factors. The first one is, as I said a moment ago, a substantial change in the situation in Berlin. For all of us in Western Europe the Berlin Wall is the most abject symbol of the cold war. Changes in the political climate in Berlin and improvements in the access system of the four-Power city are necessary not only for the success of the German-Soviet Treaty, but also for paving the way to a European security conference.
151.	The second factor is progress in the strategic armaments limitation talks, the so-called SALT talks.
Later on I will have something to say about disarmament and arms control in general, but in connexion with the European security conference, I must stress the importance of these American-Soviet negotiations. Their outcome will be of very great importance for the world as a whole, but especially for the European confrontation area.
152.	The third factor is the development of the crisis in the Middle East. It was, I am sure, a great relief to everybody when the fighting in Jordan stopped and when the hostages were freed. Maybe now anew possibility will arise for talks between the Arab States and Israel under the patient guidance of Ambassador Jarring. However, the role of the Soviet Union and the United States of America in promoting peace in the region is as you all will agree truly a paramount one. All of us should refrain from rendering more difficult the present delicate situation. In this respect I earnestly hope that the cease-fire between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors will be prolonged after 5 November next.
153.	The development of the crisis in the Middle East will likewise have its impact on the possibilities of a detente in Europe and on a European security conference. The Middle East is a region whose stability remains of prime importance to Europe.
154.	In enumerating Berlin, SALT and the Middle East as having a great impact on the possibility of convening a European security conference and for the success of the Soviet-German Treaty, I only want to be realistic. I have dwelt at some length on the European political situation and I am confident that the Assembly will not misunderstand the emphasis I have given to these problems. I have been encouraged to do so by a recent remark of our Secretary-General when he stated that, in his view, Europe is the political capital of the world.
155.	Turning now to the problems of arms control and disarmament, I know that the General Assembly will no doubt, as it has done throughout the years, devote considerable attention to these problems. Although the Assembly is still faced with staggering difficulties in this field, I believe there is reason for hope since some real progress has been made during recent years. To a significant extent this was due to the work of the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament at Geneva. This Conference has proven its value as the central organ for negotiations on matters of arms control and disarmament. For a year now my country has had the opportunity of participating in the deliberations of that body, and we are gratified at the constructive spirit in which its work is generally done.
156.	Speaking of recent progress in the field of arms control, I think in the first place of the conclusion of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII)] in July 1968 and particularly its entry into force in March of this year, which represents an important landmark in the search for a more secure world. Since then meaningful progress has been made in preparing the ground for the negotiation of safeguards agreements, provided for in the Treaty, in particular through a special safeguards committee advising the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. I am convinced that safeguards arrangements can and will be worked out which will enable IAEA adequately to discharge its responsibility of ensuring in all non- nuclear-weapon countries parties to the non- proliferation Treaty that nuclear material is not diverted for the production of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. It goes without saying that the international safeguards system to be established under the non-proliferation Treaty must be effective and credible.
157.	In order to make the non-proliferation Treaty fully successful, it is vital that all potential nuclear- weapons countries accede to the Treaty. For its part, the Netherlands Government will, wherever possible, promote the ratification of the Treaty by the non- nuclear-weapon countries which are members of EURATOM. I have said more than once, and I repeat today, that ultimately the success of the non- proliferation Treaty is basically dependent on the attitude of the present nuclear-weapon Powers. If the vertical proliferation of nuclear arsenals is not curbed, I fear that all arms control will in the long run be frustrated.
158.	In the field of nuclear arms control, I note with gratification the agreement reached within the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament on a draft treaty banning the emplacement of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction on the sea-bed and the ocean floor.
159.	Without diminishing the urgency of measures of arms control with regard to weapons of mass destruction, I feel bound to voice concern about the dangers arising from the build-up and proliferation of conventional armaments. As the Secretary-General has rightly pointed out, "the conventional arms race. . . absorbs by far the largest portion of all military expenditure" [A/8001/Add. 1 and Corr.1, para. 20]. That deplorable race is as much a cause as a consequence of political tensions in many parts of the world. Therefore, all competent organ?: of the United Nations should keep this problem constantly in mind. In order to seek effective and non-discriminatory measures to counter the competition and the trade in conventional armaments, it might be useful first to concentrate on the collection of data and on studies of the factual situation.
160.	At the same time, where appropriate, possibilities for regional arrangements could be explored. In this context I may remind the Assembly of the initiative of members of the North Atlantic Alliance calling upon the Warsaw Pact countries to join in the exploration of these possibilities in Europe.
161.	Before concluding my remarks on arms control and disarmament, I should like briefly to go into the matter of chemical and biological warfare, a matter which has received considerable attention at previous sessions of the Assembly. During the present year the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament at Geneva devoted a major part of its time to this issue. That Committee should certainly be encouraged to continue its study of ways and means to strengthen the existing ban on those methods of warfare.
162.	One of the points of controversy has been the question whether such agents as tear gases and herbicides fall within the scope of the ban on the use of chemical methods of warfare. I do not intend to discuss here the legal aspects of that question,, Instead I want to clarify my Government's position with regard to the desirability of a prohibition of the use in war of those chemical agents. My Government shares the concern that destruction of crops by chemical means for military purposes usually means great suffering for the civilian population. Moreover we are seriously concerned that large-scale use of herbicides and defoliants for military purposes might have ecological long-term effects of an unpredictable nature on man's environment. Therefore we think it necessary to establish a clear rule for the future which would exclude the use of those agents for warlike purposes.
163.	As to tear gases and similar irritants, we recognize that their use in warfare can in certain cases serve humanitarian purposes. However, in the framework of international negotiations the Netherlands Government is ready to take account of a majority opinion in the United Nations: to wit, the use of all biological and chemical agents of warfare including tear gases should be prohibited. My Government will try to promote a consensus along those lines in order to ensure maximum effectiveness of the ban on chemical and biological warfare.
164.	In our general debate there have always been some subjects which do not fit into the general pattern of a speech. They do fit, however, into the general concept of national views and as such they seem important enough to be mentioned before this august Assembly, although they may seem repetitious to those representatives who have listened to my speeches in the last twenty years a modest remark.
165.	The first subject to which the Netherlands Government attaches great importance is the idea of creating the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, originally brought forward by the delegation of Costa Rica at the twentieth session of this Assembly.  My delegation is aware that the progress in the field of standard-setting with regard to universal respect for human rights made in the existing bodies of the United Nations has been important. I feel, however, that when these bodies try to ensure implementation of the formulated standards, their discussions sometimes tend to degenerate into rather vehement debates on a purely political issue. A High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the other hand, would have the advantage of working outside the immediate attention of public opinion, thus being able to avoid political issues while giving quiet advice and assistance, aimed at promoting respect for human rights around the globe.
166.	Because of a combination of factors, the industrialization process in my country has gained great momentum in the last 25 years. Primarily this has been achieved through the unremitting efforts of the Nether-lands working population and partly as a result of the favorable geographical location of my country. A huge concentration of German industries along the Ruhr and Rhine Rivers as a welcome "hinterland" to my country makes it clear why Holland, and in particular Rotterdam, the greatest harbor in the world, is called the "gateway of Europe".
167.	Reaping the benefits of a high level of industrialization, which places my country relatively speaking in a privileged position, has made us realize that the single-minded pursuit of material well-being through a relentless development of our natural and human resources has resulted in a serious disruption of harmonious relations between man and nature. We find ourselves confronted with an air, land and water pollution problem.
168.	May I in this respect refer to the penetrating statement which the Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Philippe de Seynes, made last week in the Second Committee of this Assembly [1310th meeting j? I fully agree with Mr. de Seynes that the pollution problem must be seen in its right perspective. Highly industrialized countries, struggling with this problem, tend perhaps to overestimate its impact in the world at large. For the great majority of the world population it is, I may say fortunately, not even a marginal problem, but at the same time this majority of the world population is deprived of the benefits of the technological revolution.
169.	Being fully aware of this reality, there is nevertheless reason for this Organization to cope with pollution. Measures must be taken on an international level to prevent the spread of water and air pollution. My Government, for one, is hopeful that the forthcoming United Nations Conference on the Human Environment  will lead to a comprehensive environmental policy. The Netherlands, as a member of the Preparatory Committee for the Conference, will spare no effort to promote an agreement on reaching those objectives.
170.	By way of change, I wish to refer briefly to a problem that has been solved. The agenda of the twenty-fourth session included the only problem still outstanding between the Netherlands and Indonesia: the question of West Irian. That problem is now solved and therefore no longer appears on the Assembly's agenda. The Netherlands and Indonesia, both free and independent nations, are building up a new relationship I venture to say a new friendship. The state visit of President Suharto of Indonesia was one proof of this most gratifying development.
171.	Among the many subjects remaining on our agenda are one or two I should like to refer to briefly. One is the representation of China. More than 20 years ago, in March 1950, the Netherlands recognized the People's Republic of China. It is therefore logical and understandable that we should like to see the People's Republic take China's seat in the United Nations. We consider that the United Nations is crippled by the absence of the People's Republic of China and that a number of important matters cannot be dealt with satisfactorily in one world organization until this state of affairs is rectified. On the other hand, there is the undeniable fact of the existence of an effective Government exercising authority over more than 12 million people in Taiwan. That Government has for decades made a valuable contribution to the work of the United Nations, and we see no reason why it or any other Government represented here should be summarily expelled from these halls.
172.	Finally, I come to the question of how the United Nations asserts itself in world affairs. In the Netherlands Parliament, and in other public discussions in my country, the question is frequently asked: "Why does the United Nations not act? How can we strengthen the United Nations?" All of us in this hall are aware that unfortunately the answer cannot be found in amendments to the Charter and that the primary question is how faithfully Members are prepared to conform to the spirit of the Charter. After 25 years, I respectfully submit, words will no longer suffice. It has rightly been said that our Organization is in grave danger of drowning in a sea of words. If the United Nations is to fire the imagination of succeeding generations, as it should, we the Members must change our attitude towards it, and change it now. We are living in disturbing times. Even while this Assembly was in session Violence erupted, international peace and security was endangered broken, even and as a result human blood was shed.
173.	Can it be said with any degree of sincerity that full use has been made of the existing United Nations machinery to prevent or stop those deplorable events, or even to prevent their disastrous recurrence?
174.	Are we, the representatives of the Member States, not too inclined to focus our attention primarily on aptly turned phrases in this magnificent hall instead of acting upon feelings of anguish, shame, anger and grief over lost lives, ruined homes and the inevitable set-back and stagnation in economic and social development? I include myself in that indictment.
175.	These, in the view of the Netherlands delegation, are some of the questions that should be considered at this twenty-fifth session of our Assembly. I am confident that many of my fellow delegates feel as I do, and, although I am well aware that our expectations with regard to the United Nations must always be closely geared to the political realities of the moment, it seems to me important to get a process of political soul-searching started in the hope that it may lead us in due course, and under the indispensable guidance of the Almighty, to a more responsible, more meaningful performance in the United Nations.


32.	 The delegation of Burma would like first to associate itself with the profound sentiments of sorrow and sympathy that were expressed here this morning at the tragic and irreparable loss which befell the Government and people of the United Arab Republic and the Arab world as a whole, with the sudden and untimely demise of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. We wish to express to the delegation of the United Arab Republic and, through it, to the Government and people of the United Arab Republic and to the bereaved family of President Nasser our sincere and heartfelt condolences on their great loss.
33.	Mr. President, I should like to express on behalf of the delegation of Burma our deep sense of satisfaction on your election as President of the twenty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The delegation of Burma is confident that your wide experience in the affairs of the international community will stand you in good stead in the discharge of the particularly heavy responsibilities which lie before you as President of this Assembly, and that your wise counsel will be instrumental in guiding the Assembly along constructive lines so that the process of review and reappraisal of the Organization's work, and re-dedication to its ideals in this quarter century year of its existence will be furthered in the true interests of international harmony and international cooperation.
34.	I should also like to take this opportunity to convey my delegation's warm and sincere appreciation to Her Excellency Mrs. Angie BrooksRandolph who, as President of the twenty-fourth regular session, gave her distinguished services in the interests of the General Assembly and provided much of the inspiration for this commemorative year of the Organization.
35.	Though part of the work of the present session of the General Assembly will be of a commemorative nature, the General Assembly will as usual focus its attention on the substantive matters that have a bearing on the very viability and the future of the world Organization.
36.	The United Nations, founded during the concluding stages of a war of worldwide proportions, was, indeed, dedicated to the preservation of the peace and security of nations in the postwar era. However, the postwar international relations have developed in a pattern vastly different from what the founders of the Organization had envisaged in 1945. The sad fact is, therefore, that the United Nations today is far from being a very effective Organization, particularly in respect of the maintenance and strengthening of international peace and security; and a quarter of a century after its establishment its principal purposes have remained largely unfulfilled. The United Nations represents the corporate expression of mankind's concern for its continued existence, from out of a past largely characterized by the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation and the unbridled threat or use of force in international relations. It would not have fallen so short of the expectations of mankind if Member States had endeavored in good faith to make the United Nations security system more effective in accordance with the Charter, instead of seeking security outside the United Nations, thereby bypassing and weakening it.
37.	Since the Charter of the United Nations was adopted, many fundamental changes have taken place in the world, and the Charter cannot be expected to remain unchanged. While the fundamental purposes and principles of the Organization need to be developed and clearly formulated to meet the needs of the present day international life, attention should be given to strengthening the Charter as appropriate. In this respect, the focus should be on the peacekeeping roles of the appropriate organs of the United Nations and the nature of, and problems attendant on, their functions.
38.	I should like to add that my delegation appreciates that, while appropriate review of the United Nations Charter will help to optimize its functional possibilities, the Charter itself merely provides a frame and a reference for coordinated action, and that it is the will of the collective membership, which must provide the impulse with which to make it work.
39.	At the present time, however, so much of the action or inaction of the United Nations depends on the attitude of the major Powers that, to a large extent, the prestige and authority of the United Nations itself as a corporate body has diminished, and the concept of the sovereign equality of States has reminded largely illusory. Problems which confront the international community these days are problems which, by and large, concern all Members of the United Nations, and therefore the legitimate interests and points of view of all Member States should be reflected in determining the nature of actions taken in the name of the United Nations.
40.	The delegation of Burma considers that the Charter of the United Nations provides a generally acceptable structure or pattern for friendly relations and cooperation among States for the common good of the international community as a whole. It is true that many Members of the Organization have membership also in groups and organizations, both formal and informal, ad hoc and permanent, outside the United Nations itself; and Burma, for one, does not dispute their sovereign right to do so. But we for our part consider our interests to be best safeguarded, and our respect for the interests of other nations most effectively manifested, by and through our membership in the United Nations and by our participation in United Nations and United Nations sponsored conferences and activities.
41.	I turn now to events which are further afield but of the utmost importance to us here. Since the mood of the General Assembly reflects in such ample measure the atmosphere attendant on specific developments in the relations between nations, it is perhaps a good augury for the work of the Assembly that we are meeting at a time when the atmosphere is perceptibly clearer over certain areas of the world. The delegation of Burma takes this opportunity to welcome the continued spirit of detente between the two superPowers and their will and concerted effort to avoid a confrontation. We note with satisfaction the talks on the limitation of strategic arms and are hopeful that these talks will yield concrete results in the not too distant future.
42.	The agreement recently concluded in Moscow between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Federal Republic of Germany is yet another welcome factor. The agreement is important, in the thinking of the delegation of Burma, in more than a purely European context, since it will remove past suspicions and help promote mutual confidence, thus creating a good framework for international peace and security.
43.	I should also like to take note of the developments in the Middle East which have brought about the standstill ceasefire agreement. The acceptance of the standstill ceasefire agreement would appear to reinforce the will for a political settlement on the basis of resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, which was adopted unanimously by the Security Council. We wish here to express our confidence that a just and equitable solution can still be formulated under the terms of that resolution. In so doing we are not unaware of the grave new threat now imperiling the peace not only of the region, but of areas far beyond it. We do not underestimate the difficulties inherent in the situation. However, we believe that a realistic approach to the problem, based on justice, will make it obvious to all concerned that there can be no real positions of strength and no alternative to a negotiated political settlement, which alone can ensure a stable and lasting peace in the region. The problem, indeed, calls for the most unremitting effort if a solution is ever to be sighted on the part of the parties to the conflict and of those other parties whose interests have involved their direct participation in seeking a settlement. The delegation of Burma is hopeful that the unmitigated violence and hostility, widespread in the region, will be replaced by, at least, mutual tolerance and that ultimately substantive discussions will be possible on the issues central to the conflict.
44.	Bright as the picture may be in other areas of the world, it is regrettable that, nevertheless, in another part of Asia developments have been so progressively retrograde that this year we have witnessed the spread of the armed conflict to envelop the whole of the IndoChina area. The danger that the conflagration which started in VietNam would engulf its neighbors, and even countries beyond, has always been present, and nations in the region will ponder the implications of this situation and the latest developments flowing from it. If the region is, indeed, to comprise independent nations with their resources and energies directed towards the welfare of their people, then it is essential that the external influences and manipulations, bordering on outright domination in some instances, be removed speedily, and each nation be permitted to pursue its destiny along lines chosen by its own people.
45.	The delegation of Burma,, deed, attaches utmost importance to the principle that no State or group of States has the right to interfere, directly or indirectly, in the internal or external affairs of any other State. Today, many p local conflict we see is in a sense a "border conflict'' because behind it lie, all the while, the deeper and ultimately decisive conflicts between more powerful outside Powers. It is, therefore, imperative to respect the inalienable right of every State to pursue its political, economic, social and cultural development, without interference in any form by another State or group of States. The use of economic, political or any other form of pressure, not uncommon today, against a State to prevent or impair the exercise of this right is a source of tension and conflict in present day international life. Experience would, however, indicate that the exercise of such forms of pressure against a State is hardly productive of good, lasting results.
46.	It would be appropriate to mention at this point that in the field of the progressive development and codification of international law pursuant to Article 13 of the Charter, the United Nations has made considerable progress. This function of the United Nations is of great importance at the present time when so many new States have recently become Members of the international community. The participation of these new States in this important and urgent work would place international law upon wider and more secure foundations. We hope that, in particular, the formulations of the seven principles of international law concerning friendly relations and cooperation among States would make it easier for these fundamental principles to be observed and applied effectively in international life, thereby contributing to the maintenance and strengthening of international peace and security.
47.	I turn now to the subject of disarmament which has become, with its many-sided implications, a matter of major concern to all nations, big and small. Since 1970 marks the beginning of the Disarmament Decade, the subject of disarmament may well preempt the attention of the General Assembly this year, and it is hoped that the Assembly will, in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary, provide an added impetus to the disarmament deliberations being conducted in Geneva and elsewhere.
48.	As to specific disarmament measures, the 1960s have some reasonable accomplishments to show in the way of collateral measures, although the vital issue of actual armaments reduction remains untouched. While placing the highest priority on nuclear disarmament, Burma welcomes collateral measures as generating mutual confidence between States and as paving the way towards the ultimate objective of bringing about international disarmament. The latest prospect for agreement in this area is the draft treaty for de-nuclearization of the seabed, submitted jointly by the Soviet Union and the United States. Burma attaches importance to this joint efforts signifying a nuclear Power manifestation to place limitations on their nuclear military capabilities.
49.	Disarmament is, of course, a problem whose progress or lack of progress is subject to political factors in the international situation. From this perspective, the current strategic arms limitation talks between the major nuclear Powers are of crucial political significance. Burma welcomes the development as a sign that the major nuclear Powers are more interested now in a possible constructive course than they have thus far exhibited. The achievement and stabilization of a strategic balance between them can mean a reversal of the present armaments trend and the setting of the stage for more long-range solutions. Burma looks upon a comprehensive test-ban as part of the first essential major step in nuclear disarmament. and any concern on the part of the nuclear Powers should be welcomed if they help to put the world on the road to a comprehensive test-ban treaty. Burma's viewpoint with regard to nuclear tests remains the same; it hopes that all great Powers in possession of nuclear weapons can come to an early agreement for the complete cessation of nuclear-weapons tests.
50.	While bilateral agreements between the major nuclear Powers on strategic arms limitation provide an essential prerequisite for an advance in arms reduction, other measures require the expanded cooperation of the world community of nations since significant progress towards general and complete disarmament necessitates universal application of the arms control system. This is particularly true in the area of chemical and bacteriological (biological) weapons, which is open to the reach of all nations. Burma is of the view that the prohibition of these weapons will not be effective unless concerted efforts are made by all States to stop their development, production and stockpiling of these weapons in accordance with the recommendations made by the SecretaryGeneral in his report on Chemical and Bacteriological (Biological) Weapons and the Effects of their Possible Use.
51.	Regarding a comprehensive program for the Disarmament Decade, the experience and information gained in the 1960s on problems of arms control could unquestionably be of value in furthering the objectives set out for the Decade. Such a program must have universal appeal and hold promise of success and, of necessity, develop within the framework of existing world political conditions. The preliminary stage of the program must therefore aim at relaxing international tensions and providing an international environment of confidence and stability, conducive to the formulation of meaningful arms control agreements.
52.	At the beginning of the 1960s, the major nuclear Powers came close together on the goal of general and complete disarmament and the main components of a disarmament plan. At the start of the 1970s we find them close together again on the goal of limited stabilized balance, which hopefully could be the beginning of the end of the nuclear arms race and the harbinger of a more positive phase in disarmament negotiations. Burma offers no reproach to the past decade. It looks hopefully forward to the future and welcomes the Disarmament Decade.
53.	I should like to touch very briefly on the twin anachronisms of our times, colonialism and racial discrimination. Though they are present in other parts of the world the fact that they appear in their most aggravated form in Southern Africa is not by chance. The Republic of South Africa's history in racial discrimination is to be deplored; its most recent action in colonizing Namibia only demonstrates afresh how removed it is from the world of today. Recent developments, and the support it has received from some Powers, have, however, only tended to strengthen its hand. The delegation of Burma appeals to all these Powers to desist from their aid to and support of the Republic of South Africa since they increase its capacity to pursue its apartheid and colonial policies.
54.	In Southern Rhodesia the regime in power continues to act against world public opinion, heedless of the resolutions of the Security Council and of the General Assembly, and this year has witnessed further consolidation in the adamant pursuit of its racist policy.
55.	As regards the Territories under Portuguese administration, the Government of Portugal has shown no sign even of relaxing its colonial oppression.
56.	The delegation of Burma considers it significant that the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations coincides with the launching of the Second United Nations Development Decade. Unlike the first Development Decade, the Second Decade will be launched with a comprehensive strategy for international development, reflecting better cooperation and coordination among United Nations bodies in the economic field. However, it must also be admitted that this international development strategy will necessarily be a delicately balanced compromise. Contributions made to the fashioning of the strategy and, what is even more important, to. its implementation, will be a test not only of the goodwill and understanding of the developed countries, but also of maturity and self discipline in economic affairs on the part of the developing countries.
57.	I cannot help referring to a great injustice being done to a large section of the world's population by denying it representation in this Organization. The exclusion of the People's Republic of China from China's seat in the United Nations is also against the interests of the Organization itself, since discussion of problems that confront the international community would be more realistic if the People's Republic of China were a party to them as a Member of the United Nations.
58.	As the General Assembly commemorates the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, we must acknowledge that the United Nations has achieved a large measure of success in various fields, and that nations today are more anxious than ever before to seek to concert their efforts so as to erase the causes of conflict, to coordinate their actions so that their respective interests may be harmonized, to cooperate with each other to the end that the commonweal of mankind will be served and not imperiled.
59.	What is clear to us today is that the United Nations has not departed from the ideals set out at San Francisco. As we face the future, therefore, nations may wish to rededicate themselves with renewed determination to the ideals set out at San Francisco by practicing with more consistency the principles enshrined in the Charter.