China, the Developing World, and the UN

For most of the students in PKU, the week of November 5 was an impressive one-not only because of a crazy mid-term schedule, but more importantly, because events in China, brought by the faraway African continent, really made sense. Inside the Peking University campus, on the day of the 3rd International Culture Festival, there was a special booth that attracted most people: The Africa Corner. Thony Mongen, an international student from Tanzania majoring in demographics, stood in front of his country's booth and introduced his country to every visitor. "It's so good a chance for more Chinese to get to know more about Tanzania, and Africa on the whole," he said. At the same time, outside the campus, the Beijing Summit of 3rd Forum on China-Africa Corporation was held in the capital city of China. 50 years after the establishment of China-Egypt diplomatic relations, Sino-Africa relation is back in the spotlight of Chinese media.

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Over the past five decades, the relationship between China and African countries, as well as between China and other developing countries, has become closer and closer, with the two sides understanding, supporting and helping one other. A Chinese saying goes like this: One can easily break a pair of chopsticks but it impossible with a bundle of them. It tells us to cooperate with peers. That is why both sides attach so much importance to the cooperation, when we share the same goal, the same demand and similar backgrounds and situations. We join together to develop; and the more we develop, the more we are tied together. Morally, we have established a kind of 'brotherhood', as we Chinese value a lot; economically, we have seen real benefits from working with one other.

However, development is far more complicated than this. We should count not on ourselves; we also need help from the developed world. The UN is just such a bridge that connects the developing and the developed. The UN's role has not always been the same. It has been changing and strengthening through out these years with China's cooperation.

When the UN was founded in the US, this so-called "United Nations" was actually a global association run by and working for the western world. The same situation remained for a very long time. During the decades, the UN was mediated by several big powers in the world. The US and the Soviet Union were definitely the strongest two. As a result, the organization paid little attention to development and peace in the rest of the world. Instead, it attended only to the benefits of several countries. At that time, under the pressure of both sides-the western world and the Soviet Red Power-China, Africa, and other developing countries worked to break the ice and cooperate on their own. The UN was not essential in that cooperation. At least, it was not very necessary to our Chinese mainland, since, at that time, the Kuomintang from Taiwan was the legal representative of the whole China in the UN.

Fortunately, the situation changed. In the 26th UN Council, held in 1971, the developing world, and especially the African countries, offered valuable support to China in the UN. In that council, the Mainland Chinese Government succeeded in restoring the lawful seat in the United Nations. Since then, there has been a real developing country in the UN Security Council. The developing world can now really participate and be involved, instead of just attending and watching. This was also a great milestone for the UN to be a real United Nations, representing voices from all the nations, the developed and the developing alike.

After the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the whole world changed again. Developing into Multi-centric powers has become the new trend of the world when peace and development are the main issues and demands. The UN has played a more and more important role in the development of the developing world.

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With the help of the UN, cooperation between China and the other developing world has gone more smoothly. For the past few years, other developing countries have given China strong support in foiling anti-China motions at the UN Human Rights Commission. They have also helped China to defeat the attempts of Taiwan to "participate in the United Nations" and to edge into the World Heath Organization and other international bodies.

China has also given back to its fellow developing countries. As a veto holding member of the UN Security Council, China is the only country from the developing world, which is home to more than 5/6 of the world's population. As the only representative of the developing world, China shoulders the responsibility to urge the UN to pay more attention to the developing world, and to call on the developed to give more help.

The UN does hear the voice of the developing countries at present, but how important is that voice when the UN is making decisions? Is the number of decisions on developing issues made by the UN each year equal to 5/6 of the whole? That is what China is doing-playing a more active role in the UN Security Council and international affairs, hoping to achieve a sort of equilibrium in the world, for ourselves, as well as the other developing countries.

Not only in politics, China is also has been cooperating with other developing countries in other fields. Take the education help we offered to Africa, for example. Each year, the Chinese government offers 1,200 African students the Chinese Government Scholarship so that they can afford to study in China. Moyo Nkuye is one of the winners for the scholarship. He said, "Very wisely, I chose China. China's development is so amazing that it can be a great example to my country." When he talked about his motherland, Zambia, he became incredibly talkative, mentioning the Zambia River, The Victoria Waterfall, and the copper mines. "I will go back to my country when I finish my study here, and make my own contribution to her!" he added in the end. Moyo is just one of the African students who are studying in China. As of 2005, the number of the African students who have received the scholarship had reached 17,860. 480 of them came to PKU, studying in different faculties and schools.

Moreover, for the schools in Africa, China has offered more help. For instance, China sent 530 teachers this year to teach in schools in 33 African countries. We helped to establish 23 laboratories for different subjects and over 60 other assistance projects. In return, China has gained a lot economically. The two-way trade between China and Africa reached US$12.389 billion in 2002, growing seven times from the 1991 figure of US$1.44 billion. Africa has become one of the largest markets for China. Today, Chinese products are taking a larger and larger share of the African market, while Chinese brands are becoming more and more well-known to African people.

In the leaders' conference for the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the UN, Chinese president Hu Jingtao highlighted the importance of gaining prosperity for the whole world and said that, in the 21st century, the UN should play a more important role in helping the developing world in order to have a greater effect on the world's fairness and equality.

China, the biggest developing country, and other developing countries have been determined to pursue a common goal-development-together for the new era. It won't be too far away with the hard work of our people, and with the help of a new UN.