On 22 and 23 January, the 74th session of the UN General Assembly held a plenary session on the report of the work of the UN submitted by the Secretary-General. Ambassador Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the UN, attended the meeting and made a statement, in which he emphasized the need for the international community to observe the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and uphold multilateralism.

Ambassador Zhang said that the rise of unilateralism is undercutting international rules and rule of law. The spread of protectionism is weighing down global economic growth. Rampant power politics is threatening world peace and stability. The future of human society depends on whether countries make the right choices between cooperation and confrontation, multilateralism and unilateralism, openness and isolation. All member states should bear in mind the founding aspiration of the UN and courageously shoulder the mission of maintaining world peace and promoting common development.

Ambassador Zhang said multilateralism represents the desire of the people and the trend of the times, while unilateralism, based exclusively on supremacy of one's own country, is neither feasible nor popular. All parties should seize the opportunity of the 75th Anniversary Summit of the UN and related events to jointly defend the international order with international law at its core and support the UN in playing a bigger role in international affairs, so as to promote the establishment of a more equitable and effective global governance system. We should oppose arbitrary use or threat of force, oppose long-arm jurisdiction and unilateral sanctions, and oppose politicizing or adopting double standards on issues such as counter-terrorism and human rights.

Ambassador Zhang emphasized that China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order. We stand ready to work with other member states to participate more actively and profoundly in the work of the UN in various fields and make unremitting efforts to realize the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

(Credit: UN Photo)