Interview: I'm lucky to see China's growing role at UN, says Pakistani veteran correspondent

A Pakistani veteran correspondent at the UN said he is very lucky to have seen that many developing countries helped China restore its lawful seat at the world body in 1971 and that China is playing a growing role in global affairs.

Iftikhar Ali, a UN-based correspondent of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), told Xinhua in a recent interview that "as a very lucky witness of the history, I can say that China has played a very constructive and very positive role at the United Nations, (because) it is always in favor of the developing countries."

Ali, who joined the APP in 1959, said that he came to the United Nations in September 1971 mainly to cover the organization on the situation in then East Pakistan in his first trip to the United States, just a few weeks before the adoption of Resolution 2758 by the 26th session of the UN General Assembly to restore the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the sole legitimate representative of the Chinese people at the United Nations.

Speaking on the adoption of the historic resolution, Ali said, "it was a great event, the most exciting event because nobody could tell what will be the result of the vote."

After the founding of the PRC in 1949, however, owing to the pursuit of a policy of hostility toward the new China by the United States, China's seat in the United Nations was still occupied by the Chiang Kai-shek clique overthrown by the Chinese people. The government of the PRC made unremitting efforts to regain China's lawful seat in the United Nations.

"But all the years, the Chinese vote was growing as China progressed economically and politically, and strengthened its institutions," he said, referring to the growing votes at the General Assembly in favor of restoring China's lawful seat.

"People came to realize that it was a great mistake to have more than 800 million people out of the United Nations system," he said. "So, all the years, the support was growing."

In response to an open attempt to create "two Chinas" in the United Nations, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a solemn statement on Aug. 29, 1971.

The statement pointed out that to restore the lawful rights of the PRC in the United Nations and to expel the Chiang Kai-shek clique from the world body were two inseparable aspects of the same question and that China would never allow the creation of "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" in the United Nations.

On Oct. 25, 1971, the 26th UN General Assembly rejected the alleged "important question" motion with 59 votes against, 55 votes for and 15 abstentions.

The meeting proceeded to pass with an overwhelming majority of votes (76 votes for, 35 votes against and 17 abstentions) a resolution sponsored by Albania, Algeria and 21 other countries, which decided to restore all the lawful rights of the PRC in the United Nations and immediately expel the representatives of the Kuomintang clique from the United Nations and all its affiliated agencies.

"This is the famous UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, which brought about a thorough and fair settlement of China's representation in the United Nations politically, legally and procedurally," Ali said.

Upon announcement of the adoption of the historic resolution, Ali said, "there was a celebration in the (General Assembly) hall, it has never been seen. There were delegates dancing, they were shouting slogans, because this had never happened before," he said.

"I was overjoyed," Ali said, describing his personal feelings about the adoption of the General Assembly resolution.

When the first Chinese delegation came to New York, Ali went to the airport, where there was a big gathering to welcome the Chinese representatives.

"There were many Americans in the crowd to welcome the Chinese delegation," he said, adding that hundreds of diplomats and journalists greeted the Chinese delegation at the entrance of the UN headquarters.

The Chinese delegation had a statement. Qiao Guanhua, head of the Chinese delegation, told reporters that "I will give the statement to our friend, the correspondent from the Associated Press of Pakistan, you can take this from him," Ali quoted Qiao as saying.

"I immediately became the center of attention, I had to find a photocopy machine, other colleagues were pushing me to get the statement," he recalled.

"At the very start, China spoke strongly in favor of the rights of the developing countries, in favor of the fight against imperialism and colonialism, because at that time, many countries were still under the colonial rule," he said.

The restoration of China's lawful rights by the 26th UN General Assembly, a major breakthrough in China's diplomacy, represented a major victory won on this issue through protracted struggles by China and many justice-upholding third world countries and other countries, Ali said.

China, both the largest developing country in the world and one of the permanent Security Council members, has played a great role in promoting peace and development across the globe, he said.

"I am very happy as China takes a stand on the point of principle," he said. "It is very important, it is not an opportunist approach."

"It will explain to you always: why we voted against it and why we voted in favor," he said. "Only principlism, and the principlism aims at maintaining international peace and security."

At the same time, Ali said, "China has always supported a lot of developing countries with economic aid. Pakistan is a great beneficiary of China. It will take me a full program to tell you what China has done in Pakistan and in Africa."

As a correspondent, Ali has also seen his China stories well received in Pakistan over the past decades.

"It is of our direct interest to see how China sees the world, not only us, but the other countries. Its policies, we watch and report very carefully, we cover it regularly," he said, referring to his work at the UN.

"China is a story in Pakistan and the story on China is well received in our country. Its words are carefully seen, read and followed," he added.

"I hope China will continue to raise the voice of the world for better relations, better economic development and better disarmament," Ali said.

Ali, who has worked in the field of journalism for more than 50 years, travelled the world to cover heads of state and governments, as well as international conferences and other events, before joining the UN press corps.

He was elected president of the United Nations Correspondents' Association in 1983 and in the following year headed the Foreign Press Association of New York. He also served as chair of the Dag Hammarskjold Fund for 10 years.

Finding that retirement did not suit him, Ali rejoined the APP in 2005 as its UN correspondent in New York. Endi