Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the United States of America in 1979, relations between the two countries have developed in the interests of the two peoples. We have always hoped that these relations will continue to grow, and consider this beneficial to our two peoples and to world peace. However, a cloud has all along hung over the relations between the two countries. This is because the United States, despite having recognized that the Government of the People's Republic of China is China's sole legal government and that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China, has passed the Taiwan Relations Act which contravenes the principles embodied in the joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations, and it has continued to sell arms to Taiwan, treating Taiwan as an independent political entity. As the Chinese Government has repeatedly stated, these are acts of infringement on China's sovereignty and of interference in China's internal affairs. Not long ago, after nearly a year of talks, the Chinese and U.S. Governments issued a joint communique providing for a step-by-step solution of the question of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, leading to a final thorough settlement. We hope that these provisions will be strictly observed. Sino-U.S. relations can continue to develop soundly only if the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and non-interference in each other's internal affairs are truly adhered to.

The relations between China and the Soviet Union were friendly over a fairly long period. They have become what they are today because the Soviet Union has pursued a hegemonist policy. For the past 20 years, the Soviet Union has stationed massive armed forces along the Sino-Soviet and Sino-Mongolian borders. It has supported Viet Nam in the latter's invasion and occupation of Kampuchea, acts of expansion in Indochina and Southeast Asia and constant provocations along China's border. Moreover, it has invaded and occupied Afghanistan, a neighbour of China, by force of arms. All these acts constitute grave threats to the peace of Asia and to China's security. We note that Soviet leaders have expressed more than once the desire to improve relations with China. But deeds, rather than words, are important. If the Soviet authorities really have a sincere desire to improve relations with China and take practical steps to lift their threat to the security of our country, it will be possible for Sino-Soviet relations to move towards normalization. The friendship between the Chinese and Soviet peoples is of long standing, and we will strive to safeguard and develop this friendship, no matter what Sino-Soviet state relations are like.

The main forces jeopardizing peaceful coexistence among nations today are imperialism, hegemonism and colonialism. True, the old system of colonialism has disintegrated with the successive winning of independence by nearly 100 former colonial and semi-colonial countries. Yet its remnants are far from being eliminated. The superpowers that practise hege-monism pose a new threat to the people of the world. In their pursuit of global domination, the superpowers have been contending on a worldwide scale with military power far exceeding that of any other countries. This is the main source of instability and turmoil in the world. The most important task for the people of the world today is to oppose hegemonism and safeguard world peace. Due to the rivalry between the superpowers, the danger of a world war is growing ever greater. However, experience shows that the people of the world, by persevering in struggle, can upset the strategic plans of the superpowers. World peace can be safeguarded, provided the people truly unite and fight resolutely against all expressions of hegemonism and expansionism. We have always firmly opposed the arms race between the superpowers, stood for the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons and for their complete destruction and demanded that the superpowers be the first to cut their nuclear and conventional arsenals drastically. We are against the world war being fomented by the superpowers and also against all the local wars of aggression which they instigate or back. We have always firmly supported all victim countries and peoples in their struggle against aggression. We support the Korean people in their struggle to reunify their fatherland. We support the Kampuchean people led by the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea in their struggle against Vietnamese aggression. We support the people of Afghanistan in their struggle against Soviet aggression. We support the African people in their struggle against South Africa's racism and expansionism. We strongly condemn Israel for its heinous aggression and atrocities against the people of Palestine and Lebanon. With support and protection from the US hege-monists, Israel has outrageously occupied Palestine and carried out repeated armed aggression against Arab countries, posing a grave threat to peace in the Middle East and the world as a whole. We continue our resolute support for the Palestinian people in their struggle to return to their homeland and to found their own state and for other Arab peoples in their struggle against Israeli expansionism.

Socialist China belongs to the third world. China has experienced the same sufferings as most other third world countries, and she is faced with similar problems and tasks. China regards it as her sacred international duty to struggle resolutely against imperialism, hege-monism and colonialism together with the other third world countries.

The emergence of the third world on the international arena after World War II is a primary event of our time. It has changed the United Nations from a mere voting machine manipulated by certain big powers into a forum where imperialism, hegemonism and expansionism are often justly condemned. The struggle initiated by Latin American countries against the maritime hegemony of the superpowers and the struggles of the petroleum exporting countries and other raw material producing countries for permanent sovereignty over their own natural resources, the struggle of the non-aligned countries against power politics and bloc politics and the struggles of the developing countries for the establishment of a new international economic order - all these struggles have converged into a mighty current of forces upholding justice in our time and greatly changed the situation in which the superpowers could wilfully manipulate the fate of the world.