China Daily, January 28, United Nations (Reporter Zhang Minlu) On January 28, the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations held a video reception to celebrate the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger and the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Ambassador Zhang Jun and his wife Tian Liying, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Ambassador Dai Bing, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, together with senior UN officials and permanent representatives of various countries to the United Nations, gathered on Yunshang to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Tiger and welcome the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Secretary-General of the United Nations Guterres, President of the 76th UN General Assembly Shahid, representatives of the International Olympic Committee, senior officials of the United Nations Secretariat, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Indonesia, Norway, India, Nearly 200 permanent representatives and senior diplomats from more than 100 countries including Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Qatar, Greece, and Nicaragua to the United Nations, Chinese staff working in the United Nations, journalists from various countries in New York and friendly people from all walks of life attended by video connection.
The reception kicked off in a happy and peaceful atmosphere. Zhang Jun delivered a warm speech and extended his New Year’s greetings to everyone. Zhang Jun said that while the Chinese all over the world are celebrating the Chinese New Year, all the countries in the world will join in the Olympic Games. This is a double happiness! On behalf of the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, I wish to greet the people of the whole country! I wish the great motherland more wings and prosperity in the new year! I wish the people of the country happiness and health, and the Year of the Tiger auspicious! Best wishes to the Winter Olympic athletes for their vigor and success!
Zhang Jun said that the past year has been of great significance to China. We solemnly celebrate the centennial birthday of the Communist Party of China, sum up the great achievements and historical experience of the centenary struggle, and start a new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. We have built a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, solved the problem of absolute poverty historically, and entered a new stage of high-quality development. We solemnly commemorate the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the legitimate seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations, demonstrate our firm support for genuine multilateralism, and stand at a new historical starting point for cooperation between China and the United Nations.
Zhang Jun pointed out that at present, the global epidemic continues to spread, the vaccine gap and the development gap continue to widen, regional hotspot issues emerge one after another, and the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change. In the face of many challenges, we must show the courage of “tiger and tiger”, burst out the power of “dragon soaring and tiger leaping”, and help each other to overcome the difficulties together. The United Nations is the core platform for addressing global challenges, and China’s support for the United Nations has been consistent, lasting and reliable. We will continue to use Chinese wisdom, Chinese solutions, and Chinese strength to contribute to world peace and development. We will continue to work with all parties to fight the epidemic. On top of the more than 2 billion doses of vaccines that have already been provided, we will provide 1 billion doses of vaccines to African countries and 150 million doses of vaccines to ASEAN countries. We will continue to push development issues high on the United Nations agenda. A week ago, the “Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative” was officially established. We welcome all countries to join in to jointly implement the 2030 Agenda, push the world economy out of the crisis, achieve recovery, and build a better future together.
Zhang Jun said, “Together to the Future” is the theme slogan of the Beijing Winter Olympics. It condenses the Olympic spirit of “more unity” and contains people’s ardent expectations for a better future. A month ago, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the Olympic Truce Resolution for the Beijing Winter Olympics, and 173 countries participated in the proposal. For the first time, the United Nations issued the Winter Olympics stamps under the theme of “Sport for Peace”. Today is the first day of the truce. We call on all parties to take this ice and snow event as an opportunity to integrate differences through dialogue, replace confrontation with cooperation, and maintain world peace and development. In another week, the Olympic fire will be ignited again in Beijing, the only “city of double Olympics” in the world, and the preparations have entered the final sprint stage. We are confident to dedicate a simple, safe and wonderful Olympic Games to bring more courage and strength to the world in the “Year of the Tiger”.
Secretary-General Guterres wished the Chinese people a “Happy Chinese New Year” in Chinese and said that the tiger symbolizes strength, vitality, perseverance and courage, all of which are qualities needed to meet current global challenges. Thanks to China and the Chinese people for their input and support to multilateralism and the United Nations, I look forward to continuing to deepen cooperation with China to achieve sustainable peace and development, and I wish the Beijing Winter Olympics a complete success.
President of the UN General Assembly Shahid wished the Chinese people “Happy Chinese New Year and a Prosperous Year of the Tiger” in Chinese and said that the Olympic Games are a grand event for all countries, and sports play an important role in promoting dialogue, reconciliation and cooperation. Shah highly appreciates the Chinese government’s idea of hosting the Olympics and the great efforts it has made to prepare for the Olympics. He is eagerly looking forward to participating in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and the Olympic torch relay, and wishing the Winter Olympics a complete success and the athletes “more powerful”.
The Permanent Observer of the International Olympic Committee to the United Nations congratulates the smooth progress of the preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics, calls on all parties to abide by the Olympic Truce Resolution, and wishes the Beijing Winter Olympics to make new progress in carrying forward the Olympic spirit of “higher, faster and stronger” contribution.
UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Bahus, said in Chinese that he wished Chinese women friends a prosperous Year of the Tiger and looked forward to the success of female athletes in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Permanent representatives of various countries and senior officials of the United Nations extended their New Year greetings to the Chinese people and wished the Beijing Winter Olympics a complete success. The Norwegian ambassador hopes that the Beijing Winter Olympics will promote peace, enhance understanding, and that athletes from all countries will achieve excellent results. As the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, Norway will be committed to defending multilateralism and maintaining international peace and security. The Pakistani ambassador congratulated Beijing on becoming the first “Double Olympic City” and was full of expectations for China to present a wonderful and unforgettable Olympic Games to the world again. The Ambassador of Kazakhstan congratulated China on its great development achievements and said that all countries share a common destiny and should unite to face challenges in the Year of the Tiger. The Egyptian ambassador praised the Beijing Winter Olympics for promoting the Olympic spirit and bringing confidence and strength to all countries. The French ambassador expressed his willingness to work closely with China to maintain world peace and promote common development under the guidance of the UN Charter. The Russian ambassador said that the Beijing Winter Olympics would enhance understanding and friendship among countries, and hoped that countries would abide by the Olympic Truce Resolution. Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Greece, Serbia, Italy, Belarus, Nicaragua, Cuba, Argentina and other countries appreciated China’s constructive role in international affairs and expressed their willingness to strengthen friendly cooperation with China in various fields.
The whole video reception was filled with a strong flavor of the New Year and the Winter Olympics. The red lanterns are shining brightly, the fiery red “Fu” character is eye-catching, and “Bing Dun Dun” and “Xue Rong Rong” are naive. The guests watched a video reviewing the achievements of cooperation between China and the United Nations in the past year. The reception ended successfully with the warm invitation of Chinese athletes to welcome all countries to Beijing in the Winter Olympics promotional video.
[Editor in charge: Fu Wenjia]