Exposition et atelier interactif “Charm of Chinese Culture: from Characters to Literature”

Ambassador Yu,
Ladies and gentlemen:

It has become a nice tradition to mark the Chinese language day in April and I am extremely grateful to Ambassador Yu and the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China for making Chinese language day a truly special occasion.

This year, we will be learning about the ancient tradition of calligraphy and, with the help of touch screen games and video clips, we will be shown how this tradition is transposed into the 21st century. We will also get a glimpse of Chinese literature and its translation.

Chinese characters are thought to have been invented some 5,000 years ago by Cangjie, a mythical figure. The date of the Chinese Language Day was chosen to pay tribute to him. Chinese is not only one of the oldest languages in the world, but also one of the most widely spoken today. One billion people are estimated to speak it as their first language. Chinese characters are logograms which explain ideas. They are vehicles of the Chinese culture. For us, they provide a window through which we can see the Chinese people’s perception of the world.

The People’s Republic of China has been extremely generous in sharing their cultural heritage with us, amply contributing to our cultural diplomacy programme over the past years. Every day I walk past the Chinese vase that was donated to the Palais des Nations on the occasion of the visit of President Xi Jinping early last year. It combines both Asian and Western patterns and ornaments and symbolizes the joint benefits of cooperation. I am extremely grateful for the Chinese contribution of a staff member to our SDG lab and for their financial support to the much-needed renovations of our building.

The United Nations is happy to continue to count on China as an important partner. China is a significant donor to the United Nations and an important troop contributor for Peacekeeping Missions. As one of the Permanent Members of the Security Council, it plays a unique role in our global peace and security architecture. Lifting more than 470 million people out of extreme poverty between 1990 and 2005 and performing well on many of the other Millennium Development Goals, China made important contributions to the overall achievement of the MDGs. Similar efforts will be needed to realize the Sustainable Development Goals. China’s leadership and commitment in this context are encouraging.

Multilingualism is the basis for multilateralism. Only if we understand each other can we find common ground. Our international language days that we have been celebrating since 2010 are unique opportunities to nurture this spirit and, as every year, I would like to thank our interpreters and translators, our tour guides, language teachers and colleagues embarking on the ambitious project of learning Chinese for their invaluable contribution to building bridges across language divides.

Let me now invite you to learn a little more about the “Charm of Chinese culture”.

I thank you all for being here with us today and I hope you will enjoy this interactive exhibition.

Thank you.