Some countries feel aggrieved, and their diplomats gather in the square in front of the gate of the United Nations and angrily question the United Nations Headquarters: Our head of state is dead, the flag of the United Nations is raised so high, and the Prime Minister of China is dead. Why did you lower the flag at half mast for him?
There is another saying:
"The real reason why the United Nations lowered the flag for Zhou Enlai at half mast!" It is widely circulated on the website of China. The story makes people shake their heads. The story says:
"108, Zhou Enlai died, and flags were flown at half-mast in front of the United Nations headquarters in new york, USA. Since the founding of the United Nations, many heads of state in the world have passed away, and the United Nations has never lowered the flag at half mast for anyone. Some countries feel aggrieved, and their diplomats gather in the square in front of the gate of the United Nations and angrily question the United Nations Headquarters: Our head of state is dead, the flag of the United Nations is raised so high, and the Prime Minister of China is dead. Why did you lower the flag at half mast for him? At that time, UN Secretary-General waldheim stood up and made a very short speech on the steps in front of the UN building, which lasted only one minute. He said: "In memory of Zhou Enlai, the United Nations will fly flags at half mast. This is my decision for two reasons. First, China is an ancient civilization with countless treasures. She uses more RMB than we can count. But her Premier Zhou doesn't have a penny in deposit! Second, China has a population of 1 100 million, accounting for14 of the world's population, but her Prime Minister's Week had no children. If the head of any country can do one of these things, the headquarters will still lower the flag at half mast for him on the day of his death. "
After that, he turned to leave, and the diplomats in the square were speechless, followed by thunderous applause. "
First of all, this story tells readers that there is no precedent for the United Nations to fly the flag at half-mast in memory of Premier Zhou Enlai. Only under the premise of "making an exception and lowering the flag at half mast" will there be a wonderful speech later. The storyteller may want to prove that Zhou Enlai enjoys a high international honor and his personality is extraordinary.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. The United Nations flag was flown at half-mast in Zhou Enlai, which was no exception. The United Nations established a flag code in 1947. Among them, the provision on mourning is: When the head of state or government of a member state dies, the flag at new york Headquarters and Geneva Office must be lowered at half mast for one day. Therefore, it is only routine to fly the flag at half-mast for Zhou Enlai in June1976+1October.
Without making an exception, the following story is ridiculous. I have never heard of any country's diplomatic envoys to the United Nations "talking angrily" for their daily work. If there are such diplomats who don't understand the basic rules of the United Nations, they should feel "ashamed" rather than "angry". Of course, there is no need for the Secretary-General to make a special explanation.
The "extremely short speech" fabricated by the Secretary-General and its dramatic effect are very problematic in itself. Stubbornly selling the feelings with China characteristics to foreigners and inventing an "old branch secretary"-style UN Secretary-General.
None of the documents can tell us the bank balance when Zhou Enlai died. China has no system of disclosing the personal property of state leaders. The United Nations has never asked member countries to report the income of their national leaders. The Secretary-General has no access to Zhou Enlai's personal financial situation. How can he just say how much his deposit is?
"No savings, no children" was indeed one of the reasons why China people loved and mourned their Prime Minister at that time. In line with the national conditions of China at that time. At that time, China was in a state of fierce revolution. People who are down and out in the revolution and whose families have suffered losses are considered firm. There is no doubt about it. But outside China, where human nature has never been extinct, it is not necessarily equally admirable. In particular, childlessness is regarded as a kind of regret in life and has no meaning of "revolutionary virtue". Foreign friends who really respect and care about Zhou Enlai don't want to talk about it. Especially in mourning occasions, it should not be mentioned. However, this story made Secretary-General waldheim praise this situation with great fanfare, and seemed to encourage other leaders to learn: "If the head of any country can do one of them, ..." and so on. I would like to ask this "Secretary-General": Is it a good thing to "teach no class"? How are you going to make national leaders who already have children "do this" to win respect? Say such a thing, where is the "secretary-general", is clearly the China folk old risk.
It is not surprising that this kind of story is circulated among the "broad masses of workers, peasants and soldiers". If you don't understand the situation abroad, you will inevitably put your thinking habits on foreigners. Strangely, a former UN official named Wu Miaofa said the same thing. And his process of "recalling" this story is also very strange. In the 1990s, he published several books on Joe and the United Nations, either alone or in cooperation with others. In at least two books, he recorded the United Nations mourning for Zhou Enlai. None of them mentioned the above story. Only the "China Delegation Resident" lowered its flag at half mast and set up a mourning hall for diplomats from all over the world to pay their condolences. There is no such thing as lowering the flag at United Nations Headquarters and "thunderous applause" in the square.
But in June 2002, he suddenly made up this story. The article was published in People's Daily on June 8, 65438. He claimed that "this is a rare thing since the founding of the United Nations more than 50 years ago". There is also a nose and eyes: "I stood in the United Nations Square and listened to the touching and meaningful speech of Secretary-General waldheim." This is amazing. How can Mr. Wu, who has worked in the United Nations for many years, not know the United Nations Flag Code and Rules? During 1976, all the newspapers and periodicals in China, including Chairman Mao, said that China had a population of 800 million. How did Mr. Wu "listen" to the Secretary-General's advanced statistics that "the population of China is 654.38 billion +0 billion"? Many people in China have been sent to the United Nations. Why didn't others see it? Why is Mr. Wu the only one who has seen such a "rare thing"? Why did he have to hold back this "rare thing" for so many years before he said it?
I didn't know about Wu's reckless and irresponsible habits until I read an article criticized by China's diplomat to the United Nations. Zong pointed out that there were many mistakes, plagiarism and fabrications in the three books about Joe and the United Nations. For example, the photo of Zhou Enlai meeting with waldheim was described as "the historic moment of US President Nixon's visit to China". He plagiarized Xiong Xianghui and others' books for a long time, polishing the leaders' speeches. He even described Lin Biao's reading of the 520 statement as "Chairman Mao's loud voice and firm tone infected everyone present." Wait a minute. Zong had no choice but to persuade: "You must know that you can't copy your creations and you can't fabricate historical works. This is a routine, not demanding. "
Turned out to be such an irresponsible author. The credibility of its story can be imagined. Fabricate the plot and "remember the great man" with fake stories. This practice will not bring honor, but will add embarrassment to Zhou.
By the way, in order to prove who is great, make up stories about how foreigners admire him. This kind of thing is not uncommon in China. This is somewhat ironic in a country that claims to hate "relying on foreign self-respect".
At that time, UN Secretary-General waldheim stood up and made a very short speech on the steps in front of the UN building, which lasted only one minute.
He said: "In memory of Zhou Enlai, the United Nations will fly flags at half mast. This is my decision for two reasons:
First, China is an ancient civilization with countless treasures. She uses more RMB than we can count. But her Premier Zhou doesn't have a penny in deposit!
Second, China has a population of 1 100 million, accounting for14 of the world's population, but her Prime Minister's Week had no children. If the head of any country can do one of these things, the headquarters will still lower the flag at half mast for him on the day of his death. "