In maintaining world peace or promoting common development, the two major strategic issues facing mankind, the principle of democracy must be advocated and implemented, Jiang said.

Jiang made these remarks during his speech to the plenary meeting of the UN Millennium Summit, which began on Wednesday.

All countries, large or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, are equal members of the international community and have the right to take part in and handle world affairs, Jiang said.

Matters that fall within the scope of a country's sovereignty should be managed only by the government and people of all countries through consultation. This is the principle of democracy at work in world affairs, according to Jiang. Today, the world's destiny should be in the hands of the people of all countries, he said.

The president went on to say that each and every country and nation has made its own contribution to the development of human civilization. It is essential to fully respect the diversity of different nations, religions and civilizations, whose co-existence is the very source of the vigorous development in the world. He said that every nation should promote exchanges between different civilizations in a spirit of equality and democracy and encourage them to learn from one another in order to achieve common progress.

Dialogue and co-operation in the field of human rights must be conducted on the basis of respect for a state's sovereignty, said Jiang, adding that this is the fundamental and most effective way of protecting and promoting human rights.

As long as there are boundaries between states and people live and are aware of living in different countries, the maintainance of national independence and the safeguarding of sovereignty will be the supreme focus of each government and people, Jiang said.

He stressed that without sovereignty, there can be no human rights to speak of.

Jiang also said the pursuit of peace and development represents both the common aspirations of the people of the whole world and the theme of our times.

He warned, however, that the unfair and irrational old international political and economic order has yet to be replaced. There is still a long way to go before the two issues of peace and development are solved and a fair and equitable new international political and economic order is established, the president said.

At present, people in many countries are still suffering from the scourge of wars and turmoil, he said.

Hegemonism and power politics still exist. Local conflicts caused by factors such as ethnicity, religion, territorial disputes or quarrels over resources keep cropping up. Separatist, terrorist and extremist forces of various kinds are causing unending damage to the international community. Moreover, the environment, illegal drugs, refugees and other global problems become increasingly serious, according to Jiang. Our planet is still far from being a stable and tranquil place, he said.

On the role of the UN, Jiang said the international organization has done much useful work to ease regional conflicts, eliminate colonialism and promote world peace, co-operation and development.

As the most authoritative international organization of sovereign states with the broadest representation in the world, the UN plays an irreplaceable role in the maintenance of world peace, the promotion of development for all and the establishment of a fair and reasonable new international political and economic order, Jiang said.

In the new century, the UN shoulders an even heavier tasks, he said. Its positive role must be strengthened, not weakened and its authority defended, not jeopardized.

The president held that the world's nations must firmly defend the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, continue to give play to the positive role of the UN and its Security Council in handling international affairs and safeguarding world peace and ensure all UN member states participate equally in world affairs. No country or group of countries should take the attitude of "using the United Nations when it is needed and abandoning it when it is not,'' said Jiang.

Wednesday was the first day of the three-day summit, which is being attended by delegations from 184 countries. Apart from plenary meetings and round table discussions, meetings of the 15 member states of the UN Security Council and its five permanent members are to be held under the theme of "The United Nations in the 21st Century.''

(China Daily)