Mr. Director General Sergei Ordzhonikidze,

Distinguished Guests and Friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Good evening. On behalf of the Permanent Mission of China to the UN Office at Geneva, I welcome you all to the Chinese Wushu performance.

 

First of all, I wish to thank His Excellency, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the UN office at Geneva, for his high patronage of this event, and the Cultural Activities Committee of the UN office for their hard work and kind assistance. I would also like to thank the Chinese Wushu Association for cosponsoring this event.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Chinese Wushu, also known as kung-fu or martial arts, is a valuable historic and cultural legacy of the Chinese nation. In China, it has been practiced by millions of people for thousands of years. As a sport which utilizes brawn, brain and spirit comprehensively, Wushu is renown for its movements being as quick as sound and wind, as firm as rock, as smooth as flowing water, and as high as floating clouds.

 

As an important component of the Chinese cultural heritage, Wushu has its own profound value and morality. In Chinese philosophy, the actual spirit of martial arts is not in the fighting or creating conflict but to stop it. Here I would like to quote a famous Chinese proverb "turning weapons into jade and silk", which vividly captures the pacific culture of the Chinese nation and its peace-loving people.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Though Wushu originated in China, it belongs to the world. With a unique combination of health-promotion, practical self-defense and self-discipline, it is gaining popularity around the world and is steadily entering the domain of sports for all. Upholding the lofty ideal of the Olympic movement, the Chinese Wushu Association has devoted itself to the promotion of cultural exchanges between the East and the West, with a view to serving the harmonious development of mankind.

 

I am therefore honored to present to you tonight the performance of a group of young Chinese Wushu athletes. I hope that their performance will offer a unique perspective of Chinese culture and enrich the cultural program of the UN family at Geneva.

 

Thank you.