China gifts the UN 'Zun of Peace' for 70th anniversary

China gifts the UN 'Zun of Peace' for 70th anniversary

At the ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of founding the UN China's President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan presented China's gift to the UN along with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The ceremony was held on Sunday at the UN headquarters in New York City.

The gift presented was called Zun of Peace or as the President called it The Peace Bottle.  The article talked about how, "The Peace Bottle was inspired by ancient traditional Chinese bronze ware called "bottles" and carried to the UN best wishes from more than 1.3 billion Chinese people, Xi said" (Yue 1). I thought this was interesting because the symbolism of the bottle clearly had good intentions and further supported China's part and respect for the UN. Also, the gift not only sent a good message to the UN, but it also symbolized some of China's long history and modern civilization. The intention is to symbolize social growth and development. The President said that this gift represents the people of China's desire for peace, development, and win-win situations.

When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked the President of China for the gift as well as for China's contributions toward world peace and development on behalf of the UN, he also said, "The Peace Bottle represents the common values and close cooperative relationship between China and the UN" (Yue 2). I thought this statement was interesting because I wasn't sure if the UN publicly by default says positive things about the countries when they present them with gifts or if this comment was very legitimate.

Some other gifts China has presented to the UN in the past are The Chengdu-Kunming Railway Ivory Carving (1974), Great Wall Tapestry (1974), Centenary Tripod (1995), and the Harmony Bell for Peace (2014).

Julia Albano

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015xivisitus/2015-09/28/content_21995517_3.htm