On 19 December 1947, the United Nations promulgated the Flag Code for the first time.
In the years that followed, the Code was amended. One particular mention is made – the flag was lowered at half-mast, which is a special provision in the code.
Only great men who have made outstanding contributions to human development throughout the world will, after their deaths, the United Nations lower the flag to half-mast. Since the United Nations has a special provision to "lower the flag at half-mast", six Chinese have enjoyed this honor.
Five of them are familiar with The Chinese leader, but the last one has a slightly special status.
When it comes to the United Nations "lowering the flag at half-mast", it is usually for the purpose of "mourning". From the perspective of the purpose of the establishment of the United Nations, it is for world peace, and the "United Nations flag" represents the people's desire and dream for peace and unity.
However, after the "flag lowering at half-mast" regulation, there was actually no half-mast for many people before and after. Even though the Flag Code stipulates that the flag will be "lowered at half-mast" after the death of the heads of State or Government of a Member State of the United Nations. But in fact, in so many years, only a few people have enjoyed such honors. China, on the other hand, has five leaders. This first person, of course, was Zhou Enlai, who "sent the premier on a ten-mile long street."
On January 8, 1976, Premier Zhou died in Beijing.
This year was his twenty-seventh year in office. The teenager who used to "read for the rise of China" was already full of faces.
In those years, Premier Zhou bowed down for the sake of New China and the Chinese people. Towards the end, Premier Zhou was suffering from illness.
As the cry of "It's all right here, go take care of other sick comrades" fell, Premier Zhou closed his eyes. When the news spread throughout the land of Shenzhou, the hearer could not help but feel a pang of heartache. On the day of Premier Zhou's funeral, some people took a train from other provinces and walked from the suburbs, all with black veils tied to their arms and white flowers on their chests, just to give him one last ride.
Premier Zhou is a good premier of the people, and even more a good leader of the people!
When news of the Prime Minister's death reached the United Nations, the Flag was lowered to half-mast on the same day and continued until 15 January 1976.
It was also this year that Zhu De, one of the founders of the Chinese People's Army, died in Beijing. Like Premier Zhou, Mr. Zhu has also served the people and the country throughout his life.
Just a few months after Premier Zhou's death, Mr. Zhu passed away, which is inevitably sentimental. For this marshal, who was called "Zhu Mao" with Chairman Mao, Chinese always had a special feeling in his heart. For the United Nations, Jude also has a pivotal position.
It is not difficult to find that at that time, Mr. Zhu was serving as the "chairman of the Chinese Congress", which was not a head of state in the strict sense, and did not seem to meet the requirements for lowering the flag to half-mast.
For this reason, in many accounts, we can always see the "out of line" statement. However, judging from the actual situation at that time, after Zhu De served as chairman of the National People's Congress, he also shouldered the responsibility of welcoming foreign heads of state, and as one of the founders of the Chinese People's Army, he was also one of The Symbolic Figures of China.
Both in terms of current positions and symbolic figures are in line with the United Nations Flag Code.
Just two months after the United Nations lowered the flag to half-mast for Zhu De, bad news spread across the globe — Mao Zedong died in Beijing at the age of 83.
For the death of this great man, the countries of the world behave almost the same: disbelief, regret. As one of the greatest figures of the 20th century, Chairman Mao has extraordinary significance in the world and in New China. Even a neutral organization such as the United Nations does not hesitate to evaluate it as:
"The most heroic figure of our time."
For New China, Chairman Mao was a symbol of the times, and even a symbol of the "Liberation Movement of Third World Countries." Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of the Flag Code, on the day of Chairman Mao's death, the United Nations lowered its flag to half-mast to express deep condolences.
Unlike when President Zhu and Premier Zhou died, Chairman Mao's death was not only the United Nations that lowered its flag to half-mast, but 53 countries lowered their flags to half-mast in succession. Ten days after his death, telegrams or letters of condolence were sent from more than a hundred countries around the world. Not only that, but also institutions and international conferences around the world have also carried out mourning activities.
In addition to the regular condolence activities, many leaders around the world have given Chairman Mao a very high evaluation, including US President Ford and Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki.
With his outstanding personality and charm, Chairman Mao won the recognition of his opponents and friends and became one of the "greatest figures of the 20th century" among others.
After talking about Premier Zhou, President Zhu, Chairman Mao, and the next two Chinese leaders who lowered their flags to half-mast to mourn, there is something special about them. In particular, the fourth place can be regarded as the United Nations "breaking the rules" to lower the flag at half-mast. That is, the "Mother of the Nation" Song Qingling, who died in Beijing on May 29, 1981.
As one of the founders of New China and one of the greatest women of the 20th century, Soong Ching Ling has long won the recognition of the people of China and even the world. Nominally, she is also the honorary life president of New China. But in the strict sense, it is not a head of state or a head of government.
According to the United Nations Flag Code, there is no need to "lower the flag at half-mast" to mourn. But in the end, the United Nations still lowered the flag to half a day for her, which can also be regarded as "breaking the box".
Of course, even if the United Nations does not lower the flag to half-mast, it will not erase Soong Ching-ling's contribution to China and the world.
When it comes to the fifth place for the United Nations to lower the flag to half-mast for China, many people must already have the answer in their hearts - yes, he is Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of reform and opening up.
However, the United Nations lowered the flag to half-mast for Deng Xiaoping, which was quite tortuous.
In the hearts of Chinese, Deng Xiaoping was the chief architect of reform and opening up, which pointed out the direction for the development of new China. If Chairman Mao is the collective core of the first generation of leaders, then Deng Xiaoping is the collective core of the second generation of leaders.
After the reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping was already the image of the country. It is undeniable that Deng Xiaoping did not serve as head of state or head of government, but it was absolutely in line with the United Nations regulations on "lowering the flag at half-mast.".
However, the reason why the United Nations lowered the flag to half-mast for Comrade Deng Xiaoping was the "flag-lowering to half-mast" ceremony carried out at the strong request of the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations. Although this act makes people feel that the United Nations lowered the flag to half-mast for Deng Xiaoping as an "exception", in the hearts of countless Chinese, this is the right thing to do.
Like his predecessors, Deng Xiaoping bowed down to China.
The United Nations also affirmed the merits of these five leaders in the form of "flags at half-mast". In addition to these five, the United Nations also lowered the flag at half-mast for a special Chinese named Du Zhaoyu, a Chinese soldier.
In December 2005, Du Zhaoyu was sent to the Middle East on a peacekeeping mission. The so-called peacekeeping mission, that is, the United Nations assigns peacekeeping forces to areas of international conflict. Peacekeepers do not belong to any one country and have only one purpose — to maintain peace and stability and good order.
Peacekeepers represent the United Nations and symbolize peace. And Du Zhaoyu is one of them. Since being sent to the Middle East on peacekeeping missions, he has served as a United Nations military observer in Lebanon.
In 2006, the Israeli-Lebanese conflict officially broke out. At the behest of the United Nations, peacekeeping forces were sent to the region. The observer post in Syam, southern Lebanon, where Du Zhaoyu is located, is located at the junction of Lebanon, Israel and Syria.
As a result, it has become one of the most dangerous outposts.
The sound of shells whizzing by every day is clearly audible, and the sound of air raids is incessant. It's no exaggeration to stay here without knowing whether to see the sun the next day.
Since coming here, Du Zhaoyu has carried out more than a hundred patrol missions and walked more than 10,000 kilometers, without the slightest timidity due to the harsh environment and continuous war. But misfortune happened.
In July 2006, the Lebanese Allah Party launched rocket and mortar forces to approach the Lebanese-Israeli border and blew up Israeli defense vehicles, killing three People and capturing two on the Israeli side. The war situation escalated further.
The Chiam observer post at the border between the three countries was placed on the cusp of the storm, and in order to ensure the safety of the peacekeepers at the post, the number of duty at all posts in the area was reduced from 5 to 4. This means that someone can take turns to get off the sentry and leave this place where lives can be in danger at any time. And because Du Zhaoyu has been in the post for a long time, and his duty task has long been over, he should be the only one who rotates the sentry.
But on July 17, 2006, Du Zhaoyu, who could have withdrawn, chose to let his sick companion, the older guy, withdraw, and he stayed.
Staying is a little more dangerous. This is the battlefield, and no one knows where the shells will come from and where they will fall. Staying here means facing the threat of death. Moreover, Du Zhaoyu is still the father of a two-year-old child, and there are still wives and parents waiting in the family.
The completion of the task is already the best performance. At such a time, who will take the initiative to stay? He stayed, leaving the hope of life to his wounded companions and the threat of death to himself.
At 00:30 on 26 July, Israel began a return fire on Lebanon, but an artillery shell landed at the post.
All four United Nations observers at the post were killed, including Du Zhaoyu. As soon as the news came out, the United Nations was shocked and China was angry.
The attack on United Nations peacekeeping posts has completely changed the nature of the whole thing. Peacekeepers never interfere in the internal affairs of other countries or participate in any war, but only to protect the neglected people at the bottom.
Just as Lebanon and Israel are fighting each other, the underprivileged people of both countries need the most basic asylum. At that time, the role of peacekeeping forces was revealed, and this act was recognized by the world. What does it mean that Israeli shells are now impartially dropped on observer posts?
As soon as it happened, the United Nations reacted quickly, strongly condemning Israel and demanding that it investigate the incident and pledge not to repeat such incidents, in addition to expressing its condolences to the fallen fighters. At the same time, China has also made a positive response to this.
In fact, China, the United Nations and other parties have strongly condemned Israel. Under the pressure of international public opinion, Israel can only pledge to investigate the matter thoroughly.
Since the United Nations sent its first peacekeeping force to Lebanon in 1978, many peacekeepers have died before and after. However, these fighters have indeed played an active role in maintaining local security and rescuing the war-torn masses.
The effect is remarkable, and the price paid is also heavy. More than 200 peacekeepers in Lebanon alone were killed in the line of duty.
On 28 July 2006, the third day of the airstrike, the United Nations lowered its flags to half-mast for the four United Nations observers who had lost their lives in silence.
From this point of view, the flag reduction of the United Nations to half-mast is not limited to heads of State, heads of Government and world leaders with important ties to the United Nations. Contributions to the cause of world peace such as Du Zhaoyu, or contributions to human movements such as Martin Luther King Jr., will be recognized by the United Nations.
In the Charter of the United Nations, it begins with the words "We the peoples of the United Nations".
The work of the United Nations lies not only with governments, but also with people. It is an institution that strives for the unity of the whole world, and if it simply serves the governments, it loses its most basic original purpose.
The "Du Zhaoyu incident" can also show the importance that the United Nations attaches to "peace.". It is precisely in this way that this Chinese soldier who gave his life for world peace has been recognized by the people of the world. China also held a solemn farewell ceremony for the hero's body and posthumously remembered his first-class merits.
It is undeniable that we are living happily and happily at the moment. But behind this, it is a warrior like Du Zhaoyu who has bought his life for it. If no one carries the weight for us, how can these beauties come from?
Remember the past and be grateful for the present. Let us remember those fighters and leaders who fought all their lives for China and the people, because they have now.