The Question of Chinese Representation in the United Nations

Abstract

The question of the Chinese Representation in the United Nations (UN) arose with the People`s Republic of China (PRC)putting forward its demand for a seat in the UN Security Council on 18 January 1949. Since 1951, the government of the PRC applied annually to the UN General Assembly to be replaced the government of the Republic of China (ROC) as the representative of China. From 1950 to 1971 the ROC government was recognized as the sole government representing China in the UN. With the adoption of General Assembly Resolution 2758 on 25 October 1971, expelling the ROC government, the representatives of the PRC government replaced the ROC representatives as the sole legitimate representative of China to the UN, and have since held the seat in the General Assembly, the Security Council, as well as in all organs and specialized agencies of the UN. The issue of the Chinese representation in the UN came to a close. The objective of this essay is to reconstruct and analyse the struggle over the issue of the Chinese representation in the UN. The essay is divided into two parts, namely conditions of entering into the UN, and the Chinese representation question to the UN. It provides an analysis of veto power and package deal, conditions of admission to the UN, the competence of the General Assembly, and the essence of Chinese representation question to the U N. It discusses the different solutions to the Chinese representation question involvement with the U.S. interest, the security of Taiwan and submits a realistic assessment of the ultimate outcome of the struggle from a ROC viewpoint. It will show that all strategies in dealing the of Chinese representation question depended on the voting situation in the Security Council and the General Assembly. If an “Important Question Variation” or “Dual Representation Resolution” had been approved and the resolution promulgated by Albania would have failed, the PRC would have been seated in the General Assembly and in the Security Council. But as long as Taiwan retained a seat in the UN, the PRC would not join the UN.PRC and its allies, however, would continue to find ways to exclude the ROC from their right to represent China. It concludes that the aim of the foreign policy is to pursuit national interest. Taiwan’s attempt to enter the United Nations is not only unrealistic;conversely it also increases the tension across the Taiwan Strait. One must know that bilateral diplomatic relations is the base of international relations, without the strengthening of bilateral relations and the support of the United Nations member States,Taiwan’s entrance into the United Nations is unfeasible. Strengthening the relations between two sides of Taiwan Strait is paramount.

從 1951 年至1971 年期間，中華民國在聯合國中一直被視為代表中國的唯一政府，惟中華人民共和國政府每年都向聯合國大會提出議案，試圖取代中華民國政府以取得「中國代表權」。直至1971 年10月25 日，聯合國大會通過2758 號決議後，「中國代表權」的爭議始暫告平息。本文旨在討論聯合國「中國代表權」問題，研究聚焦於重建與分析聯合國中國代表權的爭執過程。其中聯合國安理會與大會上，所涉及之美國利益、台灣安全等各項問題，以及所有對應中國代表權的策略，分析緩議案、重要問題案、整批交易及雙重代表等方案，並評估其結果。內文除前言與結論外，分別就聯合國之會員國、否決權與整批交易、國家加入聯合國之條件與大會所具權限、中國代表權問題等議題進行申述。本研究不認為當時中華民國政府若能保留其在聯合國大會在席位，就能阻止中華人民共和國政府進入聯合國；蓋中華人民共和國政府及其盟友並不會因此就容忍兩岸政權並存於聯合國之中，而放棄迫使中華民國政府喪失其代表中國的國際法人資格。