萬國郵盟中國代表權爭議始末：1949-1971

Abstract

The question of representation of China in international organisations had been discussed since the Communists won against the Nationalists in 1949. The Nationalist Government did not vanish, as they fled to Taiwan and the question therefore became more complicated. For a long time, the United States, for strategic purposes, supported Taiwan in its claim to represent China in the United Nations and other relevant organisations, including the Universal Postal Union. On the other hand, the Soviet Union and the other communist countries supported the Chinese communists in their application for membership and to replace Taiwan as the representative for China's membership. In the case of the Universal Postal Union, this essay would discuss both the communists' tricks and the strategies set by the Nationalist Government in defence of the China membership they had represented. This essay would also reveal the Nationalist Government's response to the international postal policy when Taiwan lost its membership of the Universal Postal Union in 1972, after the failure to defend its membership to the United Nations in 1971. The case of the disputes in the Universal Postal Union might be seen as a focal point of the dilemma faced by Taiwan in international organisations from 1949.