The Question of Chinese Representation in the United Nations

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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.