China and the United Nations

China's Seat in the United Nations

China's seat in the United Nations has been occupied by the People's Republic of China since 1971. It was previously held by the Republic of China.

The Republic of China (ROC) was one of the founding members of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council from its creation in 1945. In 1949 the Communist Party of China seized power on the mainland and declared the People's Republic of China (PRC), claiming to have replaced the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China. The ROC government withdrew to the island province of Taiwan (also retaining several islands of Fujian), where it has continued to rule ever since.

Until 1991, the ROC also actively claimed to be the sole legitimate government of China, and during the 1950s and 1960s this claim was accepted by the United States and some (though far from all) of its allies. While the PRC was an ally of the Soviet Union, the US sought to prevent the Communist bloc from gaining another permanent seat in the Security Council.

Until 1960, the ROC representative to the Security Council vetoed the admission of the People's Republic of Mongolia to the UN on the grounds that all of Mongolia was part of China. In 1960, the Soviet Union announced that unless Mongolia was admitted, it would block the admission of all of the newly independent African states. Faced with this pressure, the ROC relented under protest.

From the 1960s onwards, nations friendly to the PRC, led by Albania, moved an annual resolution in the General Assembly to transfer China's seat at the UN from the ROC to the PRC. Every year the United States was able to assemble a majority of votes to block this resolution. But the admission of newly independent developing nations in the 1960s gradually turned the General Assembly from being Western-dominated to being dominated by countries sympathetic to Beijing. In addition, the desire of the Nixon administration to improve relations with Beijing to counterbalance the Soviet Union reduced American willingless to support the ROC.

As a result of these trends, in October 1971, Resolution 2758 was passed by the General Assembly, withdrawing recognition of the ROC as the legitimate government of China, and recognising the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China.

The Resolution declared "that the representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations." Because this resolution was on an issue of credentials rather than one of membership, it was possible to bypass the Security Council where the United States and the ROC could have used their veto.

Chinese policies since 1971

Although the entry of the PRC into the UN was supported by much of the third world with the expectation that it would become an active proponent of the non-aligned movement, the PRC has had mostly a passive role within the UN since 1971. It has only rarely been an active mover of events within the UN and this occurs mainly when it perceives its national interests to be at stake. The most notable example of this was in the 1990s when the PRC threatened to veto peacekeeping missions to Republic of Macedonia and Guatemala over those nation's recognition of the ROC.

As a matter of policy, the PRC does not participate militarily in UN peacekeeping missions, but in 1998 it did send a team of civilian police to East Timor as part of the UN force there.

Since the end of the Cold War, the PRC has notably not attempted to use the UN as a counterbalance against the United States as Russia and France have done. In the 1991 Gulf War resolution, the PRC abstained, and it voted for the ultimatum to Iraq in the period leading up to the Second Gulf War. Most observers believe that the PRC would have abstained had a resolution authorising force against Iraq reached the Security Council.

Recent events with respect to Taiwan

Since 1991, the ROC has asserted that it wishes to rejoin (or, as it styles its proposals, "to participate in") the UN. But because of the implacable opposition of the PRC, this is unlikely. Every year since 1991 the question of the ROC's representation has been raised on the UN agenda committee by its diplomatic allies, but has always failed to get sufficient votes to get on the formal agenda.

Proponents of Taiwan independence claim that if the government on Taiwan were formally to renounce its claim to be the government of all China, and declare the existence of an independent Republic of Taiwan, Taiwan could then be admitted to the UN. It has been asserted that if Taiwan were to take this step, the international community would be placed in a difficult position, caught between the PRC's internationally recognised claim that Taiwan is a province of China and the right of the people of Taiwan to self-determination.

Sceptics, however, point out that the PRC still has a Security Council veto and remains firmly opposed to any kind of international recognition of Taiwan. They also point out that the UN has been reluctant to admit any state whose sovereignty is disputed.

Although the ROC no longer asserts its claim to be the government of the whole of China, neither has it formally renounced that claim. Given the PRC's attitude, even having the General Assembly admit Taiwan as an observer (as has been done with the Palestinian Authority) would be problematic. The General Assembly is dominated by developing nations, many with historic ties to the PRC, and many also with their own areas of disputed sovereignty.

Nonetheless, in the 1990s, the ROC sought to gain representation at the UN by subsidising developing nations such as the tiny Pacific state of Tuvalu. This strategy has become increasingly difficult as the PRC has begun to have the economic power to counter Taiwanese moves.

See also:

• History of China
• Political status of Taiwan
• Foreign relations of Taiwan
• Foreign relations of China

External link

• GA Resolution 2758
• 1998 GA Resolution for ROC membership