United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758: Difference between revisions
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This means that Resolution 2758, by recognizing PRC as the sole legitimate government of China in the UN, at the same time discontinued recognition of ROC as the sole legitimate government of China in the UN. |
This means that Resolution 2758, by recognizing PRC as the sole legitimate government of China in the UN, at the same time discontinued recognition of ROC as the sole legitimate government of China in the UN. |
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However, contra to the above, it may be noted that the above situation applies in a case where two governments claim legitimate governance over a unified territory. Hence, in a two nation concept, i.e. PRC[China] and ROC[Taiwan], the above argument of PRC's legitimacy over ROC will not hold any water and be fallacious. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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Revision as of 05:46, 31 May 2006
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, adopted October 25, 1971, replaced the UN seat of the Republic of China with that of the People's Republic of China. Supporters of Taiwanese admission to the UN argue that the resolution only asserts that the PRC is the legitimate government of China, but makes no mention of the ROC being an illegimate government, nor of which (if either) is the legitimate ruler of the island of Taiwan (and, presumably, Kinmen, Matsu, and the Pescadores).
However, according to international law regarding the succession of governments, if there exists more than one government of a state at the same time, other states can only recognize one of the several governments of a state at any given time.
This means that Resolution 2758, by recognizing PRC as the sole legitimate government of China in the UN, at the same time discontinued recognition of ROC as the sole legitimate government of China in the UN.
History
Article 3 of the UN Charter provides:
- The original Members of the United Nations shall be the states which, having participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco, or having previously signed the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, sign the present Charter and ratify it in accordance with Article 110.
On 15 July 1971, 17 UN members requested that a question of the "Restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations" be placed on the provisional agenda of the twenty-sixth session of the UN General Assembly, claiming that the PRC, a "founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council, had since 1949 been refused by systematic manoeuvers the right to occupy the seat to which it is entitled ipso jure".
On 25 September 1971, a draft resolution, A/L.630 and Add.l and 2 was submitted by 23 states, including 17 of the states which had joined in placing the question on the agenda, to "restore to the People's Republic of China all its rights and expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek."
On 29 September 1971, another draft resolution, A/L.632 and Add.l and 2, sponsored by 22 members, was proposed declaring that any proposal to deprive the Republic of China of representation was an important question under Article 18 of the UN Charter, and thus would require a two-thirds supermajority for approval. A/L.632 and Add.l and 2 was rejected on 25 October 1971 by a vote of 59 to 55, with 15 abstentions.
Also on 25 October 1971, the United States moved that a separate vote be taken on the words "and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupied at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it" in the draft resolution. The motion was rejected by a vote of 61 to 51, with 16 abstentions. The representative of the Republic of China stated that the rejection of draft resolution A/L.632 and Add. l and 2 calling for a two-thirds majority was a flagrant violation of the Charter which governed the expulsion of Member States and that the delegation of the Republic of China had decided not to take part in any further proceedings of the General Assembly.
The Assembly then adopted draft resolution A/L. 630 and Add.l and 2, by a roll-call vote of 76 to 35, with 17 abstentions, as Resolution 2758.
Controversy
The Resolution has often been criticized as illegal, since expulsion of a member requires the recommendation of the Security Council and can only occur if a nation "has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter," according Article 6. According to the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (Taiwan):
- So flawed is this Resolution that only its effective repeal by the General Assembly can provide any hope of expunging the stain on the U.N.’s escutcheon in the international system. Taiwan partially adopted this strategy, and attempted to begin a debate on the repeal of Resolution 2758 during the Fifty-Second General Assembly. Although turned aside in 1997 by the P.R.C.’s energetic diplomatic lobbying, the issue of the R.O.C.’s status at the U.N. will not disappear.[1]
A resolution calling for review of Resolution 2758 noted, "As to its return to the United Nations, the Government has made it clear that it no longer claims to represent all of China, but that it seeks representation only for its 21.8 million people"[2].
