340/4–552: Airgram
The Secretary of State to the Mission at the United Nations
A–78. Subject: Chinese Representation
- 1.
- Following is the basic position paper on Chinese representation which will be included in the instructions to US Representatives to those UN and specialized agency bodies which are composed of government representatives. (See Deptel 334 to USUN, dated March 13, 1952 for US position on the Chinese representation issue in all functional Commissions of ECOSOC, except the Narcotics Commission; since the Narcotics Commission is composed strictly of government representatives, the US Representative to that Commission will be instructed to follow the position set forth below.) Dept will revise the position paper, as necessary, for each body to take into account any special procedural problems or any general political developments affecting the Chinese representation issue.
- 2.
- The Department requests that a USUN political adviser assist US Delegations to technical bodies on the Chinese representation issue, both in the diplomatic preparations in advance of the session and at the first meeting. The Narcotics Commission is scheduled to convene on April 17, and the UNICEF Exbd on April 22.
The Problem
The problem is to determine US position in the event that the Chinese representation question is raised at the forthcoming session of ____________
The Chinese representation issue is likely to arise at the outset of the first meeting of the session in the form of a Soviet bloc proposal to exclude the representatives of the Chinese National Government and/or to invite Chinese Communists to participate [or to seat Chinese Communist representatives].1 It is also possible (although unlikely) that the question may arise in the form of a proposal to include the question of the representation of China in the agenda.
[Page 623]Recommendations
- 1.
- In the event that a proposal is made to exclude the Chinese National representatives and/or to invite Chinese Communists to participate [or to seat Chinese Communist representatives], the United States Representative should initiate or support a motion to postpone discussion of or action on such a proposal. He should ensure that this procedural motion is put to the vote first. It should be made clear that the adoption of this postponement motion would result in the continued seating of the representatives of the Chinese National Government. In advancing this procedural motion, the United States Representative should make a statement along the lines of paragraph 2 of the “Comment” section below.
- 2.
- In the event that a proposal is made to include the question of the representation of China in the agenda, the United States Representative should move that the question of the inclusion of such an item in the agenda be postponed. In advancing this procedural motion, the United States Representative should make a statement along the same general lines as paragraph 2 of the “Comment” section below. As in 1 above, it should be made clear that the adoption of this procedural motion would result in the continued seating of the representatives of the Chinese National Government.
- 3.
- If it appears that the Chinese representation question is likely to arise, i.e., if USSR or Soviet bloc representatives attend the session, the United States Representative should consult in advance with other friendly members, beginning with the United Kingdom, in an effort to obtain as wide support as possible for the postponement action.
- 4.
- If, nevertheless, the above postponement procedure (or some other procedure which avoids a vote on the substance) is not followed and the substance of the Chinese representation question is put to the vote, the United States Representative should actively oppose and vote against any proposal to exclude the representatives of the Chinese National Government and/or seat Chinese Communists. The continued opposition of the United States to any such proposal should be strongly reaffirmed.
Comment
1. By advancing a procedural position and avoiding a vote on the substance we can most easily achieve our objective with respect to the Chinese representation issue, i.e., the continued seating of the representatives of the Chinese National Government in all UN and specialized agency bodies. The postponement procedure set forth above has been followed in nearly all UN and specialized agency bodies since June of last year, when the United Kingdom agreed to support such proposals. A large majority of states (including most non-Soviet states which recognize the Chinese Communist regime) have supported this [Page 624] action. The postponement procedure should therefore be followed unless there is general agreement on some other procedure which will avoid a vote on the substance and which will ensure the continued seating of the representatives of the Chinese National Government.
2. Statement by US Representative
“The opposition of the United States Government to the unseating of representatives of the Chinese National Government and to the seating of Chinese Communists has been made clear time and time again. I now reaffirm this position. In the view of my government, it is out of the question even to consider a proposal to exclude the representatives of the Chinese National Government and/or to seat Chinese Communists at a time when the international conduct of the Chinese Communist regime departs so drastically from the normally accepted standards of international conduct, and when this regime has shown no respect for or intention to abide by the principles for which the United Nations stands as exemplified by its action and its defiance of the United Nations in Korea.
“For these reasons, I move that this body postpone further discussion of this question. This motion has precedence over the [Soviet] proposal to exclude the Chinese National Representative and/or to seat a Chinese Communist, and if it is adopted, as my delegation strongly urges, it would result in an indefinite postponement of any further discussion of the proposal and the continuance of the Chinese National representative in this body”.
- Brackets throughout this document are in the source text.↩