288. Information Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Sisco) to Secretary of State Rusk1
SUBJECT
- Vote on Chinese Representation
The General Assembly again adopted the Important Question, and rejected the Albanian and Study Committee resolutions by a slightly larger margin than last year. A comparison of the voting is as follows:
| 1966 | 1967 | |
| Important Question | 66–48–7 | 69–48–4 |
| Albanian resolution | 46–57–17 | 45–58–17 |
| Study Committee | 34–62–25 | 32–57–30 |
The voting closely paralleled our earlier estimates. However, a notable defection on the Albanian resolution was Ecuador, which shifted from no to an abstention. Saudi Arabia, which was expected to vote no, was absent, but we gained a no vote from Cameroon, which had abstained in 1966.
A motion by Australia to give priority in the voting to the Important Question resolution was adopted 67–41 with 12 abstentions. A separate move by Syria to require a two-thirds majority on the Study Committee proposal was adopted 36–31 (US) with 53 abstentions. This vote was substantially different from last year (51–37–30) because some countries, such as the USSR and East Europeans, shifted from yes to abstain. The rollcall vote this year perhaps made it more difficult for them to maintain a position inconsistent with their opposition to the IQ resolution.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, UN 6 CHICOM. Unclassified. Drafted by John W. Kimball of IO/UNP.↩