501.AA/8–2746: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Acting United States Representative at the United Nations (Johnson)
172. USdel. You may after proposing resolution favoring admission 9 applicants accept amendment to postpone Siamese application as indicated in Deptel 170, Aug 26.42 In that case you should make statement along following lines:
The US believes Siam is qualified for membership in the UN now. We recognize however the special character of Siam’s case in that (a) question of its continued possession of territories gained through Japanese aggression is material to its qualifications for membership, and (b) this question is now subject of special negotiations at Washington between the two Governments concerned. We believe these negotiations should and can succeed in the immediate future. While we reluctantly therefore will accept postponement of action on the Siamese application at this time, we look forward to action being taken upon it by the SC in time for consideration of the application by the CA at the forthcoming session.43
[For the basic United States position at the Security Council meetings on August 28 regarding the report of the Committee on the Admission of New Members, see telegram 165, August 22, 3 p.m., to New York, page 429. A United States declaration in favor of universality of membership was accompanied by a warning from the Acting United States Representative (Johnson) that the United [Page 441] States Government reserved its position should its proposal not be accepted (SC, 1st yr., 2nd series, p. 52). See ibid., pages 52 and 53, regarding the withdrawal of the United States proposal. For the proceedings of the Security Council on this question on August 28, see ibid., pages 40 ff.
In the voting upon individual applications that followed on August 29 the applications of Afghanistan, Iceland, and Sweden were favorably acted upon by the Security Council. Concerning the remaining applications, the United States voted in favor of Eire, Portugal, and Trans-Jordan and against Albania and the Mongolian People’s Republic. For the proceedings of the Security Council on August 29, see ibid., pages 81 ff.
The Security Council’s recommendation for the admission of Afghanistan, Iceland, and Sweden was subsequently transmitted to the General Assembly in a special report (United Nations document S/177).]
- Telegram 4381, Secdel 751, August 26, 6 p.m., to Paris, p. 437.↩
- This statement was not made by Mr. Johnson. Mr. Konthi Suphamongkhon, special Siamese representative in Washington, sent a letter on August 28 to the Secretary-General of the United Nations requesting that “consideration of Siam’s application by the Security Council be adjourned until a settlement of the dispute in question [with France] has been effected.” This letter was read to the Council by the President of the Council on August 28 just prior to the submission of the United States proposal by Mr. Johnson. For text of the Siamese letter and the Council President’s remarks, see SC, 1st yr., 2nd series, p. 41.↩