IO Files: US/S/964
Minutes of Informal Meeting of the Five Permanent Members of the Security Council, United States Mission, New York, October 28, 1949
| Participants: | China: | Dr. Tingfu F. Tsiang |
| France: | Mr. Chauvel | |
| U.S.S.R. | Mr. Jacob Malik | |
| United Kingdom: | Sir Alexander Cadogan | |
| United States: | Ambassador Austin | |
| Mr. J. N. Hyde |
(Before the meeting and before Ambassador Austin arrived, I showed Cadogan and Chauvel the formulation we had prepared stating that consultations will in practice occur on the call of any of the permanent members and that no further arrangements are deemed necessary at this time. They agreed that this was entirely satisfactory and when Tsiang arrived Ambassador Austin showed it to him and he so agreed. It was understood that our views might be revised in the light of anything that Malik might suggest, he being the last to arrive.)
Ambassador Austin opened the meeting by recalling that the last discussion had touched upon the organization of consultations which had been agreed upon in principle. The question had arisen as to whether some procedure would be useful that might ensure that consultations in particular places would occur. He inquired whether Malik had any further thoughts. Malik recalled Cadogan’s view that the initiative for calling meetings should be in the president of the Council when he is a permanent member and when a non-permanent member is sitting the initiative should remain with the last permanent member to be president. He thought it was useful to discuss this idea further. Cadogan stated that he had not thought too deeply about the idea. Ambassador Austin inquired what would happen under this plan if the permanent member responsible was unwilling to call a meeting to consult. In this case he wondered whether the other permanent [Page 329] members would have the right on their own motion to do so. Cadogan replied that it would be the duty of the president or the permanent member holding over to call the meeting and therefore he would do so; that this was simply a device to see that the consultations would automatically take place. Ambassador Austin commented that if one of the other permanent members wanted a meeting he could presumably communicate that fact to the president or the member responsible.
Chauvel saw a considerable advantage in any of the permanent members being free to ask for a consultation and this would in a sense be an automatic procedure, but he thought it could be worked out to have the other permanent members channel their request through the permanent member responsible for summoning the meeting.
Malik observed that Cadogan had not excluded the possibility of any permanent member ringing up the representative responsible at that time and asking him to convene a meeting and he thought it was desirable that any procedure should be that flexible. Ambassador Austin felt that such an arrangement would not be too rigid and would be a good one. Tsiang pointed out that under this plan due to the alphabetical order in English of the permanent members there would be a gap of several months when China would have the responsibility, whereas the United Kingdom and the U.S.S.R. would only have it for the month they were president of the Council. Chauvel reiterated his view that it was a desirable and subtle idea that one person be responsible and the others suggest to him a consultation when they wanted it. At that point, Ambassador Austin formulated this plan whereby the permanent member presiding over the Security Council would be responsible for calling a consultation and his responsibility would continue until another permanent member became president of the Council, and such consultations might also be called by any other permanent member.
Malik took up Tsiang’s comment on the disparity in the period that some members would be responsible for convoking meetings. He observed that under this arrangement one representative might be the initiator for a long time and others for only a month. Therefore he suggested that it would be useful to have each of the permanent members rotate this responsibility on a monthly basis in alphabetical order, beginning with the United States for November. This would mean that the responsibility for convoking meetings would not be related directly to the presidency of the Council. This rotation would not over burden some members as initiators of proposals. Ambassador Austin, after ascertaining that this idea was agreeable to all the other permanent members, formulated it and added his own suggestion that [Page 330] it be specifically stated that meetings may be held at the request of any permanent member. Chauvel suggested that language be added that the request be made through the permanent member primarily responsible that month but he did not press the thought and it casually disappeared in the drafting. A formulation was then typed and circulated. It was agreed to and is attached hereto as Annex A.
During the drafting stage, Malik suggested that the reference in this statement be made not just simply to paragraph 3 of the General Assembly resolution but to sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) which are the only ones relating to consultation and Ambassador Austin agreed to this. Malik then stated that his comment was not to exclude anything but simply to clarify what the formulation covered. He requested that this document not be released until he could see it in Russian and expressed his willingness to give his clearance by telephone to Ambassador Austin the next day. In the light of this fact, Sir Alexander asked if he might reserve the right to comment further. He stated that unless he communicated with Ambassador Austin it could be assumed that the draft is satisfactory to him.
In conclusion Ambassador Austin stated the understanding that this formulation would not be released or the meeting mentioned until Monday when he proposed to release this statement to the press. Malik wondered whether it would be more appropriate to release it to other Council members, but Ambassador Austin stated that the Council had not objected to the previous statement indicating that this consultation would take place, that there would be no immediate meeting of the Security Council and that since this concerns permanent members it is appropriate to announce it directly to the press.