Editorial Note
The First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly met on January 25 from 3 to 6:10 p. m.; for the record, see United Nations document A/C.1/SE.431. Sir Gladwyn Jebb made a lengthy statement setting forth the British position, indicating that his delegation was broadly in agreement with the first 5 paragraphs of the United States draft resolution of January 20 (A/C.1/654), but entertained the gravest doubts about considering further measures before the intentions of the People’s Republic of China had been fully and exhaustively explored.
The remainder of the discussion dealt chiefly with the draft joint resolution (A/C.1/642 Rev. 1) introduced on January 24 by Afghanistan, Burma, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen; the text read as follows:
“The General Assembly,
“Viewing with grave concern the situation in the Far East,
“Considering that the continuance of this situation is likely to endanger the maintenance of world peace and security,
“Noting the reply [A/C.1/653] of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China to the resolution of the First Committee dated 13 January 1951,
“Desiring to continue its efforts to secure a cessation of hostilities in Korea and a peaceful settlement of the Korean and other Far Eastern problems in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations,
“Recommends that representatives of the Governments of France, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Egypt and India and of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China meet as soon as possible for the purpose of securing all necessary elucidations and amplifications of the above-mentioned reply and of making any incidental [Page 131] or consequential arrangements towards a peaceful settlement of the Korean and other Far Eastern problems;
“The first meeting of the above representatives will be held on a date and at a place to be fixed by the President of the General Assembly; the date and place of each subsequent meeting will be fixed by the representatives themselves. They will hold their meetings in private and will frame their own rules of procedure. They will advise the General Assembly of the result of their consultations as early as possible.”