Office of the Historian

IO files, SD/A/306

Position Paper Prepared in the Department of State for the United States Delegation to the Eighth Regular Session of the General Assembly

confidential
[Washington,] August 27, 1953.

Appointment of the Credentials Committee

the problem

In accordance with Rule 28 of the Rules of Procedure, a Credentials Committee of nine Members will be appointed by the General Assembly, on the proposal of the Temporary President (Pearson—Canada), at the opening plenary meeting.

united states position

That the United States accept any slate proposed by the Temporary President provided that (a) the geographic distribution of countries approximates that of the last regular session; and (b) no more than three countries which recognize the Chinese Communist regime are included.*

comment

1.
The Credentials Committee appointed at the seventh session was composed as follows: Belgium, Burma, Lebanon, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Sweden, the USSR and the United States.
2.
The Credentials Committee should include not more than three states which recognize the Chinese Communist regime, because the Committee should reflect Assembly sentiment as a whole on the recognition question and only 17 of the 60 Members (including Byelorussia and the Ukraine) recognize the Chinese Communists.
3.
The Temporary President, in proposing the Credentials Committee slate, acts on the recommendation of the Secretariat, and the Secretariat checks the slate in advance with major Delegations, including the United States. In the past, the Secretariat has always been amenable to changes suggested in the slate by the United States Delegation. Since the Chinese representation issue will undoubtedly be raised in the Credentials Committee, the Delegation should make every [Page 690] effort to ensure that the slate, as drawn up by the Secretariat and proposed by the Temporary President, is composed of a safe majority of states which are certain to support our view on the Chinese representation issue. In the unlikely event that such a slate is not proposed, the Delegation should move appropriate changes in the plenary session.
  1. The following UN Members recognize the Chinese Communist regime: UK, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Israel, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Burma, Netherlands, USSR, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Pakistan and India. [Footnote in the source text.]↩