UN - Resolution 2758?

Perhaps someone could help me to understand this better…

When Taiwan keeps going to the UN asking for entry, I have read that it wants the UN to “reconsider” Resolution 2758.

Resolution 2758 was about replacing Taiwan’s position on the UN with mainland China.

Does this mean that every time Taiwan asks the UN to consider it’s entry, does it intend to replace PRC’s seat, or is this as an ADDITIONAL nation in the UN?

I have also heard that when Taiwan trys to enter the UN every year it is as a replacement to China. I think lately they are trying to change that and this year try to enter under the name Taiwan. Anyone know about this?

quote:
Originally posted by Hobart: I have also heard that when Taiwan trys to enter the UN every year it is as a replacement to China.
Not quite. They've been using the name Republic of China, but they do not intend to replace the People's Republic of China. At least, not anymore. Taiwan hopes that both countries can be represented, in the same way that the Koreas are and the Germanies used to be.

In July 1971 Nixon announced a two China system in which Beijing was admitted to the UN while preserving Taiwan’s membership. But wasn’t Chiang Kai Shek responsible for expelling Taiwan later that year? Didn’t Chiang’s claim that there was only “one China” provoke this issue and force the decision to be made, rather than China being the original bully? People often forget this salient point, for some reason.
Doesn’t all this boil down to the fact that Mao and Chiang were brotherly rivals (both mad, both thugs, of course) and 50 years later neither Taiwan nor China are willing to lose face on this issue?

quote:
Originally posted by Alien: Didn't Chiang's claim that there was only "one China" provoke this issue and force the decision to be made, rather than China being the original bully?
Yeah, you can blame it on the KMT. They were not expelled, they walked out. Had they been willing to compromise, the current situation would be vastly different. (We'd be having garden parties at our embassies by now...)
quote:
Originally posted by Alien: 50 years later neither Taiwan nor China are willing to lose face on this issue
Taiwan would now love to be admitted to the UN in almost any capacity - Taiwan, ROC, Formosa, whatever, and face be damned.

Check out this online article:

Welcome Back, Taiwan

Originally posted by Maoman:

quote[quote]Yeah, you can blame it on the KMT. They were not expelled, they walked out. Had they been willing to compromise, the current situation would be vastly different.[/quote]

Perhaps. But the time to compromise wasn’t really 1971, when this all went down, but earlier. The ROC only walked out because it was about to lose face by being kicked out, not as protest against the seating of the PRC.

Here’s a selection from Hung Chien-chao’s History of Taiwan.

quote:
The composition of the General Assembly underwent a drastic change with the passage of time. At the time of its inception, the United Nations had a membership of 51. By 1970 its membership had increased to 139. This massive proliferation of new members from the third world significantly changed the distribution of voting power in the General Assembly. ... This trend of development made it increasingly difficult for the Republic of China to maintain what it considered it rightful position in the United Nations.

American support was essential to the success of Taipei’s fight to maintain its membership in the United Nations. Until 1969 the United States had unreservedly championed the cause of the Republic of China in the world organization. President Richard M. Nixon initiated a change in U.S. policy toward the question of Chinese representation in the United Nations. On August 2, 1971, Secretary of State William P. Rogers announced that the United States would support Peking’s admission to the United Nations but it would also oppose any effort to deprive the Republic of China its membership.

When the 26th session of the General Assembly convened in New York on September 21, three draft resolutions were submitted.

The first was sponsored by Albania and other Communist and pro-Communist nations, calling for the admission of the People’s Republic of China and the expulsion of “the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek.”

The second was sponsored by the United States, Australia and others, recommending that the People’s Republic of China “be seated as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council” and affirming “the continued right of representation of the Republic of China.”

The third draft was a procedural one, calling upon the General Assembly to decide that “any proposal in the General Assembly which would result in depriving the Republic of China of representation in the United Nations is an important question under Article 18 of the Charter.” In other words, the expulsion of Taipei would require a two-thirds majority vote. This was the tactic used by the United States since the sixteenth session of the General Assembly in 1961 to defeat moves to seat the People’s Republic of China. Only a simple majority was required for the adoption of this procedural resolution.

On the night of October 25, the procedural draft was put to the vote first. The result was 55 in favor and 59 against, with 15 abstentions. The draft was defeated by four votes. With the loss of the procedural resolution, the adoption of the Albanian substantive draft was a foregone conclusion. At this point, S.K. Chow, foreign minister, led the ROC delegation out of the Assembly Hall. He then declared Taipei’s decision to withdraw from the United Nations. The General Assembly by a vote of 76 to 35 adopted the Albanian resolution.


Some might find useful the still-incomplete chart of shifting diplomatic relations I posted at www.romanization.com/chart3.html

There’s a big spike toward the PRC in 1971-72. Not much movement toward the PRC in 1965-68, however, when the PRC’s foreign relations were basically shut down by the Cultural Revolution. Red Guards even went so far as to sack the PRC foreign ministry and destroy lots of files.