United Nations - People's Republic of China

China and the United Nations

The UN considers the People's Republic of China (PRC) as "the only lawful representatives of China" at the UN.
(the UN does not recognize Taiwan as a member-state)

Seat of China at the UN

The People's Republic of China is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and joined the UN as an original member on 24 October 1945, represented by the government of the Republic of China (ROC). However, as a result of the Chinese Civil War, the Kuomintang-led ROC government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, with the Communist Party-led government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), declared on 1 October 1949, taking control of mainland China. Representatives of the ROC government continued to represent China at the UN, despite the small size of the ROC's jurisdiction of Taiwan and a number of smaller islands compared to the PRC's jurisdiction of mainland China, until 25 October 1971, when United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 was passed. ^[¹^]

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 25 October 1971 recognized the representatives of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as "the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations" and expelled the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek "from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations."

This effectively transferred the seat of China in the UN (including its permanent seat on the Security Council) from the ROC to the PRC.

The United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action. Its powers are exercised through United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

The UN Security Council has five permanent members who were drawn from the victorious powers of World War II, and at the UN's founding in 1946.

The five permanent members are China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States.

These five permanent members have the power to veto any substantive resolution. A negative vote, or veto, by a permanent member prevents adoption of a proposal, even if it has received the required number of affirmative votes.

In total, there are 15 members of the Security Council, consisting of permanent members and elected members (this basic structure is set out in Chapter V of the UN Charter).

The ten other members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms starting on 1 January, with five replaced each year. The members are chosen by regional groups and confirmed by the United Nations General Assembly.

The Republic of Turkey is a current elected member of the Security Council along with Austria, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica and Croatia, Japan, Libya, Mexico, Uganda and Vietnam. Like China, Turkey joined the United Nations as an original member on 24 October 1945. After Turkey's election to the 15-member Security Council, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan of Turkey stated the world is going through difficult times, and that Turkey will be continuing to make its contribution in the new setting. ^[²^]

NOTE 1: There has been discussion of increasing the number of permanent members. The countries who have made the strongest demands for permanent seats are Brazil, Germany, India and Japan. Indeed, Japan and Germany are the UN's second and third largest funders respectively, while Brazil, the largest Latin American nation, and India, the world's largest democracy and second most populous country, are two of the largest contributors of troops to UN-mandated peace-keeping missions.

NOTE 2: According to the UN website, no member state has ever been expelled from UN since its inception. From the viewpoint of the UN, the change of the representation of China in the UN only reflected the de facto government change after the Chinese civil war. The representative right of China as a member state has never been expelled out of the UN, and what was expelled were only the unqualified representatives of China, at the same time the UN accepted the qualified ones from the government PRC as the legal representative China.

Source:^[¹^]en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_General_Assembly_Resolution_2758
^[²^]xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/18/content_10212694.htm