Assembly Decides Against U.N. Seat For China

Press, Volume C, Issue 29699, 18 December 1961, Page 22

Assembly Decides Against U.N. Seat For China

(NJ!J>jl.~Seuttr—Copvrttmtf NEW YORK, December 16. The United Nations yesterday ended its historic China debate by refusing to give Nationalist China’s seat to the Chinese Communists.

The dedMoa repceaeoted a subotaoUal victory for the United States as the China issue received its first showdown teat since the Communiste took over the China mainland 12 years ago. The door wu virtually slammed on Communist China for another year when it was decided that a twothirds majority was needed to seat the Peking regime, the Associated Press reported.

The vote on the preliminary procedural resolution was 61-34 with seven abstaining.

It was a tactical victory for the United States since it provided insurance that the hotly-contested move to seat the Chinese Communists would not get through by a narrow margin. The Soviet Union and most of the supporters of the Peking Government had fought hard to defeat the two-dhirds provision which was brought into force by a General Assembly decision that the China problem was •an important question.” Strength Shown

The vote on the two-thirds proposal indicated the relative strength of the two sides and so foreshadowed the defeat of a Soviet proposal billing for the immediate seating of Communist China. At the outset the United States-backed proposal was given priority by a vote of 31-21, with 30 abstaining. The Australian delegate (Mr James Plimsoll) had asked for voting priority on the resolution, jointly sponsored by Australia, Colombia. Italy, Japan and the United States which required the assembly to have the issue iebeted subject to two-thirds majority.

The Assembly later rejected a Soviet bid to seat Communist China separately. The vote was 36 in favour, 48 against, and 28 abstentions.

The issue now goes over until next year, when the Soviet Union Is expected to renew its demands. Mr Valerian Zorin (Soviet Union) said earlier that the Assembly was seized with “the question of the restoration of the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of Celina,"

New Zealand was among the 48 nations which voted

against the Soviet-sponsored resolution to bring the communist regime into the organisation. It was the first time since 1800 that the question of seating Communist China and removing the Chinese nationalists had been openly debated as an issue on the agenda. For the intervening 10 years, the United States has succeeded in having the Assembly decide not to take action on the issue for the duration of its current session,

Britain and the Scandinavian oountxleD—excßpting Norway, which abstained—voted to seat Communiat China. They were joined by the 11-n»tion communist bloc —including Cuba—and 21 Afro-Asian countries.

But Britain, Denmark and Norway voted with the United States to declare the issue an “important ques-tions"—-the key ballot, which insured defeat of the Soviet demand by compelling a two-thirds vote for its adoption. Finland and Sweden abstained on that issue.