On this day in history: Peoples Republic of China admitted to United Nations, 1971

The Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC) was one of the founder members of the United Nations in 1945. Following their declaration the People's Republic of China (PRC) in October 1949 the victorious Communists drove the Nationalist forces from mainland China. Despite the ROC only comprising the island groups of Formosa (now Taiwan) and the Pescadores, the Nationalist government retained its membership of the UN, as well as a permanent seat on the Security Council as the recognised government of the whole of China.

During the 1960s, various nations that were friendly to the PRC put pressure on the UN to replace the ROC representatives with those of Communist China. Each year the People's Republic of Albania moved a resolution to do as much. But on every occasion the allies of the Nationalists, taking their lead from the United States, managed to secure enough support to defeat the resolution.

As the decade progressed, the admission of new nations to the UN resulted in a shift of sympathies towards Communist China. This, coupled with President Nixon's desire to normalise relations with the Beijing government, removed the barriers to the adoption of a resolution admitting the People's Republic of China. Consequently, on 25th October 1971, the UN General Assembly passed resolution 2758: 'Restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China.'

Two-thirds of the General Assembly supported the resolution, including all of the members of the Security Council except - unsurprisingly - the ROC. The resolution recognised the PRC as the legitimate government of China, granted them a place in the UN General Assembly and permanent membership of the Security Council, whilst expelling the delegates of the ROC. Since then, the Taiwanese have sought the restoration of their membership of the United Nations, but opposition from the PRC, which has the right of veto, has prevented this from happening.

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On this day in history: Declaration of the People`s Republic of China, 1949

From 1927 Mao Zedong had endeavoured to establish communism in a China ravaged by nearly a century of foreign domination and internal strife. His army of workers and peasants fought against the nationalist government, which secured control of the country following the collapse of the last monarchical dynasty and against the Imperial Japanese who invaded in the early 1930s alongside the nationalists. In the Huahai campaign of 1948/9, the communist People's Liberation Army defeated the National Revolutionary Army spelling the end of the eleven year civil war.

Since the the nationalist forces were no longer a threat, the road was now clear for the victorious communists to take control of the country. On 1st October 1949, Mao proclaimed the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in front of a crowd of 300,000 people gathered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The Communist Party of China had appointed Mao its leader in 1945, in 1954 he became Chairman of the PRC, a position that he held until his death in 1976.

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British capture of Hong Kong: 23rd August 1839
Peoples Republic of China admitted to United Nations: 25th October 1971

On this day in history: British capture of Hong Kong, 1839

During the eighteenth century, the demand in Britain for Chinese luxury goods, such as porcelain, silk and tea, created an enormous trade deficit because the British lacked any profitable product that they could export to China. In 1773, the East India Company found a solution by monopolising opium buying in Bengal, north-east India. In spite the Chinese law banning the importation of opium, British traders carried the narcotic to the coast of China where they passed it on to Chinese merchants who smuggled it into the country, bypassing the trade regulations that required all foreign cargo to be unloaded at Canton.



By the beginning of nineteenth-century, the Qing government in China, alarmed by the spread of addiction and the reversal of the trade deficit, attempted to halt the opium trade by making a decree in 1810. Yet, the vastness of the Chinese Empire made it difficult for the government to implement its laws, especially regarding the highly profitable opium trade, which continued to grow. Over the next ten years the amount of Bengali opium imported to China increased to nine hundred tons per annum (in 1773 it was seventy tons).



Finally, the Chinese government began to implement tougher policies - from 1838 native drug smugglers faced the death sentence. That same year the Emperor appointed a commissioner, Lin Zexu, with the moral zeal to stamp out the opium trade. He arrested around 1,700 Chinese opium dealers, demanded that foreign traders hand over their supplies of the drug, and that they promise not to deal in opium again on pain of death. The British trade commissioner Charles Elliot acquiesced to the first of these demands, persuading British traders to hand over about a quarter of a million pounds of opium, but would not accept that British subjects could be tried under Chinese law.



When negotiations between the Chinese and British failed, Elliot ordered the withdrawal of British traders from Canton, prohibited trade with China, and prepared for war. Having been thrown out of Macau by the Portuguese, at the request of the Chinese government, the British needed a new base of operations. On 23rd August 1839, the British occupied the then largely barren island of Hong Kong.



The conflict between Britain and China, known as the First Opium War raged for the next three years resulting in a decisive British victory. As part of the Treaty of Nanking, which marked the end of the war, the Chinese opened up more of their ports to foreign trade, compensated the British government and traders to the tune of over twenty million dollars, and ceded Hong Kong to the British Crown "in perpetuity." In 1898, the two parties signed a new convention that changed the terms of the cessesion to a ninety-nine year lease, which ended in 1997 when sovereignty of the island transferred back to China.



In 1839, Commissioner Lin wrote a letter about the opium trade in China to Queen Victoria, which she never received. The text of the letter is available on the Modern History Sourcebook site.



Related posts

Declaration of the People`s Republic of China: 1st October 1949

Peoples Republic of China admitted to United Nations: 25th October 1971

On this day in history: Peoples Republic of China admitted to United Nations, 1971

The Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC) was one of the founder members of the United Nations in 1945. Following their declaration the People's Republic of China (PRC) in October 1949 the victorious Communists drove the Nationalist forces from mainland China. Despite the ROC only comprising the island groups of Formosa (now Taiwan) and the Pescadores, the Nationalist government retained its membership of the UN, as well as a permanent seat on the Security Council as the recognised government of the whole of China.

During the 1960s, various nations that were friendly to the PRC put pressure on the UN to replace the ROC representatives with those of Communist China. Each year the People's Republic of Albania moved a resolution to do as much. But on every occasion the allies of the Nationalists, taking their lead from the United States, managed to secure enough support to defeat the resolution.

As the decade progressed, the admission of new nations to the UN resulted in a shift of sympathies towards Communist China. This, coupled with President Nixon's desire to normalise relations with the Beijing government, removed the barriers to the adoption of a resolution admitting the People's Republic of China. Consequently, on 25th October 1971, the UN General Assembly passed resolution 2758: 'Restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China.'

Two-thirds of the General Assembly supported the resolution, including all of the members of the Security Council except - unsurprisingly - the ROC. The resolution recognised the PRC as the legitimate government of China, granted them a place in the UN General Assembly and permanent membership of the Security Council, whilst expelling the delegates of the ROC. Since then, the Taiwanese have sought the restoration of their membership of the United Nations, but opposition from the PRC, which has the right of veto, has prevented this from happening.

Related posts
Declaration of the People`s Republic of China: 1st October 1949
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signed: 1st July 1968

On this day in history: Declaration of the People`s Republic of China, 1949

From 1927 Mao Zedong had endeavoured to establish communism in a China ravaged by nearly a century of foreign domination and internal strife. His army of workers and peasants fought against the nationalist government, which secured control of the country following the collapse of the last monarchical dynasty and against the Imperial Japanese who invaded in the early 1930s alongside the nationalists. In the Huahai campaign of 1948/9, the communist People's Liberation Army defeated the National Revolutionary Army spelling the end of the eleven year civil war.

Since the the nationalist forces were no longer a threat, the road was now clear for the victorious communists to take control of the country. On 1st October 1949, Mao proclaimed the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in front of a crowd of 300,000 people gathered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The Communist Party of China had appointed Mao its leader in 1945, in 1954 he became Chairman of the PRC, a position that he held until his death in 1976.

Related posts
British capture of Hong Kong: 23rd August 1839
Peoples Republic of China admitted to United Nations: 25th October 1971

On this day in history: British capture of Hong Kong, 1839

During the eighteenth century, the demand in Britain for Chinese luxury goods, such as porcelain, silk and tea, created an enormous trade deficit because the British lacked any profitable product that they could export to China. In 1773, the East India Company found a solution by monopolising opium buying in Bengal, north-east India. In spite the Chinese law banning the importation of opium, British traders carried the narcotic to the coast of China where they passed it on to Chinese merchants who smuggled it into the country, bypassing the trade regulations that required all foreign cargo to be unloaded at Canton.

By the beginning of nineteenth-century, the Qing government in China, alarmed by the spread of addiction and the reversal of the trade deficit, attempted to halt the opium trade by making a decree in 1810. Yet, the vastness of the Chinese Empire made it difficult for the government to implement its laws, especially regarding the highly profitable opium trade, which continued to grow. Over the next ten years the amount of Bengali opium imported to China increased to nine hundred tons per annum (in 1773 it was seventy tons).

Finally, the Chinese government began to implement tougher policies - from 1838 native drug smugglers faced the death sentence. That same year the Emperor appointed a commissioner, Lin Zexu, with the moral zeal to stamp out the opium trade. He arrested around 1,700 Chinese opium dealers, demanded that foreign traders hand over their supplies of the drug, and that they promise not to deal in opium again on pain of death. The British trade commissioner Charles Elliot acquiesced to the first of these demands, persuading British traders to hand over about a quarter of a million pounds of opium, but would not accept that British subjects could be tried under Chinese law.

When negotiations between the Chinese and British failed, Elliot ordered the withdrawal of British traders from Canton, prohibited trade with China, and prepared for war. Having been thrown out of Macau by the Portuguese, at the request of the Chinese government, the British needed a new base of operations. On 23rd August 1839, the British occupied the then largely barren island of Hong Kong.

The conflict between Britain and China, known as the First Opium War raged for the next three years resulting in a decisive British victory. As part of the Treaty of Nanking, which marked the end of the war, the Chinese opened up more of their ports to foreign trade, compensated the British government and traders to the tune of over twenty million dollars, and ceded Hong Kong to the British Crown "in perpetuity." In 1898, the two parties signed a new convention that changed the terms of the cessesion to a ninety-nine year lease, which ended in 1997 when sovereignty of the island transferred back to China.

In 1839, Commissioner Lin wrote a letter about the opium trade in China to Queen Victoria, which she never received. The text of the letter is available on the Modern History Sourcebook site.

Related posts
Declaration of the People`s Republic of China: 1st October 1949
Peoples Republic of China admitted to United Nations: 25th October 1971