The Secretary-General has the honour to communicate to the Members of the
United Nations the attached communication from the [Page 46] representatives of Canada, China, France, the United
Kingdom and the United States of America dated 27 January 1950 together with
the summary record of the fourteenth meeting of the Consultations of the six
permanent members of the Atomic Energy Commission (A/Permanent
Members/AEC/SR.14).1
[Enclosure]
Communication From the Representatives of Canada, China, France, the United Kingdom,
and the United States to the Secretary-General
(Lie)
New York, 27 January
1950.
In its resolution of 4 November 1948, the General Assembly requested the
six permanent members of the Atomic Energy Commission “to meet together
and consult in order to determine if there exists a basis for agreement
on the international control of atomic energy to ensure its use only for
peaceful purposes and for the elimination from national armaments of
atomic weapons.”
On 23 November 1949, the General Assembly passed a resolution on the
international control of atomic energy, in which the General Assembly
expressed itself as follows:
“Anxious to free humanity from the dangers
which will continue to exist as long as States retain under their
individual control the development and operation of atomic energy
facilities,
“Convinced that an international co-operative
effort can avoid these dangers and can hasten the development of the
peaceful uses of atomic energy for the benefit of all peoples,
- “1. Urges all nations to join in such a
co-operative development and use of atomic energy for peaceful
ends;
- “2. Calls upon Governments to do
everything in their power to make possible, by the acceptance of
effective international control, the effective prohibition and
elimination of atomic weapons;
- “3. Requests the permanent members of
the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission to continue their
consultations, to explore all possible avenues and examine all
concrete suggestions with a view to determining whether they
might lead to an agreement securing the basic objectives of the
General Assembly in this question, and to keep the Atomic Energy
Commission and the General Assembly informed of their progress;”
…
In accordance with the above resolution, the six permanent members of the
Atomic Energy Commission met on 20 December 1949 and again on 19 January
1950. At the beginning of the latter meeting, the representative of the
Soviet Union objected to the presence of the [Page 47] representative of China and submitted the following
draft resolution for consideration:
“The Consultative Conference of the representatives of the six
states—permanent members of the Atomic Energy Commission
decides:
“To exclude from its membership the representative of the Kuomintang
group.”
The other representatives present decided that this proposal was out of
order, for the reason that representation in these Consultations was
consequential on membership in the Atomic Energy Commission, and the
group engaged in the Consultations had not the competence to pass on the
issue raised by the representative of the Soviet Union. In this
situation the representative of the Soviet Union announced that he would
not participate in the Consultations so long as the present Chinese
representative attended these meetings. He said he would not recognize
as legal any decisions adopted by the group. After making this statement
he left the meeting.
The representatives of Canada, China, France, the United Kingdom and the
United States are of the opinion that the members of the General
Assembly will be anxiously concerned that these important and serious
Consultations have been interrupted in consequence of the position taken
by the representative of the Soviet Union.
The General Assembly resolutions cited above make it clear that the
primary purpose of the Consultations among the six permanent members of
the Atomic Energy Commission is to reconcile the divergent views of the
Soviet Union on one side, and of the other five permanent members on the
other. The representatives of these five permanent members are,
therefore, of the opinion that so long as the Soviet Government refuses
to participate in these Consultations, it is impossible for them to
achieve the primary purpose of the mandate given by the General
Assembly.
These five permanent members have undertaken to remain in close contact
with one another and they will meet and consult with each other on such
limited objectives as are possible of achievement under the
circumstances.
The representative of France, as the next Chairman of the group, will
determine in agreement with the Secretary-General the possibility of
reconvening the Consultations of the six permanent members of the Atomic
Energy Commission.
In accordance with the request of the General Assembly to keep the Atomic
Energy Commission and the General Assembly informed of their progress,
the representatives of these five permanent members request the
Secretary-General to make known to the members of the [Page 48] Atomic Energy Commission and of the General
Assembly, the situation created by the refusal of the representative of
the Soviet Union to participate in the Consultations. To this end they
request that copies of this letter, together with the summary record of
the 14th Meeting of the six permanent members of the Atomic Energy
Commission, held on 19 January 1950, be transmitted to all States
Members of the United Nations.
- A. G. L. McNaughton
Representative of Canada
- T. F. Tsiang
Representative of China
- J. Chauvel
Representative of France
-
Alexander Cadogan
Representative of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland
-
John C. Ross
Deputy Representative of the United States
of America in the Security Council
