315.2/12–1552
Memorandum by the United Nations Adviser, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs (Bacon), to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Johnson)
- Subject:
- Membership Question in the General Assembly
Our Delegation is working out with the Japanese in New York a draft resolution which we would submit. The resolution would have the GA find that Japan was qualified for UN membership. Whether the SC would be asked to take note of this finding or whether the resolution would be limited merely to GA action will be decided in New York on the basis of general sentiment there. We would inform the French of our intention to submit the resolution on Japan and inquire concerning their intention with respect to similar resolutions for the Associated States.
Our Delegation intends to try to have the Polish package proposal disposed of by referring it to the inter-sessional committee. Alternatively, we would either oppose or seek to amend it.
We are giving strong support to the Central American proposal for an inter-sessional committee. The composition of the committee is causing some trouble and we are trying to have a second Far Easterner on the committee.
[Page 906]Senator Wiley has spoken in support of the inter-sessional committee and has sharply attacked the Soviet veto record on the membership question.
The Polish Delegate, in introducing his package proposal for 14 candidates, said that his Delegation had serious reservations with regard to some of the remaining candidates. He then proceeded to state these reservations with regard to Japan, the Associated States and the ROK in terms of strong disparagement.
China said that it found the Associated States qualified for membership—more so than the Soviet states which were admitted at San Francisco.
Additional Details Follow:
I. Resolutions before the Ad Hoc Committee.
Four draft resolutions have been tabled so far. They embody the following proposals:
(1) Package Admission.
A package proposal has been submitted by the Polish Delegation which would request the SC to consider the applications of 14 candidates “in order to submit a recommendation on the simultaneous admission” of these candidates.
(2) Circumvention of the Veto.
Two proposals have been submitted, one by Peru and one by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, which would look toward the admission of UN candidates despite the Soviet negative vote.
(3) Inter-sessional Study Committee.
The five Central American states have submitted a resolution providing for the establishment of a special committee to study the membership question and to report its conclusions to the 8th GA. As submitted the resolution proposes the following composition for the committee: The Big Five, three Latin Americans, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Egypt, India, Lebanon and New Zealand. We have pointed out the under-representation of the Far East in this group as well as certain other peculiarities in the selection and suggested to our Delegation in New York that it would be desirable to get representation for Thailand or the Philippines either through replacement or addition.
II. Treatment of Japanese Application.
Our Delegation has been in close touch with the Japanese representative, Ushiroku, who has now been informed that the Japanese Government concurs in having a separate resolution submitted recording the GA sentiment toward the Japanese application. Ushiroku was somewhat concerned that if the resolution were to request SC reconsideration of the Japanese application it might encounter opposition in the GA on the ground of inconsistency with the intersessional study proposal. USUN has accordingly proposed an altered wording to meet the Japanese position. The Department is instructing USUN that the revised wording is acceptable and that we would be prepared [Page 907] to omit all reference to the SC if this course would be likely to ease passage of the resolution.
III. Tactics.
USUN intends to attempt to have the Polish package proposal referred for study to the inter-sessional committee. In supporting this procedure we would make clear our opposition to a package proposal. If this means of disposing of the proposal does not appear propitious, the Department is authorizing the Delegation either to attempt to vote the Polish resolution down or to amend the resolution by adding the omitted candidates (Japan, ROK and the three Indochinese states) and deleting all reference to simultaneous admission.
IV. Course of the debate so far.
The debate began on December 12 with general discussions of the membership question by several Latin American states. On December 13 Senator Wiley also reviewed the membership question and strongly attacked Soviet abuse of the veto on membership applications. He said that the Soviet policy in this respect was only one phase of the Kremlin’s deliberate obstruction of any progress in the UN and in fact any progress toward true membership. He supported the intersessional committee proposal.
Poland blamed the US for the membership deadlock. It distinguished between the 14 applications of long standing—covered in the Polish package proposal—and the seven new applicants. It held that the time was not right to deal with the latter group and added that Poland had serious reservations with regard to some of the seven states. Japan, for example, had signed a “separatist” peace treaty; had failed to demilitarize or introduce democratic reforms; it was occupied by US troops; it was a springboard for US aggression; it was even a “criminal bacteriological laboratory”.
Taking “southern Korea” the Polish Delegate found that it was an occupied country deprived of all the attributes of state-hood. The Associated States of Indochina did not possess the fundamental qualities of a state. He included in his statement also an attack against the Chinese National Government.
The Chinese representative (Liu Chieh) after replying to the Polish attack on his Government said that the Polish package proposal was a form of international blackmail to which the UN should not allow itself to be subjected. The ROK which would be excluded under the Polish formula symbolized the UN’s collective will to resist aggression. The Soviet Union had engaged in only nominal hostilities with Japan for a few days using this as an opportunity to strip Manchuria. The Associated States were qualified for membership—more so than the Soviet states which had been admitted at San Francisco.