219. Editorial Note
The Security Council of the United Nations once again considered the question of membership at its 703d meeting on December 13. Following lengthy discussion and debate on a number of draft resolutions, the Council decided by a vote of 8 to 1 (China) with 2 abstentions (Belgium and the United States) to give the draft resolution of Brazil and New Zealand calling for the admission of 18 new members (including Outer Mongolia) priority over all other draft resolutions. Paragraph by paragraph votes indicated the impossibility of attaining agreement on the Brazilian-New Zealand draft resolution.
At the request of the Soviet Representative, Kuznetsov, the Security Council met again on December 14, to consider the admission of new members. At this time, Kuznetsov stated that he wished to withdraw his delegation’s previous negative votes with respect to a number of states and that he would vote in favor of 16 of the applicants listed in the draft resolution sponsored by Brazil and New Zealand. The question of the admission of Japan and of the Mongolian People’s Republic would have to be deferred to the next session of the General Assembly. Kuznetsov then submitted a draft resolution similar to the one sponsored by Brazil and New Zealand, but recommending to the General Assembly the admission of only 16 [Page 451] countries (i.e. the 18 listed in the joint Brazilian-New Zealand draft resolution excluding Japan and the Mongolian People’s Republic). Henry Cabot Lodge promptly submitted an amendment to add the name of Japan to the 16 states listed in the Soviet draft resolution.
The United States amendment was voted on first and received 10 votes in favor and 1 against (the Soviet Union) but was not carried since the negative vote was that of a permanent member of the Security Council. The Soviet draft resolution was voted upon next paragraph by paragraph with each applicant being voted on separately. Although China, the United States, and Belgium abstained from voting for or against certain proposed states, there were no negative votes cast and the Soviet draft resolution as a whole was approved by 8 votes to none with 3 abstentions.
Following the vote on the Soviet draft resolution, Henry Cabot Lodge submitted a draft resolution to recommend the admission of Japan at the Eleventh Regular Session of the General Assembly. Lodge noted that Soviet Representative Kuznetsov had made a statement in which he expressed the wish to see Japan admitted to the United Nations at the Eleventh Session of the General Assembly. But the Security Council decided to defer consideration of the United States proposal until the following meeting.
Discussion of Lodge’s draft resolution and several others concerning early admission to membership not only of Japan but of the Mongolian People’s Republic continued in the Security Council until December 21, when the Council accepted a draft resolution submitted by the United Kingdom expressing the belief that Japan was fully qualified for membership and the hope that Japan would soon be admitted to the United Nations. After unsuccessfully attempting to obtain adoption of a draft resolution that would link the Mongolian People’s Republic to Japan on the issue of membership qualification and acceptance, the Soviet Representative placed on record his abstention in voting on the United Kingdom resolution.
Meanwhile, at its 555th plenary meeting held the evening of December 14, the General Assembly agreed to admit the 16 applicant states whose admission had been recommended earlier the same day by the Security Council.
Further information on the debate, discussions, and votes concerning the admission of new members to the United Nations in both the Security Council and the General Assembly is in the Yearbook of the United Nations, 1955 (New York, United Nations Department of Public Information, 1956), pages 22–29.
Following initial discussions in the Security Council and the decision of the General Assembly to admit 16 new members, the Department sent telegram 2088 to Saigon, December 16, repeated to Paris, which reads as follows: “You may wish tell Mau and Diem [Page 452] that U.S. in Security Council again expressed its conviction Viet-Nam fully qualified for admission UN, as we had done in General Assembly. We voted in favor of Chinese amendment which proposed Viet-Nam and Korea and we regret Viet-Nam once more kept out only because of Soviet veto.” (Department of State, Central Files, 310.2/12–1655)