Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 15 Dec 1964

Vol. 213 No. 7

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - UNO: Membership of Communist China.

2.

Mr. D. Costello

asked the Minister for External Affairs whether, in view of the fact that he has spoken and voted in the past against the admission of Communist China as a member of the United Nations Organisation, his statement to the General Assembly of the United Nations on 8th December, 1964, to the effect that the constitutional position of the Organisation would be clarified and strengthened if Communist China was a member of the Security Council, and that such membership was desirable, implies a change in policy; and, if so, when the Government altered their policy on this important matter, the reason for such change, and why the Dáil was not informed of the change.

3.

Mr. Cosgrave

asked the Minister for External Affairs if the Government have decided to support the admission of Red China to the United Nations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for External Affairs (Mr. Aiken)

With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together.

The attitude of the Government to the question of the representation of China has not changed, although, of course, a new and complicating factor has been introduced by the emergence of Peking as a nuclear power.

At each of the sessions of the General Assembly from 1957 to 1960 Ireland voted in favour of full and open discussion of the question of representation of China in the United Nations. In 1961 the Assembly unanimously agreed to inscribe this question on its agenda. In that year a motion was moved to eject from the United Nations the Government in Taiwan and to seat the Government of Peking. I spoke and voted against that motion. On that occasion I said:—

"What is required, we believe— irrespective of the outcome of the present debate—is a serious effort to find, through some suitable procedure, a solution of the problem of Chinese representation in the United Nations which would meet with the acquiescence, if not the agreement, of all concerned. In short, my delegation is firmly of the opinion that we are in duty bound by Article 1 of the Charter not to take irrevocable decisions here and now without exploring energetically every possibility of negotiating agreements based on the principles of the Charter which might lead to peace and stability in the Far East."

Our delegation also voted against a similar motion in the General Assembly in 1962 and 1963.

It is in the light of the foregoing and the present world circumstances that I considered it desirable this year to suggest a procedure for the solution of the problem of Chinese representation.

If a resolution is tabled at the present session of the General Assembly calling for the ejection of Taiwan from the United Nations and the seating of Peking, we propose to vote against it, as in former years.

I have placed in the Dáil Library copies of my speech of 8th instant in the General Assembly.

Mr. D. Costello

Are we to understand that it is the policy of the Government to regard the General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation as being greatly strengthened by the admission of Communist China as a member of the Security Council and that they regard it as desirable that China should be a member of the Security Council?

Mr. Aiken

I think if the Deputy reads my speech he will find he cannot put the question as simply as that. That is not what I said. The latter part of my speech was devoted to two problems. One was the growing vote in favour of the ejection of Taiwan and the seating of China, giving the Government in Peking thereby what they will regard as a legal recognition of their claim not only to govern China but to seize and govern Taiwan. I believe that Taiwan, with its 12 million people, has as much right to independence and a seat in the Assembly as Ireland has, or a number of other smaller countries that are at present represented in the United Nations. That is one aspect of it. The other is that now that Peking has become a nuclear power, a number of countries which have the capacity to make nuclear weapons will proceed to make them unless they can be given a guarantee by the nuclear powers that they will be protected from aggression by a nuclear power. Those are the two problems. I advise the Deputy to read the speech.

Mr. Cosgrave

Other than the Minister's suggestion that Peking should be a member of the Security Council, has that suggestion been made by any other delegate at the United Nations?

Mr. Aiken

As the Deputy knows, when he represented Ireland in the Assembly, suggestions were made that Taiwan should be thrown out and that Peking should be admitted to represent both China and Taiwan.

Mr. Cosgrave

That was as a member of the Assembly. Has there been any suggestion that Peking should be a member of the Security Council?

Mr. Aiken

That was the suggestion the Deputy dealt with in 1956. On that occasion he said: "We admit there is a problem. We recognise that sooner or later in this assembly we have got to make up our minds whether we are going to leave the de facto Government of over 500 million people without representation in the United Nations or whether we should try to arrange to come to some arrangement acceptable to the conflicting views which exist amongst us on the matter”.

Mr. Cosgrave

The Minister is aware on that occasion we voted against the proposal.

Mr. Aiken

Yes, you voted against discussion on it.

Mr. Cosgrave

We voted against any proposal.

Mr. Aiken

You voted against discussing it that year.

Mr. Cosgrave

That was the only year I was there.

Mr. Aiken

I know that. You voted against discussion of it. Whether or not the issue should be admitted did not come before the Assembly because the motion to discuss it was defeated.

Sir Anthony Esmonde

Would the Minister not concede the fact that if he is in favour of Communist China becoming a member of the Big Five, the Central Executive of the United Nations, he is ipso facto supporting the admission of Communist China to the United Nations?

Mr. Aiken

It would be better if Deputy Esmonde read my speech. We cannot deal with a complicated issue like this simply by question and answer. I advise the Deputy to read my speech.

Mr. Dillon

Would the Minister tell us if this means there has been a change in Government policy? There has been no announcement in Dáil Éireann about any change. If there has been a change in Government policy on this matter, we should be told about it. We want to know now if Government policy has changed and if it is now proposed that Ireland should take the initiative in having Communist China admitted to the Security Council, leaving Taiwan to be a member of the General Assembly of the United Nations? If this is the case, surely it is a new policy on the part of the Government?

Mr. Aiken

I advise the Deputy to read my speech. The question which we are being faced with now, and which Deputies should face up to, is that unless arrangements can be made, before very long, to give Taiwan a seat in the Assembly and leave vacant a seat in the Security Council, she will be ejected from it and the Peking Government will be admitted to represent both China and Taiwan.

Mr. Dillon

I am quite prepared to see that the Minister would have ample justification for initiating a debate in Dáil Éireann if Government policy has changed and the Government wish to recommend to Dáil Éireann a changed policy in the light of new circumstances. We want to know now (1) has Government policy changed, (2) is the new policy to eject Taiwan from the Security Council, to substitute Red China and to leave Taiwan in the General Assembly of the United Nations, (3) does the Minister and the Government think it appropriate that Ireland should take the initiative in seeking to have Red China on the Security Council of the United Nations on no better ground than that Red China has detonated an alternative form of atomic device for the purpose of blackmailing free countries surrounding her border?

Mr. Aiken

The Leader of the Opposition should have read my speech with greater care.

Mr. Dillon

I read the reports available.

Mr. Aiken

He should have read my speech with a little more care than he appears to have done. If he had done so, he would not have asked the questions he has put to me. There is no change in Government policy. If there comes a motion before the Assembly, in the next few years, to eject Taiwan from the Security Council and from the Assembly and to seat the Government of Peking in its place, representing both China and Taiwan, we shall vote against it, as we did in previous years.