UN General Assembly Resolution 505

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The UN General Assembly Resolution 505 is titled Threats to the political independence and territorial integrity of China and to the peace of the Far East, resulting from Soviet violations of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance of August 14, 1945 and from Soviet violations of the Charter of the United Nations. The UN General Assembly adopted this resolution on 1 February 1952 during its sixth session after the Republic of China complained to the United Nations against the Soviet Union.

[edit] Historical background

Japan invaded Manchuria (Northeast China) in 1931 and established Manchukuo in 1932. The Republic of China protested Japanese invasion and the League of Nations voted 42-1 (only Japan voted against) to pass the Lytton Report to demand Manchuria be returned to China, but Japan refused to comply and left the League of Nations. China neither recognized Manchukuo nor was able to recover Manchuria.

In World War II, the Yalta Conference forced China to recognize the independence of Mongolia. The Soviet Union invaded Manchukuo on 8 August 1945 and concluded a Treaty of Friendship and Alliance with the Republic of China on 14 August 1945 when Japan declared unconditional surrender. However, the National Government of the Republic of China considered the Soviet Union violating the treaty because of obstructing its efforts in re-establishing national authority in Manchuria and aided the Communist Party of China against it during the Chinese Civil War.

The Chinese Civil War ultimately ended in the Communist Party of China's favor with the Communists in control of mainland China by the end of 1949. The Communist Party of China founded the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949 and the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China was forced to retreat to Taiwan where it continued to maintain itself as the sole legitimate government of all China while declaring the Communists' government to be illegitimate. With the support of the Western bloc amid the Cold War, the Republic of China on Taiwan was able to retain the seat of China in the United Nations despite having lost so much territory to the Communists.

In 1952, the Republic of China complained to the United Nations against the Soviet Union, which it resented for aiding the Communists in the Civil War. The UN General Assembly adopted the Resolution 505 to condemn the Soviet Union with 25 votes for, 9 votes against, and 24 votes abstaining.

[edit] Later development

On 24 February 1953, the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China abolished the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance and refused to recognize the independence of the People's Republic of Mongolia. The Republic of China considered the Resolution 505 a diplomatic victory, even though the hope of recovering of mainland China and Mongolia grew increasingly dimmer. The Republic of China once vetoed the Mongolian bid for UN membership in 1955, but the Soviet pressure eventually forced the Republic of China to stop blocking Mongolia, so Mongolia joined the UN in 1961.

When the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 was adopted on 25 October 1971, the People's Republic of China replaced the "representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" in the United Nations and de facto expelled the Republic of China. The Resolutions 505 and 2758 have never mentioned Taiwan administered by the Republic of China. Recent attempts of the Republic of China to rejoin the UN (as representative of Taiwan, not all of China) never made it past committee due to pressure from the PRC.