republic of china became a member of the united nations on 24 october 1945.
when did republic of china become a member of the united nations?
24 october 1945
the republic of china (roc) joined the un as an original member on 24 october 1945, and as set out by the united nations charter, chapter v, article 23, became one of the five permanent members of the united nations security council. in 1949, as a result of the chinese civil war, the kuomintang-led roc government lost effective control of mainland china and relocated to the island of taiwan, and the communist party-led government of the people's republic of china (prc), declared on 1 october 1949, took control of mainland china. the un was notified on 18 november 1949 of the formation of the central people's government of the people's republic of china; however, the government of the republic of china continued to represent china at the un, despite the small size of the roc's jurisdiction of taiwan and a number of smaller islands compared to the prc's jurisdiction of mainland china. as both governments claimed to be the sole legitimate representative of china, proposals to effect a change in the representation of china in the un were discussed but rejected for the next two decades, as the roc was still recognized as the sole legitimate representative of china by a majority of un members. both sides rejected compromise proposals to allow both states to participate in the un, based on the one-china policy.
member states of the united nations
after its entry into the pacific war during world war ii, the united states became increasingly involved in chinese affairs. as an ally, it embarked in late 1941 on a program of massive military and financial aid to the hard-pressed nationalist government. in january 1943, both the united states and the united kingdom led the way in revising their unequal treaties with china from the past. within a few months a new agreement was signed between the united states and the republic of china for the stationing of american troops in china as part of the common war effort against japan. the united states sought unsuccessfully to reconcile the rival kuomintang and communists, to make for a more effective anti-japanese war effort. in december 1943, the chinese exclusion acts of the 1880s, and subsequent laws, enacted by the united states congress to restrict chinese immigration into the united states were repealed. the wartime policy of the united states was meant to help china become a strong ally and a stabilizing force in postwar east asia. during the war, china was one of the big four allies of world war ii and later one of the four policemen, which was a precursor to china having a permanent seat on the united nations security council.
republic of china (1912–1949)