§ 17. Mr. Whitakerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in future, Great Britain will support the admission of new members to the United Nations being decided by a majority vote of United Nations members.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Maurice Foley)Under the Charter, new admissions require a decision of the General Assembly by two-thirds majority, upon the recommendation of the Security Council by affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the Permanent Members. We see no reason to seek any change in these requirements.
§ Mr. WhitakerIs not the admission of China as important for the United Nations as for the world itself? Is not this question a matter of representation rather than new membership, because China is already a member? When a similar question of representation arose in the case of the Congo, was this not decided by majority vote?
§ Mr. FoleyThe policy of Her Majesty's Government has been stated many times in this House in relation to China's representation. It is true that there are two authorities who claim to be the Government of China and, therefore the right to have their representative occupy the existing seat. This
§ class of the Civil Service in January, 1967, January, 1968 and January, 1969; and how many posts in each grade were unfilled in each of those months.
§ Following are the figures:
§ is a matter of importance, and for this reason we support the procedure in Article 18, paragraph 2 of the Charter.
§ Mr. Ian LloydIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that since a majority vote at the United Nations could possibly represent a tenth of the population of the world and a hundredth of its real income, a simplistic view of the word "majority" is to be avoided at all costs?