§ 2.48 p.m.
§ LORD FRASER OF LONSDALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will use their good offices to persuade the United Nations to admit China to that organisation.]
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIAN)My Lords, the United Nations can only seat the representatives of the People's Republic of China in the place allotted to China as a result of a decision by the Member nations themselves. We have consistently voted in the United Nations for the seating of the representatives of the People's Republic of China, and we shall continue to vote in this sense. We believe that the representation of the Chinese Government and Chinese people is a prerequisite to the solution of major world problems.
§ LORD FRASER OF LONSDALEMy Lords, since these people are the most numerous in the world, is it not a little 420 absurd to have a committee talking peace in New York on which they are not represented?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Lord, and that is why we shall continue to press for the admission of the People's Republic.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, in view of the very grave situation in South-East Asia, and the need for some consultation with the Chinese Government on that issue, will Her Majesty's Government take the initiative in the United Nations, particularly by discussions with Washington, with a view to bringing China into the United Nations?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that Her Majesty's Government appreciate his sincerity in this matter, and that we agree with it. The difficulty, of course, as the noble Lord knows, is that a great many of the Member States of the United Nations have very fixed and rigid ideas about this, but I think I can assure the noble Lord that his remarks will not go unheeded.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, will the noble Lord consider, when the Foreign Secretary accepts an invitation to go to Washington, pressing this upon the United States Government?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I will certainly pass on that point to my right honourable friend.
§ LORD GLADWYNMy Lords, is it not a fact that the present Government in Peking would not agree to enter the United Nations, even if invited, unless Formosa had been previously reunited with China?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, that precisely is one of the problems. There cannot be two Chinas in the United Nations at the same time.
§ LORD KENNETMy Lords, is it not the case that, while the substantive vote on the seating of the Peking Government is subject to a two-thirds majority, yet there is a preliminary procedural question as to whether that substantive question should be subject to a two-thirds majority or, on the other hand, to a plain majority, and that in the vote on the preliminary 421 question the United Kingdom has inclined to the view that it should be subject to a two-thirds majority, and that this therefore makes it less likely that Peking shall be seated?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I hope the noble Lord will forgive me if I do not answer that question directly, because I am not completely aware of the situation. I believe he is right but I should like to look into it.
§ LORD GORE-BOOTHMy Lords, is it not the case that the preliminary vote to which the noble Lord has just referred is a vote on whether the question is an important one or not, and that Her Majesty's Government have always voted that it is an important question? It is difficult to see how else they could vote.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord very much. That is the case.