Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

399.10–UPU/4–1351: Circular airgram

The Secretary of State to Certain Diplomatic Offices ¹

confidential

Washington, April 3, 1951—8:45 a.m.

The Executive and Liaison Committee of the Universal Postal Union, composed of 19 members, is the standing organ of the UPU. The UPU Congress at which all Members of the Union are represented meets at intervals not greater than five years.

At its meeting on May 15, 1950 the Executive and Liaison Committee Seated a Chinese Communist for the 1950 session and decided to consult the postal administrations of all UPU Members by referendum on the Chinese representation question after the UNGA had acted on this issue or in any event prior to the next meeting of the Committee. Although the UNGA has not yet taken definite action on Chinese representation, the UPU Committee is scheduled to convene in Switzerland on May 21. Therefore, the Director General of the UPU, pursuant to the 1950 decision, is polling the postal administrations of all UPU Members, requesting that they mark an enclosed ballot in favor of representation for National China or for Communist China and return it to Bern by April 20, or indicate their vote by telegram by the same date. The Director General stated further that any postal administration which failed to vote by April 20 would be recorded as having abstained.

The UPU Executive and Liaison Committee is the only body affiliated with the UN which seated a Chinese Communist as the representative of China. The Department hopes that the referendum of the entire UPU membership will result in a large majority in favor of the Chinese Nationalists and that this will bring about the seating of the Nationalists at the May 21 meeting of the Executive and Liaison Committee. Since less than one-third of the UPU Member States recognize the Chinese Communist regime, it would appear that the result we desire will be attained. However, we are concerned that the postal administrations of some states which have not recognized the Communist regime may fail to confer with their Foreign Offices on the UPU referendum and may not return their ballots by April 20, thus being counted as having abstained on the Chinese representation issue. You are therefore requested in your discretion to raise the above matter informally with the Foreign Office on an appropriate occasion in the very near future, indicating our hope that its postal administration will support the seating of representatives of the Chinese National Government and so inform the UPU Director General at Bern by April 20.²

Acheson

1. Sent to 20 Embassies in the American Republics.
2. In a series of démarches, May 7-May 10, the Department of State, either through the appropriate Embassy or the United States Mission to the United Nations, New York, specifically requested support on this matter from the Governments of Portugal, Switzerland, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, and Turkey; pertinent documentation is located in file 399.10 UPU. The UPU committee adopted (10–6–3) a U.S. proposal to seat the representative of the Chinese Nationalist Government.