A Great Power's Bearing: China Regains Its UN Seat and Attends the General Assembly

On October 25, 1971, at its 1,976th session, the United Nations General Assembly voted on Resolution 2758, which called for the restoration of all the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations and the immediate expulsion of the representatives of the Kuomintang group from the UN and all its affiliated bodies. The resolution passed by an overwhelming majority, with 76 votes in favor, 35 against, and 17 abstentions, approving a proposal put forward by 23 countries, including Albania and Algeria. On October 26, Ji Pengfei, China’s acting foreign minister, received formal notification from UN Secretary-General U Thant that the seat the People’s Republic of China had been illegally deprived of for more than 20 years in the United Nations and the Security Council had been restored.