The BA thesis examines the relationship between the Republic of China (ROC) and the United Nations (UN) from its admission as a founding member in 1945 to the loss of its seat in the UN in 1971. Based on a synthesis of historical literature and an analysis of primary sources, the thesis explains the circumstances under which the ROC acquired the status of one of the four major Allied powers at the end of the Second World War and became a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his concept of the “Four Policemen,” as well as on the ROC’s active participation in the Dumbarton Oaks and San Francisco Conferences. The thesis subsequently places the emergence of the “Two Chinas” conflict after 1949 within the broader context of the Cold War and analyzes the changing balance of power among the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the ROC, the United States, and the Soviet Union throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The central part of the thesis is devoted to a chronological reconstruction of the gradual transformation of the ROC’s position within the UN; from the period of the moratorium, through the introduction of the “important question” status, to the adoption of Resolution 2758 in 1971, which deprived the ROC of China’s representation in the UN. The thesis also includes a substantive analysis of the text of the resolution and examines its long-term implications for Taiwan’s status under international law. Based on a comparison of the two turning points, the thesis concludes that the two key interconnected factors that shaped the ROC’s position within the UN were the role of the United States and the changing balance of power within the organization. It further argues that the question of Chinese representation was not merely a technical matter of representation, but primarily a question of political legitimacy within a changing international order.
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