UN General Assembly
1971

149. The present session sees us actively seeking a solution to this problem, with which the international community has grappled for some two decades. My delegation feels that a new sense of reality has been brought into this Organization by the increasing recognition of the fact that a quarter of the world's population cannot remain unrepresented in these halls. But we also note that there are certain realities in the situation in east Asia which need to be borne in mind: de facto, the Government of Taiwan has exercised effective control over that country for over two decades. By any accepted concept of international law, this would normally constitute a right to separateness a separateness which the international community should be willing to recognize. We neither assume nor believe that it is beyond the bounds of present-day diplomacy to find a formula which could give to the People's Republic of China its United Nations representation, including a permanent seat on the Security Council, and a seat in the General Assembly to Taiwan.