THE ＧＬＯＢＡＬＩＺＡＴＩＯＮ ＆ ＧＯVＥＲＮＡＮＣＥ ＰＲＯＪＥCＴ， ＨＯＫＫＡＩＤＯ ＵＮＩＶＥＲＳＩＴＹＷＯＲＫＩＮＧ ＰＡＰＥＲ ＳＥＲＩＥＳ

Ｆｒｏｍ Ｒｅｃｉｐｉｅｎｔ ｔｏ Ｃｏｎｔｒｉｂｕｔｏｒ:
Nationalist China as a Member State in the League and UN
Ⅲ−０７Li Chang, National Dong Hwa University＊Paper for the Symposium, The Role of the United Nations in International

Politic - A Historical Re-examination from the Member States’ Perspectives-,
20-21 December 2003.
＊None of these papers should be cited without the author’s permission.

From Recipient to Contributor:
Nationalist China As a Member State in the League and UN
Li Chang
Department of History, National Dong Hwa University
Institute of Modern History, Academia SinicaIntroduction
In January 1919 the delegates from twenty-seven nations assembled
in Paris in order to draft a peace settlement for the First World War.
Three months later the Treaty of Versailles was completed. Though thefinal character of the Treaty of Versailles was determined almost entirelyby the so-called Big Three – Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George, andClemenceau, it was Wilson’s Fourteen Points that had built the foundation
for the discussions among the delegates. In the Peace Conference, only
four parts of Wilson famous program were adopted without modification.
Among them Point Fourteen calling for a League of Nations was Wilson’s
first and foremost concern.
This postwar new international organization should be formed, in
Wilson’s words, “for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of politicalindependence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.”
Accordingly, the League was supposed to bear responsibility for preventing
war and promoting world peace. Before the Paris Peace Conference,
official and unofficial proposals on the organization and functions of theLeague had been advanced in America and Europe. The idea of theinternational cooperation with a view to enhancing international interests
was brought up in several plans. In effect, the Covenant of the League
embodied this idea.1
China was one of the victors of World War I because she had joined
the Allies since 1917. In the Peace Conference, Chinese delegates strove
very hard for the return of Shandong Peninsula from Japan. In themeanwhile, the people in China were preoccupied with the debates about
China’s territorial arrangement in Paris, but they know little of theemerging of the League. Before the League came into existence,
Cheng-t’ing Wang (1882-1961), one of Chinese delegates, had expectedthat the new international organization would furnish China with “expertknowledge and capital.”2 And Liang Qichao (1873-1929), a famous
1

For a discussion of the idea in several plans, see Margaret E. Burton, The Assembly of the League ofNations (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1941), pp. 2-10, 15-15, 23, 34-38.
2
Quoted from Norbert Meienberger, “China and the League of Nations,” in The league of Nations in
Retrospect: proceedings of the Symposium (Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1983), p. 341.
1

reformer at the turn the century who had been keeping track of the Peace
Conference, noticed that some organs taking charge of reconstruction
would be set up according to articles 23 to 25 of the Convenant.3
Nonetheless, when China signed the Treaty of St. Germain with Austria
and thus automatically became one of the founding members of theLeague, most Chinese still put their expectations for the League on its
maintaining world peace, solving the Shandong question, and saving
China from international unequal treatment. 4
The inability of the League to hinder Japan’s occupation ofManchuria in 1931-32 greatly disappointed the Chinese. There still,
however, existed a close technical cooperation between the League andNationalist China in the 1930s. Evidently, Nationalist China appreciatedthis international cooperation with the League. In October 1944 atDumbarton Oaks Conference, the promotion of international intellectual,economic, and social were included in China’s proposals.5
This paper intends to examine Nationalist China’s relations with theLeague and UN in terms of international cooperation. What thetechnical assistance rendered by the two international organizations will
be discussed respectively. And Nationalist China’s aid to foreigncountries in the 1950s and 1960s will briefly be introduced.
Technical Cooperation between the League and Nationalist China
The Nationalist Government of the Guomindang ruled Mainland
China from 1928 to 1949. Before 1928 the Chinese government in Beijing
had sent its delegates to Geneva and made a few responses to the League’s
initiatives in international cooperation. In 1926 the League asked all its
member states to ratify “The Convention for International Exchange ofOfficial Documents, Scientific and Literary Publications” and “TheConvention for the Immediate Exchange of Official Journals,Parliamentary Annals and Documents, ” which had been concluded inBrussels in 1886. In response to the League’s request, China not only
ratified them but also set up the Bureau of International Exchange of3

Liang Qichao, Oyu xinyinglu jielu (Reflections on my European travels) (Taipei: ZhonghuaBookstore, 1976), p. 135.

4

T’ang Ch’i-hua, Beijing zhengfu yu guojilianmeng, 1919-1928 (The Beijing Government and theLeague of Nations, 1919-1928), (Taipei: Dongda Publishers, 1998),
5
Zhonghuaminguo yu Lianheguo shiliao hueibian: choushepian (Documentary Collection on R.O.C
and the United Nations: Origin) (Taipei: Academia Historica, 2001), pp. 251-267.
2Publications in the Ministry of Education.6 This bureau became a part ofthe Beihai Library in Beijing in 1928, then belonged to the AcademiaSinica. Since 1934 the National Central Library has took over thisbureau, which has been in charge of governmental publications exchangewith international organizations and foreign countries to this day.
Besides this, the League tried twice to contact the Beijing
Government for the cooperation in the field of health, but the latter failedto respond to them. In 1922 F. Norman White of the Health Section of
the League Secretariat undertook an enquiry into the prevalence ofepidemics and the work of the quarantine service in East Asia. Though hisvisit to China did not evoke interest from the Beijing Government, hisinvestigation in East Asia helped the League to establish the Far-Eastern
Epidemiological Intelligence Office in Singapore. Early in 1926, Ludwig
J. Rajchman, Director of the Health Section, paid an informal visit toBeijing. The Minister of Interior met with him but still did not takeofficial action.
Despite his unsuccessful contact with the Beijing Government,Rajchman began to cultivate intimate relation with Chinese new
government in Nanjing. When the Nationalists completed the Northern
Expedition in 1928 and set out to modernize China, it was Rajchman who
played an important role in coordinating the League’s efforts in China.
Late in 1928, the League decided to send its Deputy
Secretary-General Joseph Avenol to pay an official visit to China. Some
Chinese diplomats in European countries urged the Nanjing Government
to take this opportunity to ask the League for help in China’s nationalreconstruction. At the invitation of the Chinese Government two senior
officials of the League Secretariat, Sir Arthur Salter, Director of theFinancial and Economic Section, and Robert Haas, Director of the Transitand Communications, were invited to come to China in 1930 and 1931.
Together with Rajchman’s trips to China in 1929 and 1930 for port healthinvestigation, their visits to China encouraged the National Government
to advance the proposals on technical cooperation with the League on
April 25, 1931. In addition to an account on what the League had alreadydone to China in the field of health by then, these proposals asked theLeague for technical assistance in China’s economic and educational
reconstruction. In May the League Council unanimously adopted these6Zhongguo jiaru guoji chubanpin xieyue zhi jingguo (A record of China’s ratification of theconventions of international exchange of publications) (Beiping; Beihai Library, n.d.).
3

proposals. At the same time, the Secretary-General’s suggestion about
methods of carrying out this collaboration was approved.7
Technical cooperation in the field of health had been carried on sincelate 1929 after Rajchman gave his advice to the Ministry of Health.
During succeeding years, medical experts sent by the League rendered
their assistance in the establishments of quarantine service, the Central
Field Health Station, and the Central Hospital. Some experts helped in
the control of epidemics in Shanghai and the flooded area in Lower Yangzi
region. Professor Knud Faber of Copenhagen University made a surveyof the system of medical education and the existing medical schools andgave advice on new medical curricula.
The League put much attention to educational reform in the field ofintellectual cooperation. The educational cinematography wasintroduced to China by an Italian expert A. Sardi in 1931. Three
European professors were invited to teach in the National Central
University in 1931-1933. Above all, in 1931 the League sent a mission toChina for a survey of Chinese education. Their observations andrecommendations in The Reorganization of Education in China provokedheated debates among Chinese and American educators. In response to
one of their recommendations a mission of five Chinese educators visitedeight European countries for the purpose of studying different educationalsystems. Fernand Maurette, Deputy Director of the International LaborOffice, pointed out in 1934 that the recommendations of the two missions
did encourage the Ministry of Education to launch educational reform insome respects.
Economic reconstruction was one of the main concerns of the Nanjing
Government. As early as 1930 the National Reconstruction Council
directly asked the League to send experts to China for assistance. TheNanjing Government declined its attempt but set up the National
Economic Council in 1931 “for planning reconstruction League
collaboration.” From 1931 on experts from the League gave their advice
in the work of road construction, water conservancy, irrigation, agriculture,sericulture, and agricultural cooperatives.
In July 1933 the Committee of the Council for Collaboration between
the League of Nations and China was organized for the purpose ofcoordinating the experts’ advisory work in China. In addition, Rajchman
7Tze-hsiung Kuo, “Technical Co-operation between China and Geneva,” Information Bulletin 1:
6(July 1, 1936), pp. 3-4.
4was recommended by the Nanjing Government to act the technical agent.
The cooperation benefited China a lot, but Japan was always suspicious ofits political implications and never concealed her dissatisfaction with it.
Since 1934 the League had gradually reduced the scope of cooperation.
After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937,
anti-epidemics almost became the sole assistance the League offer toChina until 1941.
Obviously, the League’s technical cooperation with China wasconducted mainly by way of sending experts to China. In total over fifty
European advisors of various fields rendered their service to China’sreconstruction efforts. The League also made plans for training Chineseexperts abroad. Up to the end of 1937 twenty Chinese experts had been
recommended by the National Economic Council, by some of them did not
go abroad due to the outbreak of the war.
The UN’s Technical Assistance to Nationalist China
The League’s technical cooperation with its member states has been
regarded as one of meaningful efforts in maintaining world peace. The
Bruce Report of 1939 “recommended the expansion of the existing
economic and social activities of the organisation, and the establishment of
a high-power council with the League to organise this work.” 8 This idea
was realized in 1950 when the United Nations Expanded Program ofTechnical Assistance (UNEPTA) was created. In 1959 the United Nations
Special Fund (UNSF) was established. The former “open up resources ofa much greater magnitude for sharing the knowledge of experts andassisting special projects around the world as well as providing for a hostof training programs and fellowships to improve national productivity,”
and the latter provided “pre-investment projects in the form of survey,
feasibility studies, or manpower development for the underdevelopedcountries.”9 Both of them were supported by voluntary contributions
from states. Since 1965 these two efforts has been merged to form theUnited Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Nationalist China was not only one of the founding members of theUN but one of five permanent members of the Security Council. Shortly
after the World War II the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
8Evan Luard, The United Nations: How It Works and What It Does (New York: St. Martin Press,1979), p. 55.
9Clark M. Eichelberger, New Dimensions for the United Nations: The Problems of the Next Decade(New York: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1966), pp. 175-176.
5

Agency had poured two million tons of food, medicine, clothing andsupplies to China until the end of 1947. The relief program was of somehelp in recovering Nationalist China, but it could not save her from being
defeated by the Chinese Communists. In December 1949 the Nationalist
Government was forced to move to Taipei.
Since 1949 Taipei’s main concern of all activities in the UN had been
to uphold her representation. But before Nationalist China was ejectedfrom the UN in October 1971, she had kept close contact with the UN
technical agencies. In October 1951 Nationalist China made her first
request for technical assistance from the UN by applying to the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Since the UNESCO could only provide technical assistance infundamental education, it transmitted all other requests to theInternational Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations inaccordance with the nature of these requests.10In November 1952 the Taipei Government established a Committeefor United Nations Technical Assistance. Since its establishment, theCommittee had met from time to time to review all the requests previously
submitted to the UN and its Specialized Agencies and to consider thedesirability of new applications for more technical assistance. Taiwan
had begun to apply to the UNEPDA since 1952, and it had submitted
projects to the UNSF for its approval yearly since 1960. These activities
continued after the establishment of UNDP. From 1952 to 1969 Taiwan
received U$ 1.4 million from the UNEPTA for the recruitment ofspecialists and the dispatch of technical personnel to receive training
abroad.
Table 1. Number of Experts and Fellowships Sponsored by the UNEPDAand UNDPYear
UN experts toFellowship
Taiwanrecipients
1952
20
1953
16
1954
47
1955
37
1956
1841
1957
1840
1958
1564

10

China Handbook 1953-54 (Taipei: China Publishing Co., 1953), pp. 147-151.
6

1959
1960
1961-1962
1963-1964
1965-1966
1967-1968
1969-1970

16
13
1120
21
22
1265
36
18
18
46
46
42

From 1960 to 1970 the UNSF and UNDP successively appropriatedor approved U$ 13 million for the recruitment of experts and the trainingof Chinese technicians for eighteen projects connected with economic
development in Taiwan. For some projects, a part of the equipment wasalso provided. Up to 1970 seven of the eighteen projects had been
completed, ten were under implementation and one was pending.11

Year
1960
1960
1962
1963
1963
1963
1964
1965
1965
1965
1966
1966
1967

Table 2. Projects Approved by the UNSF and UNDP
UN’s
Taiwan’s
Project
allocation contribution
(U$)
(U$)
321,450
198,475
Hydraulic Development projects
334,000
278,000
Establishment of a Training andResearch Center for Telecommunicationand Electronics
695,700
509,000
Expansion of the Auto-technician
Training Center
1,097,400
954,105
Establishment of a metal Industries
Development Center in Kaohsiung
885,800
909,000
A Comprehensive HydraulicDevelopment Survey of the Choshui andWu Basins in Central Taiwan
208,000
214,000
Planning of Tidal Land Reclamation
along the Western Coast of Taiwan
880,200
731,400
Development of Livestock Production onMarginal Land
1,386,600 6,438,563
National Maritime Development
Institute694,900
377,100
Forest and Forest Industry Development
583,500 NT$30million Improvement and Expansion of Typhoon
and Flood Warning Service
603,500
678,300
Urban Planning and Housing783,200 1,076,000
Food Processing Institute1,078,700 1,015,000
National Vocational Training Service for11

China Yearbook 1966-67 (Taipei: China Publishing Co., 1967), pp. 258-259. China Yearbook
1969-70 (Taipei: China Publishing Co., 1970), p.363.
7

1968

17,40017,0001969
1970

804,500
442,200

1,513,000
27,9001970
1970

1,058,100 2,227,000
510,000
741,000

Industry
Sewerage Planning in the Greater Taipei
Area
Research Institute of Swine Science
Preparation of a Consolidated
Community Development Program
Plant Protection Center
Union Industrial Research InstituteIn addition, every year the UN Technical Assistance Administrationand the Specialized Agencies also provided technical assistance to Taiwan
under their Regular Programs, which were financed with their ownbudget.
Taiwan’s Technical Assistance to Foreign Countries
1. The technical cooperation between the League and Nationalist
China was financed by China’s annual member fee. But in theUN Nationalist China not only pay her annual fee but madevoluntary contribution to the UNEPTA and UNDP.
2. Around 1960 the Taipei Government recommended a number ofChinese technicians to the UN and its specialized agencies ascandidates for technical assistance experts. They were assignedby the UN to Ceylon, Hong Kong, Borneo, Afghanistan, Laos,Pakistan, Trinidad and Iraq to render services in such fields asentomology, public health, nursing education, malaria control,agriculture, sericulture, and road constructions.
3. In the 1960s a lot of Taiwan’s experts assisted some Africancountries in agricultural production and public health. Theirdevotion helped the support of these countries in upholding
Nationalist China’s representation in the UN.
Conclusion
How to define “recipient” and “contributor” in internationalorganizations?

8