October 25, 1971

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758

UN General Assembly transfers China's representation to the People's Republic of China

The famous vote was 76–35. The pivotal vote came just before it — and was 59–55.

The procedural vote that mattered

On 25 October 1971, at the UN's 1976th plenary meeting in New York, the General Assembly first took up a proposal to treat any removal of the Republic of China's representation as an “important question” requiring a two-thirds majority.

It failed, 55 in favor to 59 against with 15 abstentions. That defeat meant the representation change could pass by simple majority. The meeting ran roughly eight hours.

Resolution 2758

The Assembly then adopted Resolution 2758 by 76 in favor, 35 against and 17 abstentions, with 3 not voting out of a recorded voting membership of 131. Albania and 22 co-sponsors had sponsored the draft.

The text recognized the PRC government's representatives as the only lawful representatives of China, recognized the PRC as holding China's permanent Security Council seat, and ordered the immediate removal of the “representatives of Chiang Kai-shek” from the UN and related organizations.

Representation, not admission

ROC Foreign Minister Chow Shu-kai announced that his delegation would take no further part in proceedings, and it left before the resolution was adopted.

The vote decided who represented the existing UN member called China — not the admission of a new member or the Charter expulsion of a state, and the resolution does not name Taiwan. The PRC flag went up at UN Headquarters on 1 November, and its delegation took its General Assembly seat on 15 November.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources 2 audit passes, 1 issue open

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

There is no serious dispute about the date or vote.
Descriptions such as “the ROC was expelled” are common shorthand, but legally contested. Resolution 2758 removed Chiang Kai-shek’s representatives; it did not use the Charter’s procedure for expelling a member state.
The resolution addressed China’s representation. It did not expressly decide Taiwan’s sovereignty or name “Taiwan.”