November 23, 1971

China and the United Nations

The PRC delegation first participates as China in the UN Security Council

China's first working session in its newly occupied permanent seat was not about Taiwan. It was about Senegal's border with Portuguese Guinea.

3:30 p.m., 23 November 1971

At 3:30 p.m. on 23 November 1971, the Security Council opened its 1599th meeting in New York with PRC representative Huang Hua seated for China for the first time as a permanent Council member. Deputy representative Chen Chu was with him.

The Polish representative Eugeniusz Kułaga, president of the Council, welcomed Huang and invoked General Assembly Resolution 2758 as the authority recognizing the PRC government's representatives.

No vote required

Nothing was decided about Chinese representation that afternoon. The Assembly had settled it 29 days earlier, on 25 October, and the ROC delegation was no longer present.

Representatives of the other Council members delivered welcoming statements. Huang sat through them before replying that the Chinese delegation was pleased to take part in the Council's work.

China had been a founding UN member, represented by the ROC government from 1945. The PRC delegation had first sat in the General Assembly on 15 November.

Then, ordinary business

After the welcomes the Council adopted its agenda and resumed consideration of Senegal's complaint concerning Portuguese actions from Guinea-Bissau.

The meeting ran from 3:30 p.m. to 6:10 p.m. and adjourned without a vote on that matter.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes

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What the sources leave uncertain

The date and meeting number are fixed by the official verbatim record.
Calling this the day the PRC “took the ROC’s seat” is understandable shorthand, but the legal representation decision had already occurred on October 25 and the ROC delegation was no longer present.
A PRC representative had participated in a Security Council discussion in 1950 by invitation. November 23, 1971 was the first participation as China’s permanent Council representative after Resolution 2758.