Accession of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations

The People's Republic of China (PRC, commonly known as China) was established in 1949 and was not recognized by the United Nations (UN) as the legitimate government of China until 1971. Prior to then, the Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) represented the interests of China, with both it and the PRC claiming to be the only legitimate representative of whole China. In 1950, the PRC requested its admission to the UN and the expulsion of the representatives of the Kuomintang (the former governing party of China) from the United Nations Security Council; the request was unsuccessful, after which the Soviet Union initiated a boycott of the UN. Following that, annual motions for the PRC's recognition were introduced by a variety of UN member states, until the PRC was formally recognized in October 1971.