Resolution 2758

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, formally titled "Restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations," was adopted on 25 October 1971 during the 26th session of the General Assembly by a recorded vote of 76 in favour, 35 against, and 17 abstentions. The resolution, sponsored by Albania, Algeria and 21 other states (and thus often called the "Albanian Resolution"), decided "to restore all its rights to the People's Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it." It resolved a question of credentials and representation — which government would occupy China's seat — rather than admitting a new member, since China was a founding UN member and a permanent Security Council member under Article 23 of the Charter.

The resolution's adoption ended two decades of US-led manoeuvring to preserve the seat for the Kuomintang government in Taipei, including the "important question" device that required a two-thirds majority for any change. By 1971 the General Assembly rejected the United States' draft resolution proposing "dual representation," and the PRC took up China's permanent Security Council seat the same month. Critically, the operative text names only the seat and representation; it makes no mention of Taiwan, its status, or the concept of sovereignty over the island, and it does not endorse any "one-China principle" as a matter of territorial title. This textual silence is the crux of contemporary contestation.

In current (2026) diplomacy, Beijing invokes Resolution 2758 as the legal foundation for the "one-China principle," arguing it settled that Taiwan is part of the PRC and bars Taiwanese participation in UN bodies and agencies such as the WHO, ICAO and Interpol. The United States, the European Parliament (resolution of 2024), Australia and others have publicly contested this reading, asserting that 2758 neither determines Taiwan's status nor precludes its meaningful participation in international organisations; the US State Department has formally stated the resolution does not constitute a UN endorsement of the PRC's sovereignty claim. The dispute now drives lobbying campaigns in the lead-up to General Assembly sessions and underpins China's diplomatic pressure on the 12-odd states still recognising Taipei.

For competitive examinations, Resolution 2758 recurs in international relations and global-institutions papers — UPSC GS Paper II (international institutions, India–China and great-power relations), the FSOT and China's Guokao foreign-affairs streams, and Pakistan CSS International Relations. Examiners test the date (1971), the precise distinction between representation and territorial sovereignty, the "Albanian Resolution" and "important question" mechanics, and the contemporary debate over whether the text addresses Taiwan at all. A frequent analytical angle asks candidates to evaluate competing interpretations of the resolution and their implications for Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO and ICAO.