Branding an Aggressor: The Commonwealth, the United Nations and Chinese Intervention in the Korean War, November 1950–January 1951

Abstract

The crisis following China's intervention in the Korean War led to a significant rift between the United States and the Commonwealth at the United Nations (UN). This article examines the conditions under which the Commonwealth became united and was able to directly influence UN decision-making. It concludes that, when united, the Commonwealth could not easily be ignored by Washington, and thereby acted as an agent of constraint upon the Western superpower.

Key Words:

• Commonwealth
• United Nations
• Aggressor Resolution

Notes

¹See, for instance, Rosemary Foot, The Wrong War: American Policy and the Dimensions of the Korean Conflict, 1950–1953 (New York: Cornell UP 1985); William Stueck, Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP 2002); William Stueck, The Korea War: An International History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP 1995).

²There have been works on the role played by individual or a selected few Commonwealth members. See Shiv Dayal, India's Role in the Korean Question: A Study of the Settlement of International Disputes Under the United Nations (Delhi: S. Chand & Co. 1959); Anthony Farrar-Hockley, The British Part in the Korean War, Volume I: A Distant Obligation (London: HMSO 1990); Anthony Farrar-Hockley, The British Part in the Korean War, Volume II: An Honourable Discharge (London: HMSO 1995); Callum MacDonald, Britain and the Korean War (Oxford: Blackwell 1990); Robert O'Neill, Australia in the Korean War, 1950–53. Volume 1: Strategy and Diplomacy (Canberra: The Australian War Memorial and the Australian Government Publishing Service 1981); Ian McGibbon, New Zealand and the Korean War – Volume 1: Politics and Diplomacy (Auckland: Oxford UP 1992); Graeme Mount, The Diplomacy of War: The Case of Korea (Montreal: Black Rose Books 2004).

³For good accounts of the Commonwealth see Patrick Gordon-Walker, The Commonwealth (London: Secker & Warburg 1962); Hessel Hall, The Commonwealth: A History of the British Commonwealth of Nations (London: Van Nostrand Reinhold 1971); and Liz Paren, The Commonwealth: A Family of Nations (London: Commonwealth Secretariat 2003).

⁴Ceylon was not a member of the UN until 1955 and so will not be considered in this article.

⁵Burma opted against Commonwealth membership when it gained independence in 1948.

⁶Lester Pearson, Memoirs – Volume 2: The International Years, 1948–1957 (London: Gollancz 1974), 121–3.

⁷[New Delhi, India] N[ational] A[rchives of] I[ndia], M[inistry of] E[xternal] A[ffairs], CJK Branch, 67-CJK/50, Secretary-General for External Affairs [Gopal Menon]-Rau, New Delhi, 29 June 1950.

⁸U[nited] N[ations] S[ecurity] C[ouncil], Official Records, Fifth Year Supplement for Sept. through Dec., S/1884, 6 Nov. 1950.

⁹ F[oreign] R[elations of the] U[nited] S[tates], 1950, 7: 1053.

¹⁰ U[nited] N[ations] S[ecurity] C[ouncil] Fifth Year, No.62 – 520th Meeting, New York, 8 Nov. 1950.

¹¹[Kew,] UK, [The] N[ational] A[rchives,] CAB[inet Papers] 128/18, C.M.(50)73rd Conclusions, 13 Nov. 1950; and C.M.(50)76th Conclusions, 20 Nov. 1950.

¹² FRUS 1950, 7: 1212.

¹³Ibid., 1237.

¹⁴ UNSC Fifth Year, No.68 – 526th Meeting, New York, 28 Nov. 1950.

¹⁵ UNSC Fifth Year, No.72 – 530th Meeting, New York, 30 Nov. 1950; N[ational] A[rchives, College Park, MD], [State Department, Foreign Service Post Files Records] RG 84/350/82/5/7 E.1030-H, Box 4, 1950, Tel Incs US-December, Acheson to Austin, Washington DC, 4 Dec. 1950.

¹⁶UK NA, F[oreign] O[ffice Papers] FO 371/84105, Jebb to Bevin, New York, 5 Dec. 1950.

¹⁷UK NA, FO 371/84106, British High Commissioner to India (Archibald Nye) to Gordon-Walker, New Delhi, 5 Dec. 1950.

¹⁸UK NA, CAB 128/18, C.M.(50)80th Conclusions, London, 30 Nov. 1950.

¹⁹UK NA, FO 371/84105, British Ambassador USA (Oliver Franks) to Bevin, Washington, 5 Dec. 1950.

²⁰UK NA, FO 371/84124, Record of Meeting Heads of Commonwealth Delegations, New York, 6 Dec. 1950.

²¹UK NA, PREM[ier Papers] PREM 8/1405 Part 4, Record Conversation Gordon-Walker to Indian High Commissioner UK (Krishna Menon), London, 11 Dec. 1950.

²²H[arry] S. T[ruman] L[ibrary, Independence, MO] Truman Papers, Personal Secretary's File, Subject File 1940–1953, Box 187, Memoranda for the President: Meeting Discussions: 1950, Memorandum for the President, Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (James Lay), Washington DC, 12 Dec. 1950.

²³[Ottawa, Canada,] L[ibrary and] A[rchives] C[anada], RG 25/6444/5475-DW-4-40 [Pt 5], Record of Meeting of Heads of Commonwealth Delegations, New York, 13 Dec. 1950.

²⁴HSTL, [Dean] Acheson Papers, Memoranda of Conversations File, Box 67, Dec. 1951, Memorandum of Conversation with the President, 11 Dec. 1950.

²⁵ U[nited] N[ations] G[eneral] A[ssembly] Official Records, Fifth Session Supplements, No.20 (A/1775) Resolution 384 (V) adopted 14 Dec. 1950.

²⁶Pearson, Memoirs 1948–1957, 280.

²⁷Ibid., 282.

²⁸NA, Microfilm C0042 Reel 1, Acheson-Austin, Washington, 15 Dec. 1950.

²⁹HSTL, Truman Papers, Korean War File 1947–1952, Box 7, Massive Chinese Communist intervention and allied reactions, Press Release, Washington DC, 15 Dec. 1950.

³⁰ UNGA Fifth Session First Committee 415th Meeting, New York, 12 Dec. 1950 (A/C.1/641 and A/ C.1/642).

³¹NA, RG 84/350/82/4/2 E.1030-F, Box 29, Delga 384–471 (6–30 Dec. 1950), Austin to Acheson, New York, 20 Dec. 1950.

³²UK NA, RG 84/350/82/4/2 E.1030-F, Box 29, Delga 384–471 (6–30 Dec. 1950), Austin to Acheson, New York, 24 Dec. 1950.

³³Pearson, Memoirs 1948–1957, 287–8.

³⁴ UNGA Fifth Session Annexes Volume 1 A/C.1/643, 2 Jan. 1951

³⁵ FRUS 1951, 7: 56.

³⁶Dean Acheson, The Korean War (New York: W.W. Norton 1969), 94.

³⁷LAC, MG 26 N1/22/Commonwealth – Prime Minister's Meeting 1951, P.M.M.(51)3rd Meeting, London, 5 Jan. 1951.

³⁸UK NA, PREM 8/1405 Part 4, P.M.M(51)7 Memorandum by the UK Government, London, 5 Jan. 1951.

³⁹LAC, MG 26 N1/22/Commonwealth – Prime Ministers' Meeting 1951, P.M.M.(51)4th Meeting, London, 5 Jan. 1951.

⁴⁰UK NA, PREM 8/1405 Part 4, P.M.M.(51)8, Memorandum by the Prime Minister of India, London, 5 Jan. 1951.

⁴¹UK NA, PREM 8/1405 Part 4, P.M.M.(51)5th Meeting, Minute 2, London, 8 Jan. 1951.

⁴² FRUS 1951, 7: 37.

⁴³Ibid., 39.

⁴⁴UK NA, PREM 8/1405 Part 4, P.M.M.(51)7th Meeting, Minute 1, London, 9 Jan. 1951.

⁴⁵UK NA, PREM 8/1405 Part 4, Franks to Bevin, Washington DC, 10 Jan. 1951.

⁴⁶UK NA, PREM 8/1405 Part 4, P.M.M/(51)9, Note by the Secretariat, London, 11 Jan. 1951.

⁴⁷Acheson Papers, Memoranda of Conversations File, Box 67, Memorandum Conversation with President, 11 Jan. 1950.

⁴⁸UK NA, PREM 8/1405 Part 4, P.M.M.(51)10th Meeting, London, 11 Jan. 1951.

⁴⁹ UNGA Fifth Session First Committee 425th Meeting, New York, 13 Jan. 1951 (A/C.1/650 and A/C.1/651).

⁵⁰ FRUS 1951, 7: 74.

⁵¹ UNGA Fifth Session Annexes Volume 1 A/C.1/653, 17 Jan. 1951; Truman Papers, Korean War File 1947–1952, Box 8, 26. US efforts to obtain UN action re: Chinese intervention, White House Press and Radio Conference, Washington DC, 18 Jan. 1951.

⁵² UNGA Fifth Session First Committee 426th Meeting, New York, 18 Jan. 1951.

⁵³NA, [State Department Records] RG 59/250/46/3/5, Entry 394B, Box 1, Memoranda from S and U 1951, Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State (Lucius Battle), Washington DC, 18 Jan. 1951.

⁵⁴ FRUS 1951, 7: 108.

⁵⁵[Canberra, Australia,] N[ational] A[rchives of] A[ustralia] A1838, 88/1/10 PART 5, Spender to Australian Delegation UN (K. Shann), New York, 17 Jan. 1951.

⁵⁶UK NA, CAB 128/19, C.M.(51)4th Conclusions, London, 18 Jan. 1951.

⁵⁷LAC, RG 25/4741/50069-A-40 Pt.18, Canadian Representative to the UN (David Riddell) to Pearson, New York, 18 Jan. 1951.

⁵⁸UK NA, PREM 8/1405 Part 4, Menon to Attlee, London, 18 Jan. 1951.

⁵⁹NA, RG 59/250/49/5/3 E.1459, Box 3, India 1951–1952, Clarification of certain points included in the counter-proposal made by the Chinese government to Political Committee of the United Nations General Assembly.

⁶⁰ UNGA Fifth Session First Committee 429th Meeting, New York, 22 Jan. 1951.

⁶¹NAA, A1838, TS88/1/10, Spender to Shann, Canberra, 24 Jan. 1951.

⁶²LAC, RG 25/4741/50069-A-40 Pt.19, Canadian High Commissioner New Zealand (Alfred Rive) to Pearson, Wellington, 25 Jan. 1951.

⁶³UK NA, CAB 128/19, C.M.(51)8th Conclusions, London, 25 Jan. 1951.

⁶⁴ UNGA Fifth Session Annexes Volume 1 A/C.1/642/Rev.1, 24 Jan. 1951.

⁶⁵ FRUS 1951, 7: 137.

⁶⁶UK NA, CAB 128/19, C.M.(51)10th Conclusions, London, 29 Jan. 1951.

⁶⁷ UNGA Fifth Session Annexes Volume 1 A/C.1/642/Rev.2, 29 Jan. 1951.

⁶⁸ UNGA Fifth Session First Committee 437th Meeting, New York, 30 Jan. 1951.

⁶⁹ UNGA Fifth Session Plenary Meetings 327th Meeting, New York, 1 Feb. 1951.

⁷⁰UK NA, CAB 128/19, C.M.(51)10th Conclusions, London, 29 Jan. 1951.

⁷¹Stueck, Korean War, 152, 163–4.