The Nationalist diplomat whose presence at the Security Council table triggered the Soviet walkout
In January 1950, as Tsiang took the chair of the Security Council, Malik declared 'This is not a meeting, but a parody of a meeting' and walked out.
A historian of Qing diplomacy who became the Republic of China's most consequential Cold War diplomat. After a Columbia PhD and pioneering work in modern Chinese diplomatic history at Nankai and Tsinghua, he left academia in 1935 to serve the Nationalist government as ambassador to the Soviet Union and later as permanent representative to the United Nations. In January 1950, with Tsiang presiding over the Security Council, Soviet delegate Malik walked out rather than sit with a Nationalist Chinese representative, a boycott that left the Soviet veto unused when the Council voted in June to defend South Korea.
Activities and affiliations
- 1935–1965 Diplomacy and international organization · Kuomintang
- 1923–1935 Scholarship and theory
Career Timeline
- 1923–1929Professor and Chair of History, Nankai University
- 1929–1935Chair of History and Dean of Arts, Tsinghua University
- 1935–1936Director of Political Affairs, Executive Yuan, Nationalist Government
- 1936–1938Ambassador of the ROC to the Soviet Union
- 1944–1946China Representative to UNRRA; Director, CNRRA
- 1947–1962Permanent Representative of the ROC to the UN and Security Council
- 1961–1965Ambassador of the ROC to the US (concurrent with UN post)
Related historical events
- 1937–1945The war with Japan and the second united frontDiplomat pursuing wartime supplies for ChinaHe stressed a supply route through Burma against a possible Japanese blockade and sought British assistance.
- 1950–1953The Korean WarSecurity Council President triggering Soviet boycottOn 13 January 1950, as the Nationalist Chinese representative chairing the Security Council, his presence prompted Soviet delegate Malik to walk out, starting the boycott.
Diplomacy and China’s supply routes during the Sino-Japanese War
After leaving academia for the Nationalist government in 1935, Tsiang served as the Republic of China’s ambassador in Moscow from 1936 to 1938. A January 1938 telegram from William Bullitt, the U.S. ambassador in Paris, to the Secretary of State reported that Tsiang had recently resigned the ambassadorship and planned to return to China to become secretary to the Cabinet. The telegram records Tsiang’s statements as relayed by Bullitt, so his assessments of Soviet policy should be understood as Tsiang’s views, not as independently established facts.
Tsiang doubted that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan, while describing Soviet military supplies to China as being provided on credit. In anticipation that Japanese blockades might close existing routes, he stressed the importance of a supply line through Burma and told Bullitt that he was traveling to London to seek British assistance. The account shows Tsiang addressing China’s wartime procurement needs as a diplomatic problem and pursuing alternative external supply routes.