Source:International Organizations under Great Power Competition (Fudan International Relations Review, Thirty-first Series)

Abstract: This article focuses on the crunch time of 1971 and starts from the specific voting mechanism of the 26th UN General Assembly. The article holds that there was a two-way interactive relationship between the restoration of PRC's lawful seat in the UN and the new breakthroughs of PRC's establishment of diplomatic ties in the Middle East that formed a progress situation ofestablishing (restoring) diplomatic relations restoring lawful seats establishing diplomatic relations. Specifically: On October 25, 1971. it was a watershed event to restore PC's legal seat in the United Nations. Up to the time of the Assembly, the increase in the number of votes for the establishment (resumption) of diplomatic relations between the four Middle East countries and the PRC in 1971 was causally related to the restoration of PRC's legal seat in the UN. From November to December, there was also a causal link between the restoration of PRC's legal seat in the UN and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two Middle East con-tries and PRC. In addition, the three Middle East countries that joined the UN before the vote of the 26th UNGeneral Assembly and the two Middle East countriesthat established diplomatic relations with PRC immediately after PRC's restoration of legal seats in the UN collectively abstained from voting in support of PRC in the UN General Assembly vote, except for Oman. who was an absentee voter. The two-way interaction was the two paths for PRC to increase its international legitimacy, which means it was an interactive result between seeking to restore the lawful seat in the UN and making every effort to increase the number of countries with diplomatic ties.

Key Words:People's Republic of China, International legitimacy, Lawful seats in the UN, Middle East diplomacy, PRC-US relations