04091965 Text of the Speech made by Mr. Liu (China) in the Security Council Meeting No. 1237 held on 4 September 1965

Text of the Speech made by Mr. Liu (China) in the Security Council Meeting No. 1237 held on 4 September 1965

At this grave hour I really hesitate to take up any time of the Council by my intervention. After listening to the statement which the President gave at the beginning of the meeting, I should have thought that reasons for convening the Council

this afternoon were unchallengeable, whether considered from the point of view of rule 1, rule 2 or rule 3 of the provisional rules of procedure.

But I wish to advance to another point. Even if we start from the premise that there is a relationship between these three rules, let us remember that the President of the Security Council is, at the same time, a member of the Council. In ordinary circumstances, if a member of the Council wants to request a meeting, he goes to the President, and then the President consults with the other members. But when the member happens to be the President himself, he has nobody to go to except himself.

May I say, Mr. President that the consultations that you had with other members of the Council were extensive, and that no President could have done more, even if the request had come from any other member of the Council. I want to submit that if a member of the Council happens to be the President, this does not abrogate his right as a member to initiate a meeting. It would be absurd to interpret our rules in any other light. The meeting of the Council has been convened in the name of the President and as a prerogative of the President, but it is the inherent right of a member to initiate a meeting.

204. Text of the Speech made by the President Mr. Arthor J. Goldberg (United States of America) in the Security Council Meeting No. 1237 held on 4 September 1965

I believe that the views of the President and of the representatives of the Soviet Union and other Council members on the subject now before us have been amply expounded. I would add just a few words. We have checked the records of the Council meeting prior to the one convened by Ambassador Morozov this summer to which reference has been made, and there is no record of any special authority being given to the President with regard to calling further meetings.

With respect to the question of consultation, I would hope that it is very clear that there was extensive consultation, and I think that appears from all that has been said here. This morning, because of the urgency of the situation, I felt that if we were to meet today-which was our anticipation yesterday-word ought to go out immediately, for the convenience of the members of the Council. When I said that I apologised if I caused any inconvenience to any member, I meant it in those terms. do not apologise for doing my duty, as President of the Council, in convening a meeting when it is necessary, as rule 1 provides.

On the other hand, I fully understand what the representative of the Soviet Union said because, under comparable circumstances, Mr. Zorin, as President of Council, faced a similar complaint on the part of the United States representative. That was on 13 November 1961. On that occasion, the representative of the United States raised a question as to the notice he had received, just as Mr. Morozov has done today. Apparently the same circumstance existed which impelled me today to act as urgently as I did, without the President's having the opportunity to consult with any member of the Council as to the precise hour of the meeting, and the representative of the United States raised a question about not having received adequate notice as to the time of the meeting. Mr. Zorin replied in almost the same words that I used here today. He said :"I feel that I acted reasonably. The representative of the United States, apparently, does not entirely agree with me. I am sorry he does not agree with me,"-I take that as a similar word of apology-"but I feel that everything which could have been done on my part, by way of consultation with members of the Security Council, was in fact done. I intend to continue in the future to consult all members of the Council on the calling of meetings of the Council,"-I repeat that, for myself-"and I think that all members of the Security Council will cooperate with me in this matter." [973rd meeting, para. 20]. I intend to do the best I can in this area in the future, so long as I sit in this seat.