Section 3 Achievements of China at the 12th UPU Congress

The Chinese government sent the plenipotentiary representatives to attend all conference from the sib to 12th UPU Congresses held between 1924 and 1947. In these Congresses, Chinese delegations took part in the various meetings and activities and signed the postal Conventions and international Postal Service Treaties. The Chinese delegates did well and achieved good results, and worked hard to safeguard the national interests and postal sovereignty. The 12th Congress in 1947 especially saw the rich fruit for the Chinese delegation. At first, when the Congress was not in session, the international Bureau of the UPU would take charge of the daily work of the UPU, and its function was limited to liaison, consultation, communications and inquiry. Therefore, during the UPU session, most of the delegates felt it necessary to set up a liaison and execution committee handling the important affairs (China called it the standing committee). Britain and France proposed that the Council, when necessary, had the right to exercise the decisive power. The Soviet Union had a even more restrictive proposal, empowering it with almost all the right to decide on a matter on behalf of all the member countries. Their proposals caused objection from some countries, fearing that the UPU would be under the control of a few countries. To gain the diplomatic initiative, China proposed an amendment to the Anglo-French proposal, setting the limit to the power of the Council to an extent of handling the requirements, but at the same time, not causing monopoly by a few countries. The Chinese proposal was agreed by most of the representatives. Britain and France withdrew their proposal and agreed to the Chinese suggestion. The proposal was passed by 53 votes, over two-thirds of all votes. The Council had 19 members. China was elected into the Council and was the Vice Chairman. At the same time, China was elected into the special committee as the committee member for the transit charges of mail. In addition, UPU Monthly, the official publication, was originally printed in English, French, German, and Spanish languages, but after a long time debate at the Congress, it was decided to abolish German and added Chinese, Russian and Arabian languages. In addition to the publication of the United Nations, Postal Monthly was the first international publication available in Chinese.

The postal sector in China at that time was deeply encouraged by the fact. Mr. Liu Chenghan, the chief of the international Cooperation Section of China General Post Office, as a Chinese representative for this Congress wrote'" Since the late Qing Dynasty, China suffered from the declining of the national strength and the insult from foreign countries. China was restricted everywhere by unequal treaties and the international status of China is lowering day by day. However, as far as the postal position is concerned, since we joined the UPU, we have been abiding by the international postal conventions and treaties in the handling of the international mail services". The international treaties of postal mail and parcels signed with other countries "are all fair treaties with equal interests, without unequal events in them. Since the victory of the war against the Japanese invaders, China has made progress in the postal services. In May of the year, we took pat in the 12th UPU Congress in Paris and gradually held a leading position. China was elected into the UPU Council. In the monthly publication issued by the international Bureau of the UPU, Chinese became one of the languages, which marks a glorious page in the postal history of China."