Chapter 6 The Relationship between China Post and the UPU

Section 1 Suspension and the Restoration of the Relationship between China Post and UPU

China joined the UPU on March 1, 1914. and attended the UPU Congress for 6 sessions from 1920 to 1947. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, on May 5, 1950, Premier and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai sent a telegraph to the United Nations and the UPU in the name of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, notifying them that China would send Mr. Su Younong, the Director of the Directorate-General of Post, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the People's Republic of China, to attend the meetings of the Executive Council and the Liaison Committee in Montreux, Switzerland as the representative of China. On May 15, at the opening ceremony of the meeting, Switzerland proposed to accept China as the sole competent representative to attend the meeting. The revised proposal was passed as the revision to the proposal of Czech. On May 24, Chinese representative, Mr. Su Younong attended the meeting. That was the first time for the representatives of P.R. China to attend the UPU meeting. In December of the same year, the Chinese government announced that China agreed to accept the UPU Paris Convention signed in 1947 as well as the various service treaties, such as those governing the insured mail and boxes, postal parcel, postal remittance and postal traveler's checks, and the cash/collect on delivery (COD) items. In January, 1951, representing China, Director Su Younong attended the mixture meeting of the UPU and the international air transportation sector in Cairo.

However, due to the fact that China was illegally deprived of her seat in the United Nations, the UPU Executive Council and the Liaison Committee passed the American proposal on May 21, 1951 to deprive China of her legitimate rights in the UPU. On May 31, Director Su Younong sent a telegraph to the Secretary-General of the UPU Executive Council and the Liaison Committee, strongly protesting the illegal decision of the UPU. On May 17, 1952, in the name of the Foreign Affairs Minister, Zhou Enlai sent a telegraph to the 13th UPU Congress, declared that Chinese government had appointed the representatives for the Congress and claimed to expel the delegates of Taiwan, but the statement was rejected. Since on, the relationship between China and the UPU had been suspended for 21 years.

China suffered from the hostility and block from some western countries after 1949, but post, after all, is of world nature, and the tie and exchanges among the people of the world could not be cut by such means. According to the stipulations of the UPU, the "free transportation of mail should be ensured within the UPU circle". Although the relationship between China and the UPU was suspended, China continued to stick to the Convention and the venous service treaties of the UPU to operate the international mail service, and established the postal relations with a number of countries by signing postal treaties. International mail to and from China was transported via those countries. With the expansion of the postal relations with other countries and regions and the resumption and growth of the international postal services, the exchange volume of the incoming and outgoing mail increased dramatically. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, such exchange volume was below l 00,000 bags each year. In 1952, the figure increased to 280,000 bags per year, and in 1959, it reached 400,000 bags.

In the early 1960s, with the vigorous upsurge of the national independence movement in Africa, China established direct postal relations with many newly independent African countries. By the end of 1965, 77 countries and regions in all the continents of the world had established the direct postal relations with China, which was a two-time increase compared to that of 26 in 1949. African countries increased from 2 to 18.

After the American President Nixon's visit to China in 1971, more countries established the diplomatic relations with China. We began to break through the . blockade of western countries and opened the gate to the world. In 1971, when the 26th Assembly of the UN passed the resolution to resume the legitimate position of China in the United Nations, the UPU passed the resolution on April l3, 1972, recognizing the People's Republic of China as the sole legal representative in the UPU, and the resolution took effect immediately. The relationship between China and the UPU was normalized. With the restoration of the legal seat of China in the Universal Postal Union, the relationship between China and the UPU has entered into a new stage. China nowadays is no longer what she used to be. After the normalization of the relations between China and the United States and the establishment of the diplomatic relationship between China and Japan, quite a number of countries set up the diplomatic ties with China. China's international status has been improved to a great extent. The construction of over 20 years brought China Post a big development not only in terms of the network size, but also in terms of the postal services. China Post has been playing an increasingly important role and holds an important position in the international postal family. China takes pat in the various activities of the UPU in a new gesture. In order to close the international postal relationship and learn the world advanced technology and management experience, China has actively taken part in the venous international postal meetings.

When China restored her legal position in the United Nations in 1972, Deputy Director of the Directorate-General of Post, Qiao Weizhong headed a delegation to the annual meeting of the Consultative Council for Postal Studies (CCPS) of the UPU in November, 1972. In May, 1974, Vice Minister Zhu Chunhe led a delegation to attend the 17th UPU Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland; in September, 1979, Vice Minister Zhu Chunhe headed the postal delegation to participate in the 18th UPU Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; in June, 1984, P&T Minister Wen Minsheng headed a delegation to attend the 19th UPU Congress in Hamburg, Germany, in 1989, Minister Yang Taifang led the Chinese postal delegation to attend the 20th UPU Congress in Washington, D.C., the United States; in 1994, Vice Minister Liu Pingyuan headed the postal delegation to attsnd the 21st UPU Congress in Seoul, Korea. From the 17th to 20th Congress, China was elected the vice chairman of the Congress and the council member of the CCPS in every Congress; at the 17th, 19th and 20th Congress, China was elected as the council member of the Executive Council, and held the vice chairmanship Position of the Executive Council of the 19th and 20th UPU Congress. At the 21st Congress in 1994, by receiving the highest number of votes, 156 votes (the total valid votes were 168), China was elected as the member of the Administrative Council (the former Executive Council) and the member Of the Postal Operations Council (the former CCPS). China held the chairmanship position of the 6th Committee of the Administrative Council (Seoul Strategy) and the 7th Committee of the Council for the Postal Operation (Postal Parcel) and presided over the work in a successful way.