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China

This Happened—November 23: People's Republic Comes To The UN

Following a long series of voting, and two decades after its founding, the People's Republic of China finally gains recognition and joins the United Nations.

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When did the People’s Republic of China join the UN?

The Republic of China joined the UN when it was founded in 1945, along with all of the other Allied countries from World War II. But, just four years later China experienced a communist revolution during the Chinese Civil War which led to the establishment of the new People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Was the People's Republic of China originally allowed to join?

The People’s Republic of China struggled for 21 years to achieve recognition and legitimacy in the UN, which recognized the Republic of China, aka, Taiwan, as the legitimate Chinese representatives. until U.S. President Richard Nixon finally opened negotiations with then Chairman Mao Zedong of the Chinese Communist Party. Albania had been putting forth yearly motions to replace the Republic with the People’s Republic for years, but this time the U.S. was onboard. In 1971, the People’s Republic of China finally became a member of the UN, and one of five permanent members on the UN Security Council, a seat which it has now held for over 50 years.

How was the People's Republic of China formed?

As the Republic of China essentially operated out of the island of Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China became the undisputed governing body of mainland China, yet the UN continued to recognize the old Republic of China due to its more closely aligned ideology.

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Society

Why Poland's Draconian Anti-Abortion Laws May Get Even Crueler

Poland has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. Several parties vying in national elections on Oct. 15 are competing for conservative Catholic voters by promising new laws that could put women's lives at risk.

Photograph of a woman with her lower face covered holding a red lightning bolt - the symbol of the Women's Strike - during the demonstration outside Kaczynski's house.

November 28, 2022, Warsaw, Poland: A protester holds a red lightning bolt - the symbol of the Women's Strike - during the demonstration outside Kaczynski's house.

Attila Husejnow/ZUMA
Katarzyna Skiba

-Analysis-

In 2020, Poland was rocked by mass protests when the country’s Constitutional Tribunal declared abortions in the case of severe fetal illness or deformity illegal. This was one of only three exceptions to Poland’s ban on abortions, which now only applies in cases of sexual assault or when the life of the mother is at risk.

Since the 2020 ruling, several women have filed complaints to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after giving birth to children with severe fetal abnormalities, many of whom do not survive long after birth. One woman working at John Paul II hospital in the Southern Polish town of Nowy Targ told Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza that a patient was forced to give birth to a child suffering from acrania a lethal disorder where infants are born without a skull.

However, even in cases where abortion is technically legal, hospitals and medical professionals in Poland still often refuse to perform the procedure, citing moral objections.

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