Harvard Professors Urge China's Admission to U. N.

Eleven Harvard professors of East Asian studies called for American support of Communist China's admission to the United Nations in a letter which appeared in the New York Times yesterday.

The scholars based their appeal on two arguments. First, the United States cannot afford to keep China isolated from the rest of the world. Problems such as the Indochina war, nuclear proliferation and the war against hunger, all require Communist China's participation in the U. N. for effective resolution.

Second, Taiwan's U. N. seat will be precarious as long as Communist China's seat remains under debate. "If we are interested in having 13 million Taiwanese represented," James C. Thomson, assistant professor of History and one of the letter's signers, said, "the U. S. government should, instead of refusing to compromise and risking the ouster of Taiwan, enter into negotiations to prevent such a turn of events."

Edwin O. Reischauer, University Professor in East Asian Studies, said that Albania-has already proposed that Taiwan leave the U. N. so that Mainland China can replace her. He added that Albania's proposal has little support so far, but that it might "stampede."

The letter did not mention recognition of Communist China, since the professors hold varying views. Nor did the letter specify the necessary steps toward admission.

The list of signers includes virtually all the specialists in East Asian studies at the level of assistant professor and above, and some in related fields. Besides Reischauer and Thomson, the signatories were: John K. Fairbank '29, Ezra F. Vogel, Dwight H. Perkins, Albert M. Craig, Ernest R. May, Benjamin I, Schwartz '38, Jerome A. Cohen, Henry Rosovsky and Roy Hofheinz Jr.