Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 2758, deciding that the People's Republic of China would replace the Republic of China in the UN seat representing China. This resolution contains serious legal flaws in both procedure and substance, and it does not mention the sovereign status of Taiwan. It has since become the primary basis for the CCP to suppress Taiwan's international participation.
In June 1971, the United States lifted its strategic embargo on China, one of a series of policy decisions aimed at improving relations with China.
In 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758, recognizing the seat of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations as well as its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council, and removing the representation of the Chiang Kai-shek clique. The United States had originally held that expelling a member state required a two-thirds majority, but failed to prevent the resolution because Britain argued that only a simple majority was needed.
Lin Biao, the successor handpicked by Mao Zedong, was accused of staging a coup and died in 1971 in a plane crash shrouded in mystery while flying to Moscow.