The Soviet Union boycotted the United Nations from 13 January until 1 August 1950. The boycott originated over a dispute over the representation of China before the United Nations. The Soviet Union demanded that representatives of the People's Republic of China (PRC) be seated in the United Nations Security Council while the United Nations recognized representatives of the Kuomintang and the Republic of China. After the Soviet Union lost a motion to seat the PRC in the UN on 13 January 1950, it decided to boycott the organization.