Much of the immense bibliographical problem involved in the study and practice of international law is both predictable and inevitable, following as it does from the fact that the discipline is necessarily international. There is bound to be, that is to say, French, German, Italian and Roumanian documentation in relation to any matter in which the States of France, Germany, Italy and Roumania are equally concerned. Only occasionally are there linguistic, but still not necessarily textual, simplications where two States, such as Spain and Argentina or Australia and the United States, speak the same language. There was of course once a diplomatic tongue—first Latin, later French—with pretensions to universal application. But even in a monophone international society the multiplication of texts is not excluded as the term Notes identiques makes clear.

The “national” yearbooks of international law—or, in a few cases, of international relations—are a relatively recent phenomenon in the legal literature. Modeled after their only pre-war ancestor, the British Yearbook of International Law, most of them came into existence during the last 25 years; the Swiss Yearbook, which first appeared in 1944, is the only one other than the British which antedates the end of WW II.

The normalization of relations and their broadening in various fields between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China was a major historical, political and diplomatic event. It went through several stages and involved types of international acts and documents. Without a doubt, these developments had a definite impact on the internal legislative, administrative and judicial programs and policy of the countries involved. They also affected the community of nations and the relations therein. As a result, they may be grouped into three categories based on their purpose and the countries or international organizations referred to: 1) Relations within the United Nations; 2) U.S.-China relations; and 3) U.S.-Taiwan relations.