As Secretary General, Lie supported the foundation of Israel and Indonesia. He worked for the withdrawal of Soviet forces in Iran and a stop to fighting in Kashmir. He attracted the anger of the Soviet Union when he helped gather support for the defence of South Korea after it was invaded in 1950 and later worked to end the Soviet boycott of UN meetings, though his involvement has only little to do with the eventual return of the Soviet Union to the UN. He was opposed to Spain's entry into the United Nations because of his opposition to the Franco government. He also sought to have the People's Republic of China recognized by the United Nations after the Nationalist government was exiled to Taiwan, arguing that the People's Republic was the only government which could fulfill the membership obligations in full. This did not happen until the 1970s.