Cable from the Chinese Embassy to the Soviet Union, 'A Report of the Speech Given By the Chief Editor of the Soviet Weekly Za Rubezhom'

Foreign Ministry,

According to our overseas students, on the 31st of October, the chief editor of the Soviet weekly, Za Rubezhom delivered a report on current events in the Moscow Agriculture College. Regarding the Cuba problem and the Sino-Indian border problem, he expressed the following views:

When speaking of the Cuba problem, he did not try advertising the wisdom of the Soviet policy. Instead, he began by reminding the audience, “The situation remains grave; the Cuban crisis has yet to pass away.” [He] quoted information from Western news agencies, saying “that the primary task of the West is to eliminate the [Fidel] Castro regime, to eliminate Castro and aggressive weapons altogether so as to curb the communist influence on [Latin] America.”  The reporter claimed, “Although a contribution has been made on our part, Western countries did not budge accordingly. They treated our activities as the projection of weakness. Now Washington is having celebratory parties, to congratulate their victory and to praise Kennedy’s wisdom and resolve. [Harry] Truman, this imperialist of the old brand, also took the opportunity and stepped out of the dark, saying that to the Russians [the US] ought to be tough. Once being threatened, they [the Russians] are bound to back down. On the West Berlin problem, too, [the US] should be tough.” The reporter rarely expressed his own opinion. [He] mainly introduced the situation of the Cuban crisis by referring to a plethora of news from foreign news agencies, and requested the audience to keep a close eye on the further development.

Regarding the Sino-India border, he commented, “The Sino-Indian border incident is not in the interests of world peace, nor was it expected by both countries [Indian and China]. Imperialism wants to exploit it. China is a socialist country and India is a capitalist one. India looked to the US for military aid which has already been promised by the US” He added, “Interestingly, in earlier years in the Senate, [John F.] Kennedy already said that to contain the communist movement in Asia, India will play a significant role.” The reporter also referred to the declaration made by China on 24 October—China raised its proposals but the Indian government turned them down—[he] quoted a paragraph from a Vietnamese newspaper and expressed the wish that the Sino-Indian border problem could be peacefully resolved.

Embassy to the Soviet Union

10 November 1962