Cable from the Chinese Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘Situation of the Talks during the Vietnamese Ambassador’s Visit to Ambassador Pan’

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Cable

Level: Extra Urgent / From the Moscow Desk / Received (65) No. 587

Situation of the Talks during the Vietnamese Ambassador’s Visit to Ambassador Pan

Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

At 1:00 p.m. on the afternoon of the 10th, the Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Van Kinh came to speak with Ambassador Pan, the report it as follows:

(1) On the 9th, a cultural attache from the Vietnamese embassy, the First Secretary, went to the central Soviet authorities, namely the Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and immediately brought up the following two issues:  

1) In the course of the Soviet suppression of the recent protest rally, 73 Vietnamese students were injured, 5 of them seriously, and some had no choice but to go to the hospital.  After the incident however, the school and hospitals refused to provide the basic necessary care.  Vietnam would like to ask the Soviets in advance to take steps to rectify this problem.

2) After the conclusion of the rally, representatives and professors from the universities were not only unsupportive of the students, but they were even hostile in their attitudes toward the students.  This kind of behavior is harmful to Vietnamese-Soviet relations and will only hinder the students' studies.

(2) The Soviet response to the above issues was: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promised to relay the information to the higher ups, but did not give a positive answer.  The Ministry of Higher Education told the attache that the Vietnamese students are not being treated differently, and that they are in line with the rules.  They will receive the care they need. The Vice Minister for the Ministry of Public Relations expressed his regret for the situation.

(3) The Vietnamese embassy has pointed out that the Vietnamese students will push the student groups from other countries to action, issuing letters of protest to the Soviet Bureau of Public Security, Ministry of Higher Education, and the Central Soviet Authorities.  It will not only be in Moscow, but in other locations in the republic where Vietnamese students are studying.

From the Embassy in the Soviet Union

March 11th 1965