October 19, 1946
Cable No. 35419 from Petrov in Nanjing on Arrest of Orthodox Archbishop
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CABLE
| STRICTLY SECRET |
Copy Nº 1 MARKUP
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Copy Nº 8 Copy
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[Handwritten over the distribution list: "Cde. Stalin agreed with Petrov's suggestion" [illegible initial]
From NANKING Nº 35419 1900 19.10 1946 Copy Nº 2
URGENT
Spets. Nº 1040
The Chinese arrested Archbishop Viktor on 19 October. Thus our statement about Viktor made [to] Wang Shijie on 19 June (see Your Nº 401) and the request to consult with the Embassy on questions connected with his past activity have been completely ignored. Having taking this exceptional step through insolence, the Chinese are obviously showing that they do not want to reckon with our opinion. Please permit [me] to visit Wang Shijie and, reminding him of our statement of 19 June, declare that the Soviet government does not understand the goals which the Chinese authorities are pursuing in persistently continuing to repress Soviet citizens, going, in this case, to take the step of arresting a representative of the Moscow Patriarch and thereby demonstrating their reluctance to take account of the wishes of the Soviet Embassy with respect to Viktor well-known to the MFA and the protests in connection with other, numerous cases of the persecution of Soviet citizens.
I consider it necessary to demand the immediate release of Viktor and to inform the Embassy of the materials of the investigation on the basis of which he was arrested.
Request urgent instructions.
19 October 1946 PETROV
10 copies kn
Sent 19.10.22-20
vyp. Gerasimov
Authenticated; [illegible signature] [handwritten: 7[[5]]94/N 10925 [[illegible initials]]
[handwritten in the left margin: "N 206 21 October [[19]]46"]
Petrov reports on the arrest of Archbishop Viktor and demands his immediate release.
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