Telegram from Aurel Duma to Corneliu Manescu Concerning the Information Passed to Chinese Foreign Ministry Regarding the Organization of the 10th Romanian Communist Party Congress and the Intention of Certain American Senators to Visit China

No. 56 228 3 June 1969, Beijing

Confidential 1:30 pm

Urgent

1. During the meeting on 2 June of this year, I presented to Qiao Guanhua, Deputy Foreign Minister of People’s Republic of China, the contents of the decision concerning the convocation of the 10th Congress of the RCP and the CC theses for the congress of the party.

Qiao Guanhua carefully listened to my exposition but did not ask any questions or express his opinion. He thanked me for it and declared that the document composed by the RCP CC would be closely examined by the Chinese leadership.

Furthermore, the deputy minister inquired about the state of the Romanian economy. I briefly mentioned to him our current concerns regarding this matter.

2. On the occasion of the same visit, I informed Qiao Guanhua about the intention of certain American senators to make an unofficial visit to China.

The deputy minister expressed thanks for the information and made the following comments in regards to it:

“You are familiar with the position of the Chinese government towards the US. It is known that in February 1950, Truman, the American president at that time, declared that the Taiwan issue is China’s domestic problem, but only a few months after this declaration, the Americans occupied this Chinese territory and the Taiwan Strait with troops, and eventually announced the idea of creating two Chinas.

We support peaceful coexistence with all states, including the US, but the principles of this policy cannot be applied to a state that occupies a Chinese territory and leads a policy hostile to China.

In our opinion, the American initiatives towards bilateral relations with China do not represent a new policy, but rather new methods of the Nixon administration, which realized that the US was not able to obtain results by promoting power politics vis-à-vis China. In fact, Nixon’s policy is still reactionary, warlike, and hostile towards China.

The Chinese nation has not accepted the American policy towards China even in the past, when it was even less prepared both politically and economically. Thus, it will be even less disposed to accept this policy now.

In regards to the creation of two Chinas, even Jiang Jieshi [Chiang Kai-shek] is against this but, of course, also for other reasons. On one side, he aspires to regain China, and on the other side, he expresses the general feelings of Taiwan’s population, which does not wish to live separately from China.

It is [interesting] to point out that the Soviets are vigorously pushing towards the creation of two Chinas; a convincing example attesting to this is the participation of the Jiang-Jieshi-ists at a conference in Bulgaria. We consider that there is a possibility that the Soviet Union will send an ambassador to Taiwan.”

In response to my remark that the main problem would be the American withdrawal from Taiwan, Qiao Guanhua pointed out that “prior to the American withdrawal from Taiwan and from the Taiwan Strait, a problem discussed at the ambassadorial level for over ten years, the tensions in Sino-American relations cannot be reduced [and] other matters cannot be discussed.” He then continued, stating that “the Chinese government never believed that the Americans could ever be driven out of Taiwan by diplomatic means [alone]. We consider that this problem will not be solved for a long time to come, due to the fact that the Americans will not easily renounce their hostile policy towards China.”

Referring to certain aspects of the situation in Taiwan, Qiao Guanhua stated that at the Guomindang [Kuomintang] Congress that recently took place, Jiang Jingguo [Chiang Ching-kuo] was named as successor of his father, Jiang Jieshi. He added that, even though the alliance between Taiwan and the US is very close, Jiang Jieshi does not allow American control of his army. In fact, the deputy minister underlined, there are not many American troops in Taiwan, but this territory is controlled by the American Navy, which patrols the Taiwan Strait.

While relating the above mentioned issues, Qiao Guanhua spoke in a [calm] distinguished tone.

I pointed out the fact that the deputy minister did not declare that he would inform the leadership about the American senators’ intention to visit China and did not promise that he would give an answer.

3. On a separate note, Qiao Guanhua pointed out that the Soviet reaction to the Chinese government’s declaration on 24 May of this year, concerning the border issues between the two countries, temporarily manifested itself as an intensification of the provocations at the border. Regarding the Joint Commission for Navigation Issues, he mentioned that the Chinese side agrees that it should meet in June, but he did not specify whether the Chinese government has accepted the 18 June date proposed by the Soviet side.

When asked about the visit to Beijing of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s chief delegate to the Paris talks, the deputy minister indicated that he made contact with Chinese officials and emphasized that the Chinese side knows about the Vietnamese problem better than is depicted in the press. Qiao Guanhua stated that, according to some statements, the Vietnamese are determined to fight until they obtain final victory. He underscored that as long as Vietnam would continue the fight, the Chinese government will strongly support it. (I believe he was alluding to president Ho Chi Minh’s recent speech before the higher military leaders, which was fully published in the 30 May 1969 edition of the Renmin Ribao [People’s Daily] newspaper.)

The meeting, which lasted an hour, took place in a close comradely atmosphere. From the Chinese side participated Li Lianqing, deputy director, and a Ministry Official as translator. I was accompanied by First Secretary I. Dorobantu.

(ss.) A. Duma