Solidarity within limits: Interkit and the evolution of the Soviet Bloc’s Indochina policy, 1967–1985

Abstract

This article examines how Interkit, the Soviet-controlled ‘anti-China International’, evaluated the development of Sino-Indochinese relations, and which contribution the Vietnamese and Laotian delegations made to the forum’s meetings. It investigates how the various shifts in Sino-Soviet and Soviet-US relations enhanced or reduced Vietnam’s relative importance in Soviet strategy. It describes how the Kremlin sought to dissuade its East European satellites from responding to Beijing’s overtures by presenting the Sino-Vietnamese conflict as evidence of China’s belligerence, and examines the ideological linkage between Soviet superpower hegemony over Eastern Europe and Vietnamese regional hegemony over Indochina.

Keywords:

• Cambodia
• China
• communism
• Soviet Union
• Vietnam War

Notes

¹ James Hershberg, Sergey Radchenko, Péter Vámos, and David Wolff, ‘The Interkit Story: A Window into the Final Decades of the Sino-Soviet Relationship.’ Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) Working Paper #63 (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2011), 8.

² Péter Vámos, ‘China and Eastern Europe in the 1980s: A Hungarian Perspective.’ CWIHP e-Dossier no. 69, 2016, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/china-and-eastern-europe-the-1980s-hungarian-perspective (accessed February 2, 2017).

³ The non-Hungarian Interkit materials were accessed at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s History and Public Policy Programme Digital Archive and the digital collection of the Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security (PHP). Additional Czech documents were kindly provided by Oldrich Tuma.

⁴ Hershberg et al., ‘The Interkit Story’, 32–37.

⁵ ‘A kínai helyzet és Mao Ce-tung csoportjának politikája a jelenlegi időszakban.’ MNL, M-KS 288. f. 5/484. őe., 44–96.

⁶ ‘Report about an Internal Meeting of Delegations from the International Departments of Central Committees of CPSU, BCP, MPRP, PUWP, SED and HWSP in Sofia,’ History and Public Policy Programme Digital Archive. Foundation Archives of Parties and Mass Organisations of the GDR in the Federal Archives (SAPMO-BA) DY 30, IV A 2/20/1152. Obtained and translated for CWIHP by Bernd Schaefer. Accessed http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/113298 (accessed February 2, 2017).

⁷ On wartime Soviet policies toward the DRV, see Ilya V. Gaiduk, The Soviet Union and the Vietnam War (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1996).

⁸ Hungarian Embassy in the DRV, Report, 12 June 1968, XIX-J-1-j, Vietnam [Foreign Ministry, Top Secret Documents, Vietnam; henceforth VTS], 1968, 87. doboz, 1, 002704/1968.

⁹ Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Telegram, 20 October 1970, VTS, 1970, 87. doboz, 162-10, 002586/3/1970. See also Qiang Zhai, China and the Vietnam Wars 1950–1975 (Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), 182–192.

¹⁰ Hungarian Embassy to the USSR, Telegram, 11 February 1971, XIX-J-1-j Cambodia [Top Secret Documents, Cambodia; henceforth CATS], 1971, 62. doboz, 73-10, 00471/2/1971.

¹¹ Hungarian Embassy to the DRV, Report, 25 March 1970, VTS, 1970, 87. doboz, 162-10, 001822/1970.

¹² Hungarian Embassy in the DRV, Report, 15 November 1973, VTS, 1973, 107. doboz, 162-10, 005008/1973.

¹³ Hungarian Embassy in the DRV, Telegram, 26 November 1970, XIX-J-1-j China [Top Secret Documents, China; henceforth CTS], 1970, 50. doboz, 73-146, 001590/78/1970.

¹⁴ ‘Kína a 70-es évek elején.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1973, 71. őe., 206–284.

¹⁵ ‘Jegyzőkönyvi bejegyzés.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1973, 71. őe., 176–205.

¹⁶ Hungarian Embassy in the DRV, Report, 15 November 1973, VTS, 1973, 107. doboz, 162-10, 005008/1973.

¹⁷ ‘Note from the Eighth Meeting of the Deputy Heads of the CC International Departments of Eight Parties in Ulaanbaatar devoted to the Struggle with Maoism,’ History and Public Policy Programme Digital Archive. Archive of Modern Records, Warsaw (AAN), KC PZPR, LXXVI-1027. Obtained and translated for CWIHP by Malgorzata K. Gnoinska. Accessed at: http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/113240.

¹⁸ Hungarian Embassy in the DRV, Report, 16 September 1974, VTS, 1974, 114. doboz, 162-10, 002827/4/1974.

¹⁹ ‘Kína a KKP X. kongresszusa után.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1974, 76. őe., 50–84.

²⁰ ‘Jegyzőkönyvi bejegyzés.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1974, 76. őe., 135–143.

²¹ ‘Kína a maoista diktatúra hatalma alatt (1975–1976).’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1977, 86. őe., 103–189.

²² Hungarian Embassy in the GDR, Ciphered Telegram, 26 October 1979, VTS, 1979, 136. doboz, 162-5, 005387/1/1979.

²³ ‘Zpráva o důvĕrné schůzce představitelů mezinárodních oddĕlení ÚV bratrských stran osmi socialistických zemí o Čínĕ.’ Národní archiv (National Archive, Prague), Files of the Praesidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, 10849/22B/1975. Collected and provided by Oldrich Tuma.

²⁴ Hungarian Embassy in the DRV, Report, 21 November 1975, VTS, 1975, 137. doboz, 1, 004020/2/1975; Hungarian Embassy in the DRV, Telegram, 13 September 1976, CTS, 1976, 75. doboz, 73-10, 003242/2/1976.

²⁵ ‘Kína a maoista diktatúra hatalma alatt.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1977, 86. őe., 103–189.

²⁶ ‘Felszólalás a nyolc testvérpárt központi bizottságai képviselőinek 1977. júniusi, berlini Kína-értekezletén.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1977, 86. őe., 357–369.

²⁷ ‘Kína a maoista diktatúra hatalma alatt.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1977, 86. őe., 103–189.

²⁸ ‘Kína Mao Ce-tung után. A jelenlegi kínai vezetés politikai irányvonalának sajátosságairól.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1977, 86. őe., 1–87. On Vietnam’s Indochina policy and Cambodia’s opposition, see also Christopher E. Goscha, ‘Vietnam, the Third Indochina War and the Meltdown of Asian Internationalism’, in The Third Indochina War: Conflict between China, Vietnam and Cambodia, 1972-79, ed. Odd Arne Westad and Sophie Quinn-Judge (London and New York: Routledge, 2006), 159–173. On Romania, see Larry L. Watts, ‘A Romanian INTERKIT? Soviet Active Measures and the Warsaw Pact “Maverick”, 1965-1989.’ CWIHP Working Paper #65 (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2012).

²⁹ Hungarian Embassy in the PRC, Telegram, 1 November 1977, CATS, 1977, 73-1, 005139/1/1977.

³⁰ Hungarian Embassy in the SRV, Telegram, 1 December 1977, VTS, 1977, 133. doboz, 162-1, 005977/1/1977.

³¹ Hungarian Embassy in the SRV, Telegram, 5 January 1978, VTS, 1978, 140. doboz, 163-3, 0022/10/1978; Hungarian Embassy in the SRV, Telegram, 11 May 1978, VTS, 1978, 139. doboz, 162-5, 002556/2/1978; Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Memorandum, 7 June 1978, VTS, 1978, 139. doboz, 162-1, 002556/11/1978.

³² Hungarian Embassy in the SRV, Report, 20 April 1979, VTS, 1979, 136. doboz, 162-4, 001422/44/1979.

³³ Stephen J. Morris, Why Vietnam Invaded Cambodia. Political Culture and the Causes of War (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999), 210–215.

³⁴ ‘A kínai vezetés politikája a KKP XI. kongresszusa után.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1978, 51.őe., 257–358. Emphasis in the original.

³⁵ Hershberg et al., ‘The Interkit Story’, 16–20.

³⁶ ‘Jelentés a moszkvai konzultációról’, 30 March 1978. M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1978, 51. őe., 379–394.

³⁷ ‘Vystuplenie t. O.B. Rakhmanina.’ M-KS 288.f., 32/b/1978, 51. őe., 439–484.

³⁸ ‘A kínai vezetés politikája a KKP XI. kongresszusa után.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1978, 51.őe., 257–358.

³⁹ Hungarian Embassy in Cuba, Telegram, 27 November 1978, XIX-J-1-j Cuba, Top Secret Documents, 1978, 82. doboz, 84-1, 006179/1978.

⁴⁰ Hungarian Embassy in the USSR, Telegram, 19 October 1978, CTS, 1978, 78-1, 005542/1978.

⁴¹ On China’s motives, see Xiaoming Zhang, ‘Deng Xiaoping and China’s Decision to go to War with Vietnam’, Journal of Cold War Studies, 12, no. 3 (2010), 3–29.

⁴² ‘A Kínai Népköztársaság megalakulásának 30. évében.’ M-KS 288.f., 32/b/1979, 106. őe., 61–161. Emphasis in the original.

⁴³ Ibid.

⁴⁴ Ibid. Emphasis in the original.

⁴⁵ Hungarian Embassy in the SRV, Report, 6 April 1979, VTS, 1979, 136. doboz, 162-4, 003101/1979.

⁴⁶ ‘A Kínai Népköztársaság megalakulásának 30. évében.’ M-KS 288.f., 32/b/1979, 106. őe., 61–161.

⁴⁷ Hershberg et al., ‘The Interkit Story’, 111.

⁴⁸ For an overview, see Martin-Stuart Fox, Vietnam in Laos: Hanoi’s Model for Kampuchea (Claremont: Keck Centre for International Strategic Studies, 1987).

⁴⁹ ‘Kína a 70-es évek elején.’ M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1973, 71. őe., 206–284.

⁵⁰ Hungarian Embassy in the SRV, Telegram, 28 July 1978, VTS, 1978, 139. doboz, 162-1, 002556/44/1978.

⁵¹ Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Memorandum, 2 August 1979, VTS, 1979, 135. doboz, 162-1, 004531/1979.

⁵² ‘Vystuplenie rukovoditelia delegatsii TsK NRPL Somlata Chanthamata.’ M-KS 288.f., 32. cs., 1982, 128. őe., 291–298.

⁵³ Hungarian Embassy in Laos, Ciphered Telegram, 3 February 1983, VTS, 1983, 125. doboz, 162-40, 001182/1983.

⁵⁴ Hungarian Embassy in the SRV, Ciphered Telegram, 10 August 1979, M-KS, 288. f. 32. cs., HSWP CC International Liaison Department, 1979, 99. őe., Vietnam 1979/E, 17759/1979.

⁵⁵ Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Memorandum, 16 October 1981, CATS, 1981, 79. doboz, 73-109, 006171/1981.

⁵⁶ Hungarian Embassy in the PRK, Ciphered Telegram, 7 December 1981. CATS, 1981, 79. doboz, 73-109, 007042/1981. See also Margaret Slocomb, The People’s Republic of Kampuchea 1979-1989. The Revolution after Pol Pot (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2003), 85–88.

⁵⁷ Balázs Szalontai, ’From Battlefield into Marketplace: The End of the Cold War in Indochina, 1985-9’, in The End of the Cold War in the Third World. New Perspectives on Regional Conflict, ed. Artemy Kalinovsky and Sergey Radchenko (London: Routledge, 2011), 159.

⁵⁸ Hershberg et al., ‘The Interkit Story’, 25.

⁵⁹ ‘Tézisek a június 11–12-i varsói ‘Interkit’ konzultáción elmondandó felszólaláshoz.’ M-KS 288.f., 32/b/1980, 131. őe., 169-182.

⁶⁰ Aleksandr Antonovich Lyakhovskiy, ‘Inside the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the Seizure of Kabul, December 1979.’ CWIHP Working Paper #51 (Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2007), 20–21.

⁶¹ ‘Tézisek a június 11–12-i varsói “Interkit” konzultáción elmondandó felszólaláshoz.’ M-KS 288.f., 32/b/1980, 131. őe., 169–182.

⁶² ‘Jelentés kilenc szocialista ország testvérpártjai KB külügyi osztályai képviselőinek július 9-i moszkvai konzultációjáról’, 14 July 1981. M-KS 288. f., 32/b/1981, 135. őe.

⁶³ ‘Zpráva o výsledcích důvĕrné schůzky představitelů mezinárodních oddĕlení bratrských stran devíti socialistických zemí o vývoji v Čínĕ.’ Národní archiv, Files of the Praesidium of the CPCz CC, 8684/24B/1980. Collected and provided by Oldrich Tuma.

⁶⁴ Hershberg et al., ‘The Interkit Story’, 114.

⁶⁵ ‘Zpráva o výsledcích důvĕrné schůzky představitelů mezinárodních oddĕlení.’ Narodni archiv, Files of the Praesidium of the CPCz CC, 8684/24B/1980.

⁶⁶ Hershberg et al., ‘The Interkit Story’, 111–117.

⁶⁷ Marcel Bode, ‘Die Beziehungen der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik gegenüber der Volksrepublik China in den Jahren 1978 bis 1990. Handlungsspielräume und ihre Grenzen in Politik und Ideologie.’ Masterarbeit (Potsdam: Universität Potsdam, 2013), 16–28; Zhong Zhong Chen, ‘Defying Moscow: East German-Chinese Relations during the Andropov-Chernenko Interregnum, 1982-1985’, Cold War History, 14, no. 2 (2014), 268–269.

⁶⁸ Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Memorandum, 23 December 1982, CTS, 1982, 76. doboz, 103, 001466/5/1982.

⁶⁹ Philip Brick, ‘The Politics of Bonn-Beijing Normalization, 1972-84’, Asian Survey, 25, no. 7 (1985), 785–789.

⁷⁰ ‘Tíz szocialista ország testvérpártjai KB külügyi osztályainak Kína-konzultációja’, May 1982, M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1982, 128. őe., 122–139. See also Chen, ’Defying Moscow’, 266–270.

⁷¹ Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Memorandum, 28 December 1981, XIX-J-1-j, Socialist countries, 1982, 147. doboz, 215-10, 00114/5/1982. Collected and provided by Péter Vámos.

⁷² On the Tashkent speech, see Sergey Radchenko, Unwanted Visionaries. The Soviet Failure in Asia at the End of the Cold War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 10–16.

⁷³ ‘Tíz szocialista ország testvérpártjai KB külügyi osztályainak Kína-konzultációja.’ M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1982, 128. őe., 122–139.

⁷⁴ Ibid.

⁷⁵ Chen, ‘Defying Moscow’, 263.

⁷⁶ ‘Zakliuchitel’noe slovo predsedatel’stvuiushchevo poslednevo zasedaniia rukovoditelia delegatsii TsK KPSS Olega Borisovicha Rakhmanina.’ M-KS 288.f., 32. cs., 1982, 128. őe., 312–315.

⁷⁷ ‘Tíz szocialista ország testvérpártjai KB külügyi osztályainak Kína-konzultációja.’ M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1982, 128. őe., 122–139.

⁷⁸ ‘Rekomendatsii po osnovnym napravleniiam politicheskoi, propagandistkoi i nauchno-issledovatel’skoi paboty po kitaiskomu voprosy.’ M-KS 288.f., 32. cs., 1982, 128.őe., 326–332.

⁷⁹ Balázs Szalontai, ‘The Diplomacy of Economic Reform in Vietnam: The Genesis of Doi Moi, 1986–1989’, Journal of Asiatic Studies, 51, no. 2 (2008), 203–205.

⁸⁰ ‘Jelentés tíz szocialista ország testvérpártjai KB külügyi osztályainak Kína-konzultációjáról’, 14 December 1983. M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1983, 110. őe., 631–638.

⁸¹ ‘Jelentés: Tíz szocialista ország testvérpártjai KB külügyi osztályainak Kína-konzultációja’, 4 May 1983, M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1983, 110. őe., 24–30.

⁸² ‘Protokol’naia zapis.’ M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1983, 110. őe., 18–21.

⁸³ ‘Felszólalás a prágai Kína-konzultáción.’ M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1983, 110. őe., 353–360.

⁸⁴ ‘Jelentés tíz szocialista ország testvérpártjai KB külügyi osztályainak Kína-konzultációjáról.’ M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1983, 110. őe., 631–638.

⁸⁵ Ibid.

⁸⁶ ‘Feljegyzés Szűrös Mátyás elvtárs részére’, 5 October 1984, M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1984, 111. őe., 74–82.

⁸⁷ ‘K vystupleniiu glavy delegatsii KPSS tov. Rakhmanina O.B.’ M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1984, 111. őe., 712–757.

⁸⁸ ‘Jelentés a Politikai Bizottság tagjai részére a tihanyi Kína-konzultációról (Interkit)’, 6 November 1984, M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1984, 111. őe., 167–176.

⁸⁹ ‘Feljegyzés Szűrös Mátyás elvtárs részére’, 15 October 1984, M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1984, 111. őe., 152–153.

⁹⁰ ‘Jelentés a Politikai Bizottság tagjai részére.’ M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1984, 111. őe., 167–176.

⁹¹ ‘Feljegyzés Szűrös Mátyás elvtárs részére’, 21 February 1985, M-KS 288. f., 32. cs., 1985, 124.őe., 179–182.

⁹² Szalontai, ‘The Diplomacy of Economic Reform’, 206.

⁹³ Radchenko, Unwanted Visionaries, 98–102.

⁹⁴ Szalontai, ‘From Battlefield into Marketplace’, 158–159.

⁹⁵ Szalontai, ‘The Diplomacy of Economic Reform’, 217–218.