Unknown page of history: the dispatch of Chinese workers to the USSR (1954–1957)

ABSTRACT

In 1954, during his trip to China, Khrushchev asked Mao Zedong to send one million Chinese workers to the Soviet Far East and Siberia to participate in the ‘construction of communism’. The same year, the two parties signed an agreement, but only 2000 people eventually travelled to the USSR. The failure of the two parties to openly discuss existing issues and communicate their concerns ultimately prevented a mutually beneficial programme from being successfully implemented. At the same time, it further complicated bilateral relations.

KEYWORDS:

• Khrushchev
• Mao Zedong
• foreign aid
• Chinese workers
• Sino-Soviet relations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Archival material about those studying and living in the Soviet Union is mainly stored in the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History. They also left behind many diaries and memoirs, for example: Qu Qiubai, Chidu Xinshi [History of the heart of the red capital] (Beijing: Dongfang Chubanshe, 2015); Jiang Jingguo, Jiang Jingguo Zishu [The autobiography of Jiang Jingguo] (Beijing: Taihai Chubanshe, 2014); Xiao Jinguang and Fu Su Xuexi Qianhou, ‘Before and After Studying in the Soviet Union’, Gemingshi Ziliao[Revolutionary History Materials], no. 3 (1981). For related studies see, for instance: Yu Min-ling, ‘Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, 1925–1930’ (Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1995); Alexander Pantsov and Daria Spichak, ‘New Light from the Russian Archives: Chinese Stalinists and Trotskyists at the International Lenin School in Moscow, 1926–1938’, Twentieth-Century China 33, no. 2 (2008): 29–50; Elizabeth McGuire, Red at Heart: How Chinese Communists Fell in Love with the Russian Revolution (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017).

² For relevant memoirs, document collections and academic studies see: OuMei Tongxuehui Liu QianSulian yu Dulianti Fenhui [The former Soviet and the CIS branch of the European and American Student Association], ed., Xuezhi Zhilu: Xin Zhongguo Liu Su Xueshi Fendou Zuyi [The scholar’s path: the struggle of new China scholars in the Soviet Union] (Beijing: Zhongguo Qingnian Chubanshe, 2000); Deng Shouqiang, LiuSu de Suiyue [Studying in the Soviet Union] (Shenyang: Dongbei Daxue Chubanshe, 2007); Shan Gang and Wang Yinghui, Suiyue Wukui: Zhongguo Liu Su Qunti ji Su Suiyue [Time gone without a trace: a record of Chinese residents in the Soviet Union] (Beijing: Zhongyang Bianyi Chubanshe, 2007). For related academic studies see: Shen Zhihua, Sulian zhuanjia zai Zhongguo [Soviet experts in China] (Beijing: Zhongguo Guoji Guangbo Chubanshe, 2003); Zhang Bochun, Sulian Jishu Xiang Zhongguo de Zhuanyi [Transfer of Soviet technology to China] (Jinan: Shandong Jiaoyu Chubanshe, 2004); Zhou Shangwen, ‘Xin Zhongguo Chengli Chuqi “LiuSuchao” Pingshu’ [Review of ‘Studying in the Soviet Union’ in the early period since the founding of New China], Mao Zedong Deng Xiaoping Lilun Yanjiu[Research on Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping theory], no. 10 (2012): 49–54; You Lan, ‘ZhongSu Guanxi Zouxiang Polie de Jianzhengzhe – 20 Shiji 60 Niandai Zhongguo LiuSu Xuesheng de Lishi Kaocha’ [Witness to the decline of Sino-Soviet relations – a historical survey of Chinese students studying in the Soviet Union in the 1960s], Zhonggong Dangshi Yanjiu [Research on the history of the Communist Party of China], no. 10 (2014): 60–70; and Kaple Deborah, ‘Agents of Change: Soviet Advisers and High Stalinist Management in China, 1949–1960’, Journal of Cold War Studies 18, no. 1 (2016): 5–30.

³ M. I. Sladkovskii, Istoriia torgovo-ekonomicheskikh otnoshenii SSSR s Kitaem, 1917–1974 [History of economic and trade relations between the USSR and China] (Moscow: Nauka, 1977), 216–17.

⁴ N. S. Khrushchev, Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, vol. 3, ed. Sergei Khrushchev; memoirs translated by George Shriver (University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 2004–7), 421–3.

⁵ V. Dantsyshen, ‘Historical and Contemporary Trends of Chinese Labor Migration into Siberia’, in Chinese Migrants in Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe, ed. Felix B. Chang and Sunnie Chang (London: Routledge, 2012), 29–37; and V. G. Datsyshen, ‘Kitaiskaja trudovaia migratsiia v Rossii’ [Chinese labour migration], Problemy Dal’nego Vostoka, no. 5 (2008): 99–104.

⁶ M. S. Kamenskikh, ‘Kitaiskie rabochie v Prikam’e v period sovetsko-kitaiskoi druzhby: problemy byta i adaptatsii’ [Chinese workers in Prikam’e during the period of Sino-Soviet friendship: problems in everyday life and adaptation], Vestnik Permskogo Universiteta, no. 3 (2013): 34–42.

⁷ The author has not been able to find archival documents which recorded the meeting between Khrushchev and Mao Zedong in 1954, when they discussed the dispatch of Chinese workers to the Soviet Union. Neither Russian nor Chinese records of this meeting have yet been declassified; therefore, Khrushchev’s memoirs have become the main source on this matter.

⁸ N. S. Khrushchev, Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, vol. 3 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 2004–7), 421.

⁹ Ibid., 422–3.

¹⁰ Ibid., 423.

¹¹ Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo zhengfu he Suweiai Shehuizhuyi Gongheguo Lianmeng guanyu cong Zhongguo paiqian gongren fu Sulian canjia gongchanzhuyi jianshe bing shou laodong xunlian de xieding [Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the dispatch of workers from China to the Soviet Union to participate in the construction of communism and receive employment training], October 12, 1954, Dang’anhao 137-1-11, 163–4, Zhongyang Dang’anguan (Central Archives of Communist Party of China), Beijing.

¹² Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo zhengfu he Suweiai Shehuizhuyi Gongheguo Lianmeng guanyu cong Zhongguo paiqian gongren fu Sulian canjia gongchanzhuyi jianshe bing shou laodong xunlian de xieding [Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the dispatch of workers from China to the Soviet Union to participate in the construction of communism and receive employment training], October 12, 1954, Dang’anhao 137-1-11, 163–4, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

¹³ ‘Wubi shenhou de weida youyi’ [Incomparably deep great friendship], Renmin Ribao[People’s Daily], October 13, 1954, 1.

¹⁴ Zhonggong Zhongyang guanyu dongyuan qingzhuangnian qu Sulian canjia gongchanzhuyi jianshe he xuexi shengchan jishu de xuanchuan tongzhi [Instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on mobilising young and middle-aged people to participate in Soviet construction of communism and learn technical skills], April 1, 1955, Dang’anhao J1-35-156, 19–24, Henan sheng Dang’anguan (Archives of Henan Province), Zhenzhou.

¹⁵ Labour-for-sale (mai laogong): forced labour. The Japanese, during the period of occupation, set up a system of labour recruitment and management agencies from the central to the local level. Every year, a large number of labourers from the northern, central and southern provinces of China were captured through various methods such as fraud, conscription and arrests, and then sent to various parts of China, Japan and the occupied territories in Southeast Asia, in order to perform heavy labour. The Chinese workers were constantly subjected to cruel oppression and persecution. Jiangsu sheng dongyuan gongren qianwang Sulian gongzuo jianbao (di yi qi) [Brief report on mobilisation of Chinese workers from Jiangsu Province to go to the USSR (No. 1)], April 9, 1955, Dang’anhao 3072-2-271, 3, Jiangsu sheng Dang’anguan (Archives of Jiangsu Province), Nanjing.

¹⁶ Huagong is a term used for Chinese workers travelling to Southeast Asia and the Americas. Many were subjected to poorly paid heavy labour in extremely difficult working conditions. Shandong sheng dongyuan gongren qianwang Sulian gongzuo jianbao (di wu hao) [Brief report on mobilisation of Chinese workers from Shandong Province to go to the USSR (No. 5)], April 14, 1955, Dang’anhao A101-1-347, 30, Shandong sheng Dang’anguan (Archives of Shandong Province), Jinan.

¹⁷ Zhonggong Hebei shengwei guanyu dongyuan qingzhuangnian canjia Sulian gongchanzhuyi jianshe huiyi jielun cao’an [Draft of conclusions of the Conference of the Hebei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China on mobilising young and middle-aged people to participate in the Soviet construction of communism], March 14, 1955, Dang’anhao 855-3-653, 65, Hebei sheng Dang’anguan (Archives of Hebei Province), Shijiazhuang.

¹⁸ See, for instance: ‘Menggu juxing shou jiangyi shi jiangli bangzhu jianzhuqiao de woguo zhigong’ [Mongolia held an award ceremony to celebrate Chinese worker who helped in the construction of bridges], Renmin Ribao, October 29, 1959, 5. According to author’s preliminary count, from 1955 to 1961, Renmin Ribao [People’s Daily] printed 35 reports about Chinese labour assistance to Mongolia in construction of communism, but there were no reports about similar assistance to the Soviet Union.

¹⁹ Guowuyuan chuguo gongren guanliju bian [Administration of Overseas Workers of the State Council (eds.)] : Fu Sulian gongren xunlian jiaocai [Training Materials for Workers Going to the Soviet Union], Dang’anhao 3072-2-271-5, 28-29, Jiangsu sheng Dang’anguan (Archives of Jiangsu Province), Nanjing.

²⁰ Su Shangrao and Han Wenwei, eds., Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo zhongyang zhengfu jigou (1949–1990) [Institutions of central government of the People’s Republic of China] (Beijing: Jingji Kexue Chubanshe, 1993), 502.

²¹ V. G. Datsyshen, ‘Kitaiskaia trudovaia migratsiia v Rossii’ [Chinese labour migration in Russia], Problemy Dal’nego Vostoka[Far Eastern Affairs], no. 5 (2008): 100.

²² Deng Xiaoping tong A’erxibofu de huitan jilu [Conversation record between Deng Xiaoping and I.V. Arkhipov], November 8, 1954, Dang’anhao 137-1-134, 23–5, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

²³ Ibid.

²⁴ Ibid.

²⁵ Summary material on the work and life of Chinese workers in the Soviet Union, March 1, 1955, f. P9507, op. 4, d. 683, II.93–96, Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv Rossiiskoi Federatsii (State Archive of Russian Federation, GARF), Moscow.

²⁶ Ibid.

²⁷ Summary report on the work and daily cultural life of Chinese workers in the Soviet Union, March 1955, f. P5475, op. 35, d. 13, II.1–15, GARF.

²⁸ Ibid.

²⁹ Irkutsk Oblast’ Party Committee summary report on the reception and placement of Chinese workers, f. 127, op. 44, d. 55, ll. 97–98, Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv Noveishei Istorii Irkutskoi Oblasti (State Archive of the Contemporary History of Irkutsk Oblast’) (GANIIO), Irkutsk.

³⁰ Irkutsk Oblast’ Party Committee summary report on the reception and placement of Chinese workers, f. 127, op. 44, d. 55, ll. 97–98, GANIIO.

³¹ Guanyu Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo gongren wei canjia gongchanzhuyi jianshe he laodong xunlian ziyuan dao Sulian qiye, jiangong gongdi he daimu qiye gongzuo de biaozhu laodong hetong [Standard labour contract for workers from the People’s Republic of China who participate in the construction of communism and employment training through volunteering in Soviet enterprises, construction sites and logging companies], 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-114, 26–33, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

³² This refers to renminbi, which was in circulation at the time. From 1 March 1955, the People’s Bank of China issued new renminbi to replace the old currency. The exchange rate was 10,000 old yuan to one new yuan.

³³ Ibid.

³⁴ Zhou Enlai gei Shandong deng sheng de teji dianbao [Telegram from Zhou Enlai to Shandong and other provinces], February 12, 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-11, 1–2, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

³⁵ Paiqian Zhongguo gongren canjia Sulian gongchanzhuyi jianshe huiyi jianbao [Conference briefing on dispatching Chinese workers to participate in the Soviet construction of communism], March 16–22, 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-10, 1–10, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

³⁶ Ibid.

³⁷ Ibid.

³⁸ Ibid.

³⁹ Fu Sulian gongren xunlian jiaocai [Textbook for the workers going to the USSR], April 4, 1955, Dang’anhao 3072- 2-271, 24–32, Jiangsu sheng Dang’anguan.

⁴⁰ Ibid.

⁴¹ Ibid.

⁴² The author interviewed Zheng Dezhi on April 13, 2012. Zheng Dezhi, a native of Qingyuan County, Hebei Province, worked in Irkutsk, USSR from 1955 to 1963.

⁴³ Zhongguo Renmin Jiefangjun moubu dongyuan fuyuan zhanshi qianwang Sulian canjia shehuizhuyi jianshe de qingkuang huizong [Summary of mobilisation of demobilised soldiers from a selected unit of the People’s Liberation Army to participate in the Soviet socialist construction], April 9, 1955, Dang’anhao 3072-2-271, 2–3, Jiangsu sheng Dang’anguan.

⁴⁴ Heluxiaofu gei Mao Zedong de xin [Khrushchev’s letter to Mao Zedong], April 15, 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-11, 160–1, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁴⁵ N. S. Khrushchev, Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, vol. 3 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 2004–7), 425.

⁴⁶ Zhonggong zhongyang duiwai lianluobu bian [International Liaison Department of the CCP, eds., ‘Sulian renkou fazhan qushi ji qi dui minzu jiegou he jingji fazhan de yingxiang’ [Soviet Population Development Trend and Its Influence on National Structure and Economic Development], Sulian Diaoyan[Soviet Studies], no. 4 (1979): 1–9.

⁴⁷ Deng Xiaoping dui Heluxiaofu laixin de pishi [Deng Xiaoping’s inscription on the letter from Khrushchev], April 15, 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-11, 162, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁴⁸ Zhonggong Zhongyang Wenxian Yanjiushi, ed., Deng Xiaoping Nianpu (1904–1974) [Deng Xiaoping Chronicles (1904–1974)] (Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 2009), 1227.

⁴⁹ Ibid.

⁵⁰ Zhongguo guowuyuan guanyu tuichi Zhongguo gongren fu Su de dianbao [Telegram of the State Council of the PRC about postponing the dispatch of Chinese workers to the Soviet Union], April 19, 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-11, 44–6, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁵¹ Zhongguo waijiaobu gei Zhongguo zhu Sulian Dashiguan de xin [Letter from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Soviet Embassy in China], April 28, 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-11, 161, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁵² Zhang Wentian gei Zhonggong Zhongyang de baogao [Report by Zhang Wentian to the Central Committee of the CCP], April 30, 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-7, 4, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁵³ Ibid.

⁵⁴ Chuguo gongren guanliju gei Zhou Enlai de baogao [Report of Overseas Workers Administration to Zhou Enlai], June 8, 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-7, 7–8, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁵⁵ Ibid.

⁵⁶ Fu Su gongren dongyan gongzuo jianbao (di ba qi) [Brief report on the obilisation of Chinese workers going to the Soviet Union (No. 8)], May 3, 1955, Dang’anhao 932-1-294, 99–100, Hebei sheng Dang’anguan.

⁵⁷ Ibid.

⁵⁸ The author’s interview on 15 April 2012 with Liu Zeng’er, a worker from Qingyuan County who went to the Soviet Union as a Chinese worker.

⁵⁹ Ibid.

⁶⁰ Qingyuan Xian chuguo gongren dongyuan paiqian gongzuo qingkuang huizong. [Summary of the situation around mobilisation and dispatch of workers from the Qingyuan County going abroad], 1955, Dang’anhao 26-2-68, 56, Qingyuan Xian Dang’anguan (Archives of Qingyuan County).

⁶¹ Ibid.

⁶² Ibid.

⁶³ Ibid.

⁶⁴ Ibid.

⁶⁵ Fu Su Zhongguo gongren jiaojie zhengshu [Certificate of transfer of custody over the Chinese labourers], July 15, 1955, Zhongyang Dang’anguan, Dang’anhao 137-1-16, 56–8; Summary information on the Chinese labourers working in the Soviet Union, November 1955, f.Р9507, op. 4, d. 683, l.10–35, GARF.

⁶⁶ 1955 fu Su gongzuo zu de zongjie baogao [1955 report on the preparation by the working group for the travel to the Soviet Union], August 6, 1955, Dang’anhao 137-1-17, 1–2, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁶⁷ Youjin xiang Zhou Enlai de tiyi [Iudin’s proposal to Zhou Enlai], March 2, 1957, Dang’anhao 137-1-52, 6, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁶⁸ Shandong sheng 1956 nian dongyuan gongren fu Su de youguan qingkuang [Situation in Shandong Province around the mobilisation of workers going to the USSR], June 23, 1956, Dang’anhao A101-1-347, 82, Shandong sheng Dang’anguan. Henan sheng 1956 nian dongyuan gongren fu Su de youguan qingkuang [Situation in Henan Province around the mobilisation of workers going to the USSR], July 3, 1956, Dang’anhao J1-1-4069, 28, Henan sheng Dang’anguan; Annual report on the work of Chinese workers in the Soviet Union, 1956, f. Р9507, op. 4, d. 683, l.1, GARF.

⁶⁹ 1956 nian fu Su gongzuo zu de zongjie baogao [1956 report on the preparation of the working group for travel to the Soviet Union], September 10, 1956, Dang’anhao 137-1-55, 9–10, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁷⁰ Ibid.

⁷¹ Ibid.

⁷² Ibid.

⁷³ Deng Xiaoping zai 1956 nian fu Su gongzuo zu zongjie baogao shang de pishi [Deng Xiaoping’s inscription on the 1956 report on preparation of the working group for travel to the Soviet Union], January 5, 1957, Dang’anhao 137-1-54, 1–3, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁷⁴ ZhongSu guanyu 1957 nian bu zai paiqian Zhongguo gongren qianwang Sulian de wanglai hanjian [Correspondence between China and the USSR about sending the Chinese labourers to the Soviet Union], March 2, 1957, Dang’anhao 137-1-52, 5–6; 137-1-58, 344, Zhongyang Dang’anguan.

⁷⁵ N. S. Khrushchev, Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, vol. 3 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 2004–7), 426.

⁷⁶ Record of conversation between N. S. Khrushchev and Mao Zedong: about the Middle East and the international situation, August 1, 1958, f. 52, op. 1, d. 498, l.78–80, Arkhiv Prezidenta Rossiiskoi Federatsii (Presidential Archive of Russian Federation) (APRF), Moscow. A copy preserved at the Centre for Cold War International History Studies at East China Normal University.

Additional information

Funding

The research for this article has been supported by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, East China Normal University PRC, 2021QKT008.