The Sino‐Soviet Conference, 1924–1927

Abstract

Soviet Union issued two declarations toward China in 1919 and 1920, promising to nullify all treaty privileges in China previously established by the Tsarist government voluntarily. However, in the formal negotiations Karakhan insisted that old treaties must be replaced by new treaty. Finally, the Sino‐Soviet Agreement, literarily, “Agreement on General Principles for the Settlement of Outstanding Questions”, signed in May 1924 and diplomatic relations restored at once, a conference was stipulated to meet within one month to solve all questions and to conclude a formal treaty. Nevertheless, the conference was postponed for more than a year; when it did convene too many controversies led it nowhere. Since no treaty was produced at the Sino‐Soviet Conference, the old treaties were not abolished, therefore the Soviet's promises were never practiced.

Keywords:

• Sino‐Soviet Agreement
• Sino‐Soviet Conference
• Lev Karakhan
• C.T. Wang

Notes

1. I have published a separate article specifically exploring the 1924 Sino‐Soviet Agreement and the annulment of the previous Russo‐Chinese treaties as a result of the Secret Protocol. See Tang Qihua, “The 1924 Sino‐Soviet Agreement and the Annulment of Old Treaties”, Jindai shi yanjiu [Modern Chinese History Studies] 3 (2006).

2. The most detailed study is in Li Jiagu, Sino‐Soviet Relations 1917–1926 (Beijing: Shehui kexue chubanshe, 1996), 239–47.

3. Robert T. Pollard, China's Foreign Relations, 1917–1931 (New York: MacMillan, 1933), 194–204.

4. The most detailed treatment is by Sikewazhe, “Sino‐Soviet Foreign Relations 1924–1929”, trans. Li Ying. Originally published in Journal of Contemporary History (Russia) 1, no. 2 (1998). Translated by Party History Research Centre, CCCPC, edited by China Central Archives, Historical Materials on Chinese Communist Party (Beijing: Zhonggong dangshi chubanshe, 2000), 216–18.

5. “Written statement submitted to the Cabinet Meeting regarding the formation of a Sino‐Soviet Conference Management Office and organization of a draft outline”, submitted to the Cabinet on June 12, 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐499‐05). “A view of the cabinet situation”, Shenbao, 15 June 1924, vol. 10. “Draft Outline for the Sino‐Soviet Conference Management Office at the Foreign Ministry”, Foreign Ministry Bulletin (August 1924): 1–2. “Dismissal Order”, Foreign Ministry Bulletin, issue 38 (August 1924): 1–2. The Archives of the Sino‐Soviet Conference Management Office, July–September, 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐499‐03).

6. “Wellington Koo and Envoy Karakhan meeting on June 6”, 10 June 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐494‐01).

7. Letter from the Ministry of the Interior to military commanders, 9 June 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐454‐02).

8. Soviet diplomatic note – requesting that all consulate properties in the various locations be handed over to the USSR, 11 June 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐455‐01).

9. Soviet diplomatic note – reply to dispatched orders from local negotiators on the handover of Russian consulates, 13 June 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐455‐01).

10. See Tang Qihua, “Interference in the Return of the Russian Embassy”, in “The 1924 Sino‐Soviet Agreement and the Annulment of Old Treaties”, section 5.

11. Secret cable to the Foreign Ministry's representative in Moscow, Li Jia'ao, 28 June 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐499‐02).

12. Cable received June 30 from the Foreign Ministry's representative in Moscow, Li Jia'ao, 1 July 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐488‐02).

13. Cable received July 5 from the Foreign Ministry's representative in Moscow, Li Jia'ao, 7 July 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐488‐02).

14. “Wellington Koo and Envoy Karakhan meeting on July 7”, 19 July 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐494‐01).

15. Minister's internal correspondence, July–October, 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐528‐01).

16. “Counselor Zhu, interview with Ambassador Karakhan”, 2 August 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐454‐02).

17. “Wellington Koo, August 12 meeting with Ambassador Karakhan”, 14 August 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives 03‐32‐494‐01).

18. Zhang Zuolin's government was sometimes referred to as the “Fengtien Faction” in Chinese.

19. See “Fengtien‐Soviet Conference and the reorganization of the Chinese Eastern Railroad”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 21, no. 29 (10 October 1924): 13.

20. “C.T. Wang, November 6 meeting with Ambassador Karakhan”, 12 November 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐489‐01).

21. Shenbao, 15 November 1924, 4.

22. “Rules and Regulations of the Sino‐Soviet Conference Management Office”, 17 November 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐499‐05).

23. “Draft letter to Supervisor Bao”, 20 December 1924; “Letter to Supervisor Bao”, 25 December 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐494‐01).

24. “Cable received from Li Jia'ao on January 10”, 12 January 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐496‐02).

25. “Zhu Hexiang, January 13 meeting with Ambassador Karakhan”, 15 January 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐489‐01).

26. “Draft letter to Zhang Zuolin”, 22 January 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐489‐01).

27. “Letter received from Zhang Zuolin”, 2 February 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐489‐01).

28. “February 26 Meeting with Karakhan”, 27 February 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐497‐02).

29. “Letter received from the secretariat of the provisional government”, 1 January 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐494‐03).

30. “Provisional government order #346”, 12 March 1925, Government Gazette (13 March 1925): 3214.

31. Shen bao, 4 March 1925, 6.

32. Shuntian Times, 1 March 1925.

33. Shen bao, 5 March 1925, 4.

34. Shen bao, 1 April 1925, 4. “Record of Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 22, no. 8, 25 April 1925, 151.

35. Shen bao, 7 April 1925, 3.

36. Shen bao, 8 April 1925, 5.

37. “Invitation”, (Foreign Ministry Archive, 03‐32‐599‐02), 8 April 1925.

38. Shen bao, 29 April 1925, 4.

39. Shen bao, 30 April 1925, 6.

40. Shen bao, 24 April 1925, 6.

41. Shen bao, 9 March xxxx, 14, 16, 19, 4.

42. “Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 22, no. 9, 10 May 1925, 141.

43. “Soviet Embassy Memorandum”, 11 April 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐561‐01).

44. Shen bao, 15 April 1925, 4. “Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette], 22, no. 10, 25 May 1925, 151.

45. “April 12 cable received from Li Jia'ao”, 13 April 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐498‐01).

46. Shen bao, 20 April 1925, 6.

47. “Draft letter from the government secretariat”, 18 April 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐498‐01).

48. “Cable from Li Jia'ao”, 22 April 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐561‐01).

49. “Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 22, no. 13, 10 July 1925, 155.

50. Shen bao, 2 May 1925, 6.

51. Shen bao, 13 May 1925, 4.

52. “Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 22, no. 13, 10 July 1925, 155.

53. Shen bao, 11 May 1925, 4.

54. Shuntian shibao, 7 June 1925.

55. “Cable from Zhang Zuolin”, 13 May 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐314‐02).

56. “Meeting with Soviet Ambassador Karakhan”, 19 May 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐500‐03). “Letter from Sino‐Soviet Conference Management Office to Foreign Ministry”, 20 May 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐503‐01).

57. Shen bao, 31 May 1925, 4.

58. “Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 22, no. 19, 10 October 1925, 136.

59. “Note to the Soviet Ambassador”, 24 August 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐489‐02).

60. “Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 22, no. 19, 10 October 1925, 137.

61. Shen bao, 27 August 1925, 6.

62. “Cable to General Zhang in Mukden, Supervisor Feng at Zhangjiakou, and Governor Zheng at Nanjing”, “Cable to the Mukden negotiator's office”, “Draft #1”, 26 August 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐503‐03).

63. Shuntian shibao, 21 September 1925.

64. Shen bao, 12 September 1925, 6; and September 18, 1925, p. 5.

65. Shen bao, 22 September 1925, 6.

66. Shen bao, 10 September 1925, 5.

67. “Letter from Gao Qinghe to Yang Yuting”, 1 October 1925, in Selections of secret correspondence from the Fengtien Faction, 537–8. No. 196.

68. Palairet to FO, 30 September 1925, FO371/10934 [F5565/111/10].

69. Shuntian shibao, 21 September 1925.

70. “Meeting minutes”, 29 September 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐503‐04).

71. Shen bao, 28 October 1925, 4.

72. Shen bao, 1 November 1925, 4.

73. Shen bao, 5 November 1925, 4.

74. “Cable to the Mukden Sino‐Soviet Conference Management Office”, 18 November 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐503‐01).

75. “Cable received from Gao Qinghe”, 20 November 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐503‐01).

76. “Cable to Director Gao at the Mukden Sino‐Soviet Conference Management Office”, 18 November 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐503‐01).

77. “Letter to Zhang Xueliang”, 20 November 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐503‐01).

78. “Outline of the Sino‐Soviet committee organization”, 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐500‐03).

79. Shen bao, 2 December 1925, 4.

80. Sikewazhe, “Sino‐Soviet Foreign Relations 1924–1929”, 217.

81. Shen bao, 29 November 1925, 5.

82. “Sino‐Soviet Trade and Commerce draft treaty”, proposed to the Soviets on 28 November 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐530‐01).

83. “Consular Agreement”, 19 December 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐505‐01).

84. “Draft Sino‐Soviet Agreement to Exchange Consuls”, proposed 31 January 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐505‐01).

85. “Soviet counter‐proposal”, (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐505‐01). “Draft of the Commercial Treaty received from the Soviet representatives”, 19 December 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐530‐02).

86. For details, see “Consulate Agreement with Edits from the Chinese Committee”, “Consulate Agreement”, (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐505‐01). “Draft of the Soviet counter‐proposal to the Consulate Agreeement”, (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐505‐02). Also Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐530‐02 and ‐04.

87. “Confidential – general observations on the preliminary Soviet draft on trade and navigation”, 26 January 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐530‐04).

88. “Sino‐Soviet Friendship Trade and Navigation Treaty”, 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐530‐05).

89. Sikewazhe, “Sino‐Soviet Foreign Relations 1924–1929”, 217.

90. “Written statement concerning litigation involving Russian citizens”, February 1925 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐528‐03).

91. “On the issue of renegotiating a new Commercial Treaty and preserving old treaty privileges”, January 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐19‐036‐03).

92. Pollard, China's Foreign Relations, 1917–1931, 202.

93. Sikewazhe, “Sino‐Soviet Foreign Relations 1924–1929”, 216.

94. “Summary of pre‐conference report by the Sino‐Soviet Conference Management Office”, 20 November 1924 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐499‐06).

95. “Interior Affairs”, Guowen Zhoubo [National News Weekly Report], issue 3, week 4, 24 January 1926, 17.

96. “Memorandum from the Second Committee of the Sino‐Soviet Conference”, (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐531‐03).

97. “Soviet response to the proposal by the Chinese requesting compensation for losses”, 2 February 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐540‐02).

98. “Draft summary of the Soviet response”, 5 March 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐540‐02).

99. “Records and minutes from the first meeting on the issue of Soviet compensation to China for losses”, 23 March 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐541‐03).

100. “Summary from the meeting on Sino‐Soviet debt”, 5–6 May 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 032‐32‐541‐03).

101. For other meeting minutes, see Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐541‐03.

102. “Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 23, no. 22, 25 November 1926, 133.

103. “Preparations for the Sino‐Soviet Conference in Beijing”, Shen bao, 4 November 1926, 4.

104. “Zhang Huanxiang to Yang Yuting”, in Selections of Secret Correspondence of the Fengtien Faction, no. 253, ed. Liaoningsheng danganguan, 4 August 1927, 710–13.

105. Che Weihan, Fengxi dui wai guanxi [Foreign Relations of the Fengtien Government] (Shenyang: Liaohai Publishing, 2000), 184.

106. Zhang Guochen, “Zhang Zuolin fuzi dangquan shi dui su guanxi he Zhongdong Tielu neimu” [The Inside Story Behind Zhang Zuolin and His Son's Power as Regards Soviet Relations and the Chinese Eastern Railroad], in Tianjin wenshi ziliao xuanji [Tianjin Literary and Historical Materials], vol. 2 no. 11.

107. “Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 23, no. 13, 10 July 1926, 138.

108. Ibid., 23, no. 14, 25 July 1926, 142.

109. Che Weihan, Fengxi dui wai guanxi, 183.

110. “Sino‐Soviet draft treaty – Foreign Ministry Sino‐Soviet Conference Management Committee”, “Sino‐Soviet draft treaty #1, second explication”, 1924–25 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐500‐01).

111. “Zhao Yushi to Gao Qinghe”, in Selections of Secret Correspondence of the Fengtien Faction, no. 214, ed. Liaoningsheng danganguan, 24 November 1925, 583–7.

112. Shen bao, 12 January 1926, 3.

113. Shen bao, 24 January 1926, 4.

114. Shen bao, 25 April 1926, 5.

115. “Notes from May 21 meeting between Minister Yan and Ambassador Karakhan”, 25 May 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐489‐01).

116. “Notes from May 26 meeting between Zhu Zhaoyin and Ambassador Karakhan”, 29 May 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐489‐02).

117. “Written statement from Sino‐Soviet Conference committee #4”, 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐504‐02).

118. “Letter dated July 13 received by the State Council”, 14 July 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐489‐01).

119. Shen bao, 9 July 1926, 4.

120. Shen bao, 11 August 1926, 7.

121. “Sino‐Soviet Conference deadlock with Karakhan”, Shen Bao, 18 July 1926, 7.

122. “Published outline from the Foreign Ministry for the Sino‐Soviet Conference”, 2 September 1926, Waijiao gongbao [Foreign Ministry Bulletin], no. 63, September 1926, 1–2.

123. “Daily Events”, Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Gazette] 23, no. 20, 25 October 1926, 132.

124. “Difficult issues at the Sino‐Soviet Conference”, Shen Bao, 4 October 1926, 4.

125. Shen bao, 30 September 1926, 4.

126. Shen bao, 24 October 1926, 5.

127. Shen bao, 29 October 1926, 5.

128. Shen bao, 1 November 1926, 4.

129. “Preparation for the Sino‐Soviet Conference in Beijing”, Shen Bao, 4 November 1926, 4.

130. “Soviet Ambassador goes to Harbin to meet on the Chinese Eastern Railroad case”, Shen Bao, 5 November 1926, 4.

131. “Notes of meeting with A.S. Tcherynykh”, 27 November 1926 (Foreign Ministry Archives, 03‐32‐468‐04).

132. Shen bao, 28 November 1926, 5.

133. Shen bao, 9 December 1926, 5.

134. Shen bao, 21 April 1927, 5.

135. Li Jiagu, Sino‐Soviet Relations 1917–1926, 247.

136. Sikewazhe, “Sino‐Soviet Foreign Relations 1924–1929”, 217–18.