The origins of proletarian diplomacy: The Chinese attack on the American Embassy in the Soviet Union, 4 March 1965

Abstract

The attack by several thousand, mostly East Asian, students on the American embassy in the Soviet Union on 4 March 1965 was one of the most violent assaults on a diplomatic mission in the 1960s. It occurred in the wake of the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations, the US escalation of the Vietnam War, and massive Soviet aid offers to North Vietnam. The attack was very likely organized and supported by the Chinese authorities and designed to damage the international reputation of the Soviet Union while deflecting from Chinese government attempts to limit and obstruct Soviet military aid to North Vietnam. It also set a precedent for the subsequent violence against foreign missions in China during the Cultural Revolution.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Mark Edele, who encouraged me to write this article while we were doing research in Moscow in 2002, to Stephanie Hu for research assistance, to two anonymous reviewers for their gracious comments, and to Lana Povitz for proofreading the final draft.

Notes

Lorenz M. Lüthi received a lic. phil. I from the University of Zurich (1995), and two MAs (1998 and 1999) and a PhD from Yale (2003). He currently is an assistant professor for the history of international relations at McGill University in Montreal, 855 Sherbrooke West, Montreal, QC H3A 2T7, Canada

 [1] ‘Russians Begin Repairs’, New York Times (NYT), 6 March 1965, 2.

 [2] Semichastnyi, Bespokoinoe serdtse, 327–8; Li, ‘Changes in China's Domestic Situation’, 308.

 [3] ‘Dear David’, 4 September 1967, National Archives of the United Kingdom (NA UK) (Kew, United Kingdom), FCO 21/12; ‘Political Affairs (Internal): General Situation and Policy’, 1.

 [4] ‘Political Letter’, 6 February 1967, Bundesarchiv Bern (BA Bern) (Federal Archive, Berne, Switzerland), E 2300-01, Aksession 1973/156, 18, ‘1967 p.a. 21.31 Peking Politische Briefe’, 1.

 [5] The event has been virtually ignored by historians, except for a short description in: Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 149–50.

 [6] Lüthi, Sino-Soviet Split, 182–91, 220–4, 238, 260–7.

 [7] Lüthi, Sino-Soviet Split, 277, 280, 282–4, 285–6, 289, 293.

 [8] ‘Report on the Consultative Conference of the 19 communist and workers’ parties from 1 to 5 March 1965, in Moscow', Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der DDR im Bundesarchiv (SAPMO-BArch) (Archive of the Parties and Mass Organizations of the GDR in the Federal Archives, Berlin, Germany), DY 30/J IV 2/201/720, 3; Summaries of the March meeting in: ‘Report on the consultative Conference of the 19 Communist and Workers’ Parties from 1 to 5 March 1965, in Moscow', SAPMO-BArch, DY 30/J IV 2/201/720, 4; ‘Plenum of the CC of the Bulgarian Communist Party, which occurred on 23 March 1965’, Tsentralen Drzhaven Arkhiv (TsDA) (Central State Archive, Sofia, Bulgaria), TsPA, fond 1B, opis 34, archivna edinitsa 3, 1–39; ‘Meeting of the Directorate of the Party’, 8 March 1965, Fondazione Istituto Gramsci (FIG) (Foundation Institute Gramsci, Rome, Italy), APC, Direzione 1965, vol. 29, 608–23.

 [9] ‘Record of Conversation of Kosygin with Mao Zedong’, 11 February 1965, Archiwum Akt Nowych (AAN) (Archive of Modern Records, Warsaw, Poland), KC PZPR, XI A/10, 517–24.

[10] ‘Publisher's Note on “Statements by Khrushchov”’, Peking Review (PR) 10 (5 March 1965), 11–12; Brahm, Pekings Griff, 45; ‘A Comment on the March Moscow Meeting’, PR 13, 26 March 1965, 7–13 (quotes).

[11] ‘The Evils of Khrushchovian Revisionism Linger On’, PR 10, 5 March 1965, 29–30.

[12] Wu, Shinian lunzhan , 913.

[13] Lüthi, Sino-Soviet Split, 313–24.

[14] ‘Red China Urges “Concrete Action” against the U.S.’, NYT, 16 February 1965, 1.

[15] ‘Record of Conversation with the Chairman of the People's Republic of China, the Vice-Chairman of the CCP CC Liu Shaoqi, acting Premier of the State Council of the PRC, General Secretary of the CCP CC Deng Xiaoping’, 21 April 1965, Arkhiv Vneshnei Politiki Rossiiskoi Federatsii (AVPRF) (Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia), fond 0100, opis 58, delo 5, papka 516, 147.

[16] Zhai, China and the Vietnam Wars , 165.

[17] Lüthi, ‘The Early 2nd Vietnam War’, 37–42.

[18] Lüthi, Sino-Soviet Split, 285–99.

[19] Author's interview with Oleg A. Troyanovskii, Moscow, 8 June 2002.

[20] ‘Rioters in Moscow Attack U.S. Embassy Over Congo’, NYT, 29 November 1964, 1, 3; ‘Repairs Begin in Moscow’, NYT, 30 November 1964, 17.

[21] ‘Embassy of U.S. Stoned in Soviet’, NYT, 10 February 1965, 1, 8.

[22] ‘Brief Information’, Moscow, 25 February 1965, SAPMO-BArch, DY 30/IV A 2/20/160, 112.

[23] ‘Reception of the Chargé d'Affaires of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, comr. Do Fat Huang’, 8 [9] February 1965, AVPRF, fond 79, opis 20, delo 5, papka 21, 3–4.

[24] ‘92. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State, Moscow, February 9, 1965, 11 p.m.', Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1964–1968 XIV, 235–8. For a very similar American version of that meeting, see: ‘Reception of the Ambassador of the USA in the USSR F. Kohler’, 9 February 1965, AVPRF, fond 79, opis 20, delo 5, papka 21, 5–9.

[25] ‘Orderly Students Picket the Soviet Embassy in U.S.’, NYT, 12 February 1965, 1.

[26] ‘Moscow Is Warned By the White House To Curb Its Mobs’, NYT, 11 February 1965, 1.

[27] ‘U.S. Is Weighing Retaliation for Mob Attacks Abroad’, NYT, 21 February 1965, 3.

[28] ‘More U.S. Strikes Likely in Attempt to Deter Hanoi’, NYT, 3 March 1965, 1, 10.

[29] ‘Zhou Enlai and Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, 1 March 1965’, Westad et al., ‘77 Conversations’, 77–8; ‘Hanoi Denounces Bombing’, NYT, 1 March 1965, 8.

[30] ‘Resolute Support for Viet Nam Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism To The End’, PR 11, 12 March 1965, 6–7.

[31] ‘‘Hooliganism’ in Moscow’, NYT, 5 March 1965, 32; ‘Russian Soldiers Rout 2,000 in Riot at U.S. Embassy’, NYT, 5 March 1965, 1, 3; ‘Russians Begin Repairs’, NYT, 6 March 1965, 2; ‘The Vietnam Crisis – A Dilemma for Moscow’, NYT, 7 March 1965, E4; ‘98. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State’, Moscow, 4 March 1965, 3 p.m., FRUS 1964–1968, vol. XIV, 251; ‘99. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State’, Moscow, 4 March 1965, 4 p.m., FRUS 1964–1968, vol. XIV, 252–3.

[32] ‘Telephonogram’, 5 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 13, papka 220, 1–2.

[33] ‘Note’, Moscow, 15 March 1965, Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes, Bestand: Ministerium für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten (PAAA-MfAA) (Political Archive of the Office for Foreign Affairs, Files: Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Berlin, Germany), Botschaft Moskau, Microfiche A 00764, 1.

[34] ‘Political Report no. 11’, 19 March 1965, BA Bern, E 2300, Aksession 1000/716, 361, ‘Politische Berichte, 1965’, 1.

[35] ‘To the Minister of Foreign Relations of the USSR, comr. A.A. Gromyko’, 12 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 13, papka 220, 7.

[36] ‘Only Documents’, no date, PAAA-MfAA, Abteilung Sowjetunion, Microfiche A 4250, 5.

[37] ‘To the Minister of Foreign Relations of the USSR, comr. A.A. Gromyko’, 12 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 13, papka 220, 7.

[38] ‘To the Minister of Foreign Relations of the USSR, comr. A.A. Gromyko’, 12 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 13, papka 220, 8; ‘Only Documents’, no date, PAAA-MfAA, Abteilung Sowjetunion, Microfiche A 4250, 5; Name of student from: ‘Persecuted Chinese Students Return From Moscow’, PR 12, 19 March 1965, 8.

[39] ‘Chinese Ambassador Visits Students Injured by Soviet Police’, 5 March 1965, Survey Mainland China Press (SCMP) 3413, 43–4.

[40] ‘Wounded Chinese Student Intimidated by Armed Soviet Plainclothes Men’, 12 March 1965, SCMP 3418, 40.

[41] ‘Shocking Persecution of Chinese Student in Moscow’, 12 March 1965, SCMP 3418, 39.

[42] ‘Brutal Beating Alleged’, NYT, 14 March 1965, 2 (quote); various articles in: SCMP 3419, 33–37.

[43] ‘100. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State’, Moscow, 4 March 1965, 10 p.m., FRUS 1964–1968, vol. XIV, 253–4. Also: ‘Reception of the US Ambassador F. Kohler’, 4 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 7, papka 219, 25–7.

[44] ‘101. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State’, Moscow, 5 March 1965, 5 p.m., FRUS 1964–1968, vol. XIV, 255; ‘102. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union’, Washington, 8 March 1965, 6.55 p.m., FRUS 1964–1968, vol. XIV, 256.

[45] ‘Russians Begin Repairs’, NYT, 6 March 1965, 2.

[46] ‘Oral Statement by the Embassy of the PRC in the USSR’, 5 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 2, papka 219, 4. ‘[Note by the Embassy of the PRC to MID USSR]’, 5 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 2, papka 219, 7–8.

[47] ‘Chinese Embassy's Protest to the Soviet Government’, PR 11, 12 March 1965, 16.

[48] No Soviet document on this meeting found. ‘China Protests at Soviet Violence against Chinese Students’, 6 March 1965, SCMP 3414, 40–42.

[49] ‘[Note by MID USSR to the Embassy of the PRC]’, 12 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 1, papka 219, 5–8.

[50] “Hooligans’, Pravda Letters Say’, NYT, 13 March 1965, 2; ‘Moscow Rejects Peking ‘Slander’, ’ NYT, 15 March 1965, 1.

[51] ‘Chinese Foreign Ministry's Note to Soviet Embassy in China’, 16 March 1965, SCMP 3419, 32–3. For the Russian text: ‘Ministry for Foreign Relations of the USSR, comr. A.A. Gromyko’, 16 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 13, papka 220, 10–13.

[52] ‘[Note by MID USSR]’, 17 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 13, papka 220, 14–15.

[53] ‘Record of Conversation with the Head of the Department for the USSR and the Countries of Eastern Europe at MID PRC Yu Zhan’, 16 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 0100, opis 58, delo 5, papka 516, 33–4.

[54] Lüthi, Sino-Soviet Split, 313–24.

[55] ‘Reception of the Ambassador of the DRV Nguyen Van Kin’, 12 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 079, opis 20, delo 2, papka 45, 3–4. The events Nguyen Van Kin alludes to were the ‘sacking’ of the U.S. embassy and its information office in Pnom Penh on 11 March 1964, the vandalism against the U.S. embassy and some of its cars in Budapest on 15 February 1965, and the invasion of the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia on 28 February 1965. See: ‘Sihanouk Apologizes for Riots; Drops Plan for 4-Power Talks’, NYT, 12 March 1964, 1, 4; ‘U.S. Continuing Budapest Talks’, NYT, 16 February 1965, 2; ‘Indonesians Invade U.S. Envoy's Home’, NYT, 1 March 1965, 1, 4.

[56] ‘Note’, 16 May 1965, Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych (AMSZ) (Archive of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Warsaw, Poland), zespol 48/68, wiazka 3, teczka D. II China 0-240-13-65, 8. Date from: ‘Soviet Crackdown on Vietnamese Students’, PR 20, 14 May 1965, 34.

[57] ‘To the Head of the Far Eastern Department of MID USSR, comr. N.G. Sudarikov’, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 13, papka 220, 3.

[58] ‘Chinese Students Protest to Soviet on “Suppression”,’ NYT, 8 March 1965, 5.

[59] ‘Only Documents’, no date, PAAA-MfAA, Abteilung Sowjetunion, Microfiche A 4250, 8–11; ‘Political Report no. 11’, 19 March 1965, BA Bern, E 2300, Aksession 1000/716, 361, ‘Politische Berichte, 1965’, 1.

[60] ‘Persecuted Chinese Students Return From Moscow’, PR 12, 19 March 1965, 8.

[61] ‘Political Report no. 11’, 19 March 1965, BA Bern, E 2300, Aksession 1000/716, 361, ‘Politische Berichte, 1965’, 2.

[62] ‘Record of Conversation with the Head of the Department for the USSR and the Countries of Eastern Europe at MID PRC Yu Zhan’, 19 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 0100, opis 58, delo 5, papka 516, 37.

[63] ‘Information, transmitted by comr. Evnevich’, 24 March 1965, AVPRF, fond 100, opis 52, delo 13, papka 220, 17.

[64] Mentioned in: ‘China Protests at Expulsion of Four Chinese Students by Soviet Government’, 5 May 1965, SCMP 3453, 32.

[65] Lüthi, ‘The Early 2nd Vietnam War and China's 3rd–Line Defense Planning’, 36–7.

[66] Lüthi, Sino-Soviet Split, 296.

[67] MacFarquhar, Origins of the Cultural Revolution, vol. 3, 374.

[68] ‘Political Report no. 11’, 19 March 1965, BA Bern, E 2300, Aksession 1000/716, 361, ‘Politische Berichte, 1965’, 1.

[69] MacFarquhar and Schoenhals, Mao's Last Revolution, 224–30; Ji, The Man on Mao's Right , 234–6.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lorenz M. Lüthi

Lorenz M. Lüthi received a lic. phil. I from the University of Zurich (1995), and two MAs (1998 and 1999) and a PhD from Yale (2003). He currently is an assistant professor for the history of international relations at McGill University in Montreal, 855 Sherbrooke West, Montreal, QC H3A 2T7, Canada