The whirlwind of China: Zhou Enlai's shuttle diplomacy in 1957 and its effects

Abstract

Zhou Enlai's shuttle diplomacy in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in January 1957 was an important link between Liu Shaoqi's visit to the Soviet Union in October 1956 and Mao Zedong's attendance at the Moscow Conference of World Communist and Workers' Parties in November 1957. Based on recently available Chinese and Eastern European archival sources, this article argues that Zhou's shuttle diplomacy achieved certain degree of success because it helped to consolidate socialist unity and strengthen the socialist bloc after the Polish–Hungarian Crises. For a brief period of time, Beijing became a second parallel ‘center of world revolution’.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Jerald Bernstein for his comments on earlier draft. They also benefited from useful suggestions by the two anonymous readers for Cold War History.

Notes

Zhihua Shen is a distinguished University Professor of history and Director of the Centre for Cold War International History Studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China. He is the author of more than 10 books and 60 articles on the Korean War and Sino-Soviet relations. He is currently completing a book project, tentatively titled ‘The Cold War and the Fate of the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1949–1973’.

Yafeng Xia is an associate professor history at Long Island University in New York and a research fellow at the Centre for Cold War International History Studies, East China Normal University in Shanghai. He is the author of Negotiating with the Enemy: U.S.–China Talks during the Cold War, 1949–72 (2006), and numerous articles in prime journals of his field. He is working on a book project, tentatively titled, ‘Burying the Diplomacy of Humiliation: New China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1949–1956’.

 [1] Zagoria, The Sino-Soviet Conflict, 50.

 [2] Shen Zhihua has published articles on these two historical events in Chinese, see , ‘The October Crises in 1956’; ‘Mao Zedong, Khrushchev and the 1957 Moscow Conference’. For English version of China's role in the Hungarian crisis, see Shen and Xia, ‘New Evidence for China's Role in the Hungarian Crisis of October 1956’; for an English version of the 1957 Moscow conference, see ‘Hidden Currents during the Honeymoon’.

 [3] Shi, Zhou Enlai de zhuoyue fengxian, 300–10; Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, 1274–87.

 [4] Li, ZhongSu waijiao qinli ji, 125–36; Liu, Chushi Sulian banian, 31–9.

 [5] See Luthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 65–7; Zagoria, The Sino-Soviet Conflict, 61–2.

 [6] Regarding Zhou Enlai's shuttle diplomacy in early 1957, we can now find many documents in Chinese, Russian, Polish and Hungarian archives. But minutes of Zhou Enlai's talks with the Soviet leaders could not be found in either declassified Russian archives or Chinese Foreign Ministry Archives (hereafter cited as CFMA).

 [7] Zagoria, The Sino-Soviet Conflict, 50.

 [8] , Zhongsu guanxi shigang, 146.

 [9] , Zhongsu guanxi shigang, 157.

[10] Li, ‘When did Mao Zedong decide to Lure the Snake out of the Cave?’, 117; Dai, Jiusiyisheng, 4–5; Li, Wentan fengyunlu, 52. According to Wei Junyi's recollection, she heard the relayed report on Khrushchev's Secret Speech on two separate occasions. See Wei, ‘The Anti-rightist Movement I Witnessed’, 25–6.

[11] On this, we disagree with Western view. For example, Lorenz Luthi writes, ‘While the Chairman tried to limit the range of the criticism and the scope of party discussion over the spring and the summer of 1956, he was unable to suppress them completely’. ‘At home, Mao did not want to arouse the “unhealthy interest” of the Chinese people. A Soviet foreign ministry report from a year later stated that the Chinese leaders did not organize a single party meeting to discuss the Secret Speech and that low-ranking cadres had received only vague information’. Luthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 46, 51.

[12] See Renmin ribao , 5 April 1956; for Mao Zedong's revision and addition, see Zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi, Jianguo yilai Mao Zedong wengao, vol. 6: 59–67.

[13] A day before the formal publication of the article, the CCP CC issued a circular, requesting ‘Party committees at every level to organize study session among party and Youth League members and non-party personnel, and to send progress reports and issues discussed to the CCP Propaganda Department’. Jilin Provincial Archives, 1 – 12/1 – 1956.100, 43–6.

[14] Shen and Li, ZhongSu guanxi, vol. 11: 2587–94.

[15] Shen, ‘The 20th Congress of the CPSU’.

[16] Shen, ZhongSu guanxi shigang, 170–1.

[17] For details on this issue, see Shen and Xia, ‘New Evidence for China's Role in the Hungarian Crisis of October 1956’.

[18] Lorenz Luthi writes, ‘In late November, the new Chinese approach was finally given a chance to be implemented when Yudin invited Zhou to Moscow for talks in early 1957’. See Luthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 65. This is not fully accurate. The Chinese sources, which Luthi relies on, indicate that Yudin was relaying an invitation to Zhou Enlai from Khrushchev. For diplomatic protocol, it was unlikely that Yudin could invite Zhou to visit the Soviet Union on his own initiative.

[19] Shen, ‘China's Response and Thinking on the October Crises in Eastern Europe’.

[20] Neibu Cankao , no. 2101 (10 January 1957), 193–4; no. 2095 (4 January 1957), 51–2; no. 2097 (5 January), 117–8. Neibu Cankao started in 1949 and closed down in 1964. It was then the confidential news bulletin for the top party leadership, which contains intelligence on domestic events and translations of foreign news reports. It provides unique insights into what information China's central leaders received on a daily basis. Now it is historical records, which can be found in overseas libraries. The authors got access to this at Universities Service Center, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. ‘Report of the Secretariat Bureau of the CCP CC General Office on the Foreign Countries’ Responses to “More on the Historical Experience of Proletarian Dictatorship”', Jilin Provincial Archives, 1-13/1-1957.84, 1-20; Liu, Chushi Sulian banian, 22; Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 188, 194.

[21] Renmin ribao, 6 January 1957, 5.

[22] Neibu cankao, no. 2099 (8 January 1957), 158–9.

[23] A Report of the Propaganda and Agitation Department, the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party on internal responses to CCP's stance (21 January 1957), MOL, XIX-J-1-j, Sándor, Magyar-Kínai Kapcsolatok, 150–1.

[24] Neibu cankao, no. 2129 (15 February 1957), 202–4; ‘Memorandum of Conversations between Wang Bingnan and Rapachi, 9 January 1957’, CFMA, Beijing, 109-01141-02, 127–9.

[25] Renmin ribao, 8 January 1957, 4; Li, Zhou Enlai nianpu, vol. 2: 4; ‘Memorandum of Conversations between Chen Chu of the Chinese Embassy in USSR and Kurdiukov, Director General of Far East Bureau of the Soviet Foreign Ministry’, 28 December 1956, CFMA, 109-00984-18, 149–59.

[26] Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 189.

[27] ‘Zhang Yan's Telephone Report to the Foreign Ministry’, 9 January 1957, CFMA, 203-00072-01, 62–3; Liu, Chushi Sulian banian, 32.

[28] ‘Telegram from Embassy in Hungary to the Foreign Ministry’, 9 January 1957, CFMA, 203-00097-05, 25; Li, Zhou Enlai nianpu, vol. 2: 4–5.

[29] Li, Zhou Enlai nianpu, vol. 2: 6–7; Xia, ‘A Reminiscence of Premier Zhou Enlai's Visit to Hungary in 1957’, vol. 2: 25–6; For the final Communiqué, see Renmin ribao, 12 January 1957, 1.

[30] Kulik, Sovetsko-kitaiskii raskol, 42; Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 191–2.

[31] Liu, Chushi Sulian banian, 31–2; Li, Waijiao wutaishang de xin Zhongguo lingxiu, 99–101; Renmin ribao, 9 January 1957, 1.

[32] See Shen, ‘The October Crises in 1956’.

[33] Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, vol. 2: 1277–8; Li, Zhou Enlai nianpu, vol. 2: 6–7.

[34] Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 187–8.

[35] Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 190.

[36] Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 196, 206; Liu, Chushi Sulian banian, 21; Li, Waijiao wutaishang de xin Zhongguo lingxiu; Lev Delyusin's remarks at the International Conference on ‘Sino-Soviet Relations and the Cold War’, October 1997, Shen Zhihua's personal collection. Lev DeLyusin was a Soviet foreign ministry official in the early 1960s.

[37] Neibu cankao, no. 2107 (17 January 1957), 335–6; ‘Shepilov's Request for Instructions from the CPSU CC’ (4 January 1957), in ZhongSu guanxi, vol. 11: 2810–3.

[38] Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 187.

[39] ‘A Record of Yu Zhan's Talks at Division of Central Documents and Manuscripts’, 26 July 1987, unpublished, 6–7.

[40] Renmin ribao, 12 January 1957, 1.

[41] ‘Minutes of Talks between Chinese and Polish Delegations’ (11–16 January 1957), in Ruchniewicz and Szumowski, eds, Polskie dokumenty dyplomatyczne, 28–55. AAN, KC PZPR, XIA/31, PISM (red.), Polskie Dokumenty Dyplomatyczne, 28–55; Shen et al., Sulian lishi dang'an xuanbian, vol. 27: 55–82; Regarding minutes of talks between Chinese and Polish leaders, there are two versions: one by the official recorder (this article cites from this one), and the another Gomulka's personal collection. For a concrete explanation, see ‘Record of Zhou Enlai's Talks with Gomulka in 1957’, in Werblan, ‘Rozmowy Wladyslawa Gomulki z Zhou Enlaiem w 1957r.’, 120–1.

[42] Li, Zhou Enlai nianpu, vol. 2: 7–8; Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, vol. 2: 1279–81; Luo, ‘“The Polish Crisis of 1956” and China's Policy’, 43.

[43] Donald Zagoria made similar argument. See Zagoria, The Sino-Soviet Conflict, 62.

[44] ‘Minutes of Talks between Chinese and Polish Delegations’, 11–16 January 1957, 28–55; Shen, Sulian lishi dang'an xuanbian, vol. 27: 55–82.

[45] ‘Minutes of Talks between Chinese and Polish Delegations’, 11–16 January 1957, 28–55; Shen, Sulian lishi dang'an xuanbian, vol. 27: 55–82. According to the Chinese records, Gomulka said, ‘We'll carefully study Premier Zhou Enlai's speeches, which contain many meaningful, insightful and beneficial elements’. This could not be found in the Polish archives. Also see ‘Minutes of Talks of Sino-Polish Parties’, 12 January 1957, cited from Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, vol. 2: 1281–2.

[46] Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, vol. 2: 1281–2.

[47] Renmin ribao, 17 January 1957, 1.

[48] Shen and Li, ‘The Polish Crisis in 1956 and Sino-Polish Relations’, 45–58.

[49] Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, vol. 2: 1282; Polskie Dokumenty Dyplomatyczne, 73–4.

[50] One example could help to explain this point: Prior to Zhou Enlai's visit to Hungary, Hungary had already drafted a joint communiqué of talks. See ‘Telegram from the Embassy in Hungary to the Foreign Ministry’, 15 January 1957, CFMA, No. 203-00023-04, 22–5.

[51] Xia, ‘A Reminiscence of Premier Zhou Enlai's Visit to Hungary’, 25.

[52] ‘Minutes of Talks between Zhou Enlai and the Hungarian Leaders’, 16 January 1957, Sandor, Magyar-Kínai Kapcsolatok 1956–1959, 125–33.

[53] Renmin ribao, 18 January 1957, 2.

[54] ‘Written Reply from the Foreign Ministry to the Embassy in Hungary on the Work Summary of 1956 and Work Plan of 1957’, April 1957, CFMA, No. 109-01037, 16–17.

[55] ‘Telegram from the Embassy in Hungary to Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Ministry’, 18 January 1957, CFMA, No. 203-00097-05, 41–2; ‘Negotiation Process on China's Loan to Hungary’, June 1957, CFMA, No. 109-00766-02, 3–5.

[56] ‘Hao Deqing to the CCP CC and Foreign Ministry, Relaying to Premier [Zhou]’, 13 January 1957; ‘Telegram from Embassy in Hungary to Foreign Ministry and the CC’, 14 January 1957, CFMA, No. 203-00097-05, 26, 28.

[57] Xia, ‘A Reminiscence of Premier Zhou Enlai's Visit to Hungary’, 27.

[58] Interview with Li Yueran, October 2001 (Li Yueran was a Russian-language interpreter for the CCP CC from 1957 to 1965); Li, Zhou Enlai nianpu, vol. 2: 13-5; Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, vol. 2: 1284-6; ‘Minutes of Talks of Sino-Soviet Delegations’, in Shen and Li, ZhongSu guanxi, vol. 15: 3827–64; Yang, Mao Zedong yu Mosike de enen yuanyuan, 444.

[59] Luthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 67.

[60] Li Yueran's remarks at the International Conference on ‘Sino-Soviet Relations and the Cold War’, October 1997, Shen Zhihua's personal collection.

[61] Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 197; Sandor, Magyar-Kínai Kapcsolatok 1956–1959, 146–50.

[62] ‘Li Huichuan's Report to Foreign Ministry’, 19 January 1957, CFMA, No. 203-00097-03, 48–50. The text of the joint communiqué could be found in Renmin ribao, 20 January 1957, 1.

[63] Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 197–9. The existing scant declassified Chinese sources can confirm the basic content of the memoir of the Yugoslav ambassador. See also Li, Zhou Enlai nianpu, vol. 2: 13–4.

[64] Wu, Huiyi yu huainian, 310; Li, Zhou Enlai nianpu, vol. 2: 13; See Yan and Zhu, ‘Mao Zedong's Second Trip to the Soviet Union and the 1957 Moscow Conference’, 9. Yan Mingfu and Zhu Ruizhen were Russian-language interpreters for the CCP CC from 1957 to 1966.

[65] ‘Belgrade, Tanyug, 29 December 1956’, cited from Zagoria, The Sino-Soviet Conflict, 52.

[66] ACKSKJ (Central Archives of League of Communists of Yugoslavia), IV-60/II-1-61.

[67] AJBT-KMJ (Archives of Tito), I-1/588.

[68] Also see Luthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 67–8.

[69] ‘Embassy in Switzerland to Foreign Ministry’, 28 January 1957, CFMA, No. 203-00097-06, 92–5.

[70] ‘Department of State Office of Intelligence Research, Chou En-lai's Trip and Soviet Policy, January 30, 1957’, MF 2510408-0735, The University of Hong Kong Main Library.

[71] Khrushchev, Heluxiaofu huiyilu, 2268–9.

[72] Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 195.

[73] ‘Minutes of Talks between Mrs. Wang Bingnan and Mrs. Bierut’, 12 February 1957; ‘Minutes of Talks between Wang Bingnan and Secretary of State Council Mr. Skzheszewski and his wife’, 5 February 1957; ‘Minutes of Talks between Wang Bingnan and vice foreign minister Naszkowski’, 11 February 1957, CFMA, No. 109-01141-03, 168–9, 149–52, 165–7.

[74] ‘Telegram from Embassy in Hungary to Foreign Ministry’, 21 January 1957, CFMA, No. 109-01760-01, 3–6.

[75] For a study of this issue, see Shen, ‘Aid and Restriction’, 110–31.

[76] Zhou, Nie Rongzhen nianpu, vol. 1: 605.

[77] ‘Minutes of Conversation between Zhou Enlai and Ambassador Yudin’, 22 May 1957, CFMA, No. 109-00786-13, 95–6.

[78] Micunovic, Mosike de suiyue, 305.

[79] Interview with Luo Yisu. Luo Yisu was a diplomat at Chinese embassy in Poland in 1956; ‘Shepilov's Request for Instruction from the CC, 4 January 1957’, in Shen and Li, ZhongSu guanxi, vol. 11: 2810–3.

[80] ‘Documents from the Soviet Embassy in China to Intelligence Committee of the Foreign Ministry’, 5 January 1957, AVPRF (Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation), f.3, op.28, p.122, d.485, l.19–49.

[81] ‘Andropov's Report to the CPSU CC’, 7 June 1957, TsKhSD (Center for the Storage of Contemporary Documentation), f.5, op.49, d.41, p.8862, l.16–17; Shen and Li, ZhongSu guanxi, vol. 11: 2838–9.

[82] ‘CIA Senior Research Staff on International Communism, A New Program for International Communism: The Statement of the Moscow Conference of Representatives of Communist and Worker's Parties (December 1960)’, 17 February 1961, CIA/SRS-15, http://www.foia.cia.gov/browse_docs.asp.

[83] See Shi, Zhou Enlai de zhuoyue fengxian, 302–5; Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, 1284–6. Cf., ‘Report: “My Observations on the Soviet Union”’, Zhou Enlai to Mao Zedong and the Central Leadership, 24 January 1957 (Excerpt), in Zhang et al., ‘The Emerging Disputes between Beijing and Moscow’, 153–4; Luthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 67–8.

[84] Khrushchev, Heluxiaofu huiyilu, 2268–9.

[85] Zubok, ‘Peregovory N.S. Khrushcheva s Mao Tszedunom’.

[86] Shanghai Municipal Archives, A22-2-555, 47–53.

[87] Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 11.

[88] ‘Documents from the Soviet Embassy in China to Intelligence Committee of the Foreign Ministry’.

[89] Neibu cankao, no. 2149 (11 March 1957), 179–80.

[90] Micunovic, Moscow Diary, 188.