Telegram to Liu Shaoqi Regarding Approval to Establish Diplomatic Relations with the Government of Vietnam (January 17–18, 1950)

Comrade Shaoqi: (1) We should immediately reply in the affirmative to the Vietnamese government’s request to establish diplomatic relations. A draft response has been prepared; please have it broadcast tomorrow (the 18th), and simultaneously transmit it via our internal radio station to Ho Chi Minh. (2) Kindly arrange for our Foreign Ministry to forward the Vietnamese government’s statement concerning its desire to establish diplomatic relations with various countries to the Soviet Union and all other new democratic states.

Mao Zedong 10:00 p.m., January 17

The Honorable Mr. Hoang Minh Giam, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam: It is my great honor to have received your telegram dated January 15, 1950, requesting the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the People’s Republic of China. I hereby inform you that the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China regards the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as the legitimate government representing the will of the Vietnamese people. The Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China is willing to establish diplomatic relations with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and to exchange ambassadors, so as to consolidate bilateral ties and strengthen friendship and cooperation between our two nations. This serves as our official reply; we trust that you will take due note thereof.

Zhou Enlai, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China January 18, 1950

Deadline: Immediately.

Comrade Shaoqi: The reply to Vietnam that I sent you this morning needs a few additional sentences. If it has not yet been published, please add them forthwith and then issue it. Should it already have been published, [let it stand as is.] 1

Mao Zedong 3:30 p.m., January 18

The added text reads as follows: Below the first sentence of the reply, “It is my great honor to have received,” insert “the statement made on January 14, 1950, by Mr. Ho Chi Minh, President of Your Government, together with” — a total of twenty-five characters — and continue with “your Minister.” In the final sentence, delete the words “and shall be duly noted,” and instead add “and extend our best wishes for the prosperity of your nation, the happiness of its people, and the good health of President Ho Chi Minh and your Minister” — another twenty-five characters — concluding with “The People’s Republic of China.”

Printed according to the manuscript.

Note 1: The reply drafted by Mao Zedong to the Vietnamese government, published in the People’s Daily on January 19, 1950, was printed exactly as the draft he had transmitted in his telegram to Liu Shaoqi on January 17.