ZHOU ENLAI TO GO TO THE SOVIET UNION
FOR PARTICIPATION IN NEGOTIATIONS
AND SIGNING OF TREATY*
(January 1950)
I
To the Central Committee:
(1) There is an important development in the work here in the last couple
of days. Comrade Stalin has agreed for Comrade Zhou Enlai to come to
Moscow and signing of a new Sino-Soviet treaty of friendship and alliance
and agreements on a loan, trade and civil aviation respectively. It was decided
yesterday (January 1) to publish my talk with the TASS correspondent, which
is carried in the newspapers today (January 2) and which you must have
received. This evening at 8:00 Comrades Molotov and Mikoyan came and
asked about my views on the Sino-Soviet treaty and other matters. I set forth
three options: (A) to sign a new Sino-Soviet treaty of friendship and alliance.
There is much merit in doing so. With Sino-Soviet relations codified in a new
treaty, the Chinese workers, peasants, intellectuals and left-wing national
bourgeoisie would all be elated, and the right-wing national bourgeoisie could
be isolated. Internationally, it would give us greater political capital to deal
with the imperialist countries and to review the treaties signed in the past
between China and various imperialist countries. (B) To issue a simple
communique through the news agencies of our two countries stating merely
that the authorities of the two countries, having exchanged views on the old
Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance,'® reached agreement on impor
tant issues. No details will be mentioned, in effect putting off the matter for
a few years. In this case Chinese Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai would not have
to come here, of course. (C) To sign a statement containing essential elements
* These are two telegrams to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
from Mao Zedong who was on visit in the Soviet Union.
ZHOU ENLAI TO GO TO SOVIET UNION FOR NEGOTIATIONS
of the relation between our two countries, but not a treaty. In this case, too,
Zhou Enlai would not have to come. After listening to my elaboration of the
pros and cons of these three options. Comrade Molotov immediately said that
option A is preferable and that Zhou should come. At this, I asked again
whether the old treaty would be replaced with a new treaty. Comrade Molotov
said yes. Then we began to figure out the date for Zhou Enlai to arrive and
that for signing the treaty. I said my telegram would reach Beijing on January
3, Zhou Enlai would need five days for preparations, he would leave Beijing
on January 9 and, after an eleven-day train journey, and arrive in Moscow on
January 19. From the 20th to the end of January, about ten days would be
used to negotiate and sign the treaty and various agreements. In early February
Zhou Enlai and I could leave for China. Then we discussed my sightseeing and
decided that I would pay homage at the Lenin Mausoleum, tour Leningrad and
Gorki City, and visit an ordnance factory, the metro (these two items were
proposed by Comrades Molotov and Mikoyan) and a collective farm. Also
discussed was my meeting with other Soviet leading comrades for conversation.
(To date, I have not gone out alone to call on any of them.)
(2) Upon receiving this telegram, please make all preparations in five
days' time. I hope Enlai, bringing with him the trade minister and other
necessary assistants and the requisite documents, will depart Beijing on January
9 for Moscow by train (not by air), leaving Comrade Dong Biwu'® acting as
Premier of the Government Administration Council. This should not be made
public until Zhou arrives in Moscow.
(3) Is the above feasible? Are five days enough for preparations, or will
one or two more days be needed? Is it necessary to ask Li Fuchun”' or some
other comrades to come to lend assistance? Please consider all these questions
and reply by telegram.
Mao Zedong
11:00 p.m. January 2, 1950
II
To the Central Committee:
My telegram of 11:00 p.m. yesterday must have reached you already.
Comrade Enlai's leaving the country to come to the Soviet Union should be
formally approved at a meeting of the Government Administration Council,
where a report should be submitted, noting that the purpose of the trip is to
negotiate and sign a new Sino-Soviet treaty of friendship and alliance (There
may be some changes from the old treaty on the question of Lushun-Dalian
harbors,®" although the specifics are to be negotiated. The objective of defense
against possible aggression by Japan and its allies and recognition of the
independence of Outer Mongolia remain the basic spirit of the new treaty.),
a loan agreement (we have asked for a total of 300 million US dollars, to be
paid in several years; we did not ask for more, because in the next few years
it is better to borrow less than more), a civil aviation agreement (this is
conducive to establishing our own aviation industry), and a trade agreement
(defining the scope of barter with the Soviet Union is helpful in defining our
direction of developing production and in concluding trade agreements with
other foreign countries). In addition, a discussion to be attended by all
members of the Central Government currently in Beijing should be convened,
at which a similar report should be submitted. At both meetings it should be
pointed out that this move will place our People's Republic in a more
advantageous position, so that the capitalist countries will have to accept what
we have defined, and that it will help us compel other countries to recognize
China unconditionally, abrogate the old treaties and conclude new ones, so
that the capitalist countries will not dare act recklessly.
Mao Zedong
4:00 a.m. January 3, 1950
(From the original manuscript)