(November 2, 1973)





　　[Edward Gough Whitlam (born July 11, 1916, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), a Labor Party (ALP) politician representing the electorate of Werriwa in New South Wales, served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. On December 21, 1972, just weeks after assuming office, Whitlam took the decisive step of formally recognizing the People’s Republic of China and establishing official diplomatic relations between the two countries, thereby laying the foundation for Sino-Australian diplomatic ties. This move was a milestone at a time when China was still largely isolated in the early 1970s yet seeking to break out of that isolation; as such, Whitlam is widely regarded as the “Father of Sino-Australian Diplomatic Relations.”]






　　Prime Minister: The Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping and Vice Chairman Xu Xiangqian whom you have recently met were both military figures in the past, but now they are considered civilians.

　　Whitlam: During this visit to China, I had several meetings with the Vice Premier… Perhaps my choice of words was not quite appropriate; please forgive me if my remarks sound clumsy or imprecise. He (Deng Xiaoping) fell out of favor at the Ninth National Congress in 1969. However, by the time of the Eighth Congress in 1956, he was already a prominent figure. Interestingly, by the Tenth Congress, he had once again risen to such a high position.

　　Chairman: That was because, at the Ninth Congress, Lin Biao’s issue had not yet been resolved. By the Tenth Congress, however, the matter had been settled.

　　Whitlam: When I came here in 1971, Lin Biao’s problem had already been solved. What exactly happened then? This has long been a subject of much speculation in English-speaking circles.

　　Chairman: In September 1971, he fled on his own. To tell you the truth, I had dealt with Lin Biao for decades—there were rare instances of cooperation, but far more occasions of conflict. He was pro-Soviet and was planning a coup d’état.

　　Whitlam: Oh! Mm, mm. Was the Soviet Union behind him? Did the USSR support him?

　　Chairman: Generally speaking, that was the case. As for the specific details, I am not yet clear. In any event, he had no way out and headed north. That in itself is evidence.

　　Prime Minister: Later discovered documents also confirmed his collusion with the Soviet Union—his aim was for China to accept the Soviet Union’s nuclear umbrella.

　　Chairman: During the war against Japan, he spent nearly half of his time in the Soviet Union. While there, he published articles endorsing Chiang Kai-shek and completely disregarded the Communist Party.

　　Whitlam: Yes, as an outsider, having read in books about how Russia had exerted a harmful influence on the Chinese Communist Party since the 1920s, I find it truly tragic that, as early as the 1920s, the Russians did not assist the CCP but instead interfered or suppressed you, preventing you from pursuing your own policies and taking independent action.

　　Chairman: They supported a small faction within the Chinese Communist Party, whose leader is still based in Moscow today.

　　Whitlam: Who was that person?

　　Prime Minister: Wang Ming. This small group was formed at the Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, which was established by the Soviets. Of course, some members were also from within China.




Thanks to Ayana Sakura for collecting, entering, and proofreading.