Cable from the Chinese Embassy in Hungary, ‘The Hungarian Paper Justice Incorrectly Interpreted Our Statement’

To the Foreign Ministry and the Party Center:

The third edition^[1] of the Hungarian paper Justice^[2] today published in bold letters: “According to news from Warsaw, China views the Soviet army’s intervention in the Hungarian revolution as imperialist aggression.” ^[3] It appears that after they heard our radio broadcast of yesterday evening,^[4] the counterrevolutionaries intentionally misinterpreted [it], and started a rumor to help swell the momentum. On our part, is it necessary to express an opinion, and how should we express [it]? Requesting swift instructions.

Embassy in Hungary

10:00, 2 November 1956

Received: 4 November at 19:25; printed: 5 November at 0:55

[1] In fact it was the eighth. The 2 November edition of Justice published a front page article entitled “China is with us” which, on the basis of TASS reports, stated that according to the Chinese government’s declaration, “the demands of the Hungarian people are completely correct.”

[2] Igazság (Justice) was the paper of the revolutionary Hungarian army and youth.

[3] The writing mentioned in the embassy’s statement appeared in the first issue of Új Magyarország (the Petőfi Party [National Peasant Party] daily paper: “China views the Soviet forces aggression in the Hungarian revolution as imperialist aggression.” The text of the short message was as follows: “According to information from Warsaw, Chinese political sources have stated that they view the Soviet forces intervention in the Hungarian revolution as imperialist aggression.”

[4] The Chinese government’s declaration was published in Renmin Ribao on 1 November.