Cable from the Chinese Embassy in Poland, 'Some Noteworthy Situations from the Polish Leadership’s Open Remarks on International Issues'

Some Noteworthy Situations from [Polish Communist leader Władysław] Gomułka and the Polish Foreign Minister [Adam] Rapacki’s Recent Open Remarks on International Issues:

To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Liaison Department:

(1) The belief that international affairs are taking a positive turn. In Gomułka’s speech on 8 October, he likened international relations to this example taken from everyday life: “If one person has some feelings toward another person, but they have a discussion about these problems, that means that both parties are not interested in banging their heads together.” He said that, at present,

international affairs have taken a positive turn, signifying that America has conceded the necessity of working with the Soviet Union on preliminary negotiations for resolving the issues related to the President of the German Democratic Party and West Berlin.

He said the USSR and the socialist camp’s policy of peace, as well as many neutral states, all consent to acknowledge the GDR and Germany’s present borders. “Many eminent Western politicians also have this in mind,” the desire to peacefully resolve the pressure of international opinion being placed on Germany’s problems. All of this “makes it possible for people to believe in such things as the supremacy of the healthy reasoning of Western powers’ ruling factions, and that the already-relaxed international anxieties will continue to wane and be replaced by peaceful resolutions.”

(2) He welcomed the agreement between the Soviets and the Americans over the reasoning for disarmament. Rapacki acknowledged this in September during a long speech in the USSR: “The ideology of universal disarmament has developed swiftly, and yet the actual work has not advanced.” He continued: “The delegates from Poland are thrilled with the agreement between the post-war powers over the reasoning for disarmament.” He believes that “on certain issues, their positions are already quite similar…However, the basic disagreements—whether to oversee disarmament of arsenals or infantry—have still not been resolved.”

(3) He reiterated and emphasized Poland’s recommendations concerning the founding of a denuclearized zone in Central Europe. The Polish leadership has raised this point repeatedly in recent speeches. “Creating such a zone,” Rapacki said, “beyond the important influence it will have on the situation in Europe, will also benefit the negotiations on total disarmament. The experience of oversight will also enrich these negotiations.”

(4) In talking about Germany’s peace treaty and Polish-West German border relations, Gomułka said that the treaty with Germany guarantees Germany’s present borders. This point “is not important,” he said, because “Poland western border is safe even without a treaty.” He said that the authority of the signers of the Soviet and Warsaw treaties guarantees the safety of the borders. “The Western powers also refuse to support West Germany’s territorial ambitions, since this is not where their interests lie.”

[Chinese] Embassy in Poland

11 October [1961]