Cable from the Chinese Embassy in the Soviet Union, 'The Activities of the Soviet Revisionists during the “Week of Solidarity with the People of Vietnam”'

[stamp] June 15, 1965

[Stamp] Foreign Ministry Soviet and East Europe Department

Soviet Union # X [illegible]

196X [sic]

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Telegram

Priority: Telegram

From Moscow Station

Foreign Ministry (65) No. Si-819

The Activities of the Soviet Revisionists during the “Week of Solidarity with the People of Vietnam”

To the Foreign Ministry:

The Soviet Revisionists, in a so-called response to the call of the World Peace Congress, during the week of May 23 to May 30 held a “Week of Solidarity with the People of Vietnam”. The Soviet Revisionists objective was to try to use this occasion make the case for their pretended opposition to imperialism, to influence public opinion and to create political capital, to deceive their own people at home confuse people abroad who don't understand what is really going on, to fawn on the Vietnamese side, in order to counteract the influence of our support to Vietnam and opposition to the U.S. and our unmasking of Soviet Revisionism. The nature of this activity is, on the surface, to make a show of phony support really just perfunctory support. The emphasis was on boasting about “internationalist spirit and multi-faceted assistance to Vietnam”.

I. Several Activities Put On by the Soviet Revisionists During the “Week of Solidarity”

(1) The Soviet side held a press conference for the Southern Vietnam National Liberation Front delegation office in Moscow. Delegation head Dang Quang Minh made a two-hour-long speech at the press conference, discussing the Vietnam struggle, the determination of the Vietnamese people and exposing the crimes of the U.S. aggressors in Vietnam. Afterwards the Soviet press stated that the press conference was held as part of “Week of Solidarity”. Pravda, however, made only a brief four-sentence-long report about Dang's speech at the press conference, deliberately distorting it.

(2) Invited Dang Quang Minh to make a five-minute-long speech on the Moscow Television Broadcasting Station. The speech was inserted between other programs and was not previously announced in the broadcast schedule. Moreover, among the programs scheduled for broadcast that day, immediately after the Vietnam comrade's speech, [underlined by hand] the Soviet side placed a program featuring a performances by American musician who were visiting the Soviet Union. And gave them plenty of time to talk to the television audience.

(3) The most important activities of the “Week of Solidarity” were mass meetings, evening meetings and meetings held at factories, farms and schools. According to the Soviet press, “Week of Solidarity” activities like these were held throughout the Soviet Union “thousands and perhaps even tens of thousands of times”. Only a few dozen of these activities were reported in the press, however, with the largest meetings having one or two thousand people participating. Typically several hundred people participated. According to reports, these activities were held in over a dozen big cities including Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Baku, Novosibirsk, Tiblisi, Almaty, and Frunze. Several medium-sized cities in central Asia also held meetings. For example, nineteen work units in six cities of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic held meetings. The Soviet Revisionists arranging for these activities to be held in some of the central Asian republics very likely has something to do with their scheming to hold and Africa-Asia Conference. These kinds of meetings were mere formalities. They were generally held during work rest periods with several workers chosen as representatives to speak, followed by a show of hands to pass a resolution unanimously. The Soviet side invited the Vietnam side to participate in meetings in Moscow and a few other cities. Sometimes they invited representatives from the Embassy of Vietnam and foreign students to participate in some of the meetings. According to the Vietnamese Embassy, the Soviet side notified Dang Quang Minh in advance that during the “Week of Solidarity” a mass rally involving participants from all over the Soviet Union would be held in Moscow and asked him not to leave Moscow during that period. The promised rally was never held.

II. Several methods used by the Soviet Revisionists during “Support Week”

(1) Feigning support. They support with words but not in their hearts. On the first day of the “Week of Solidarity” Pravda published a front-page commentary on the opening Haiphong. The content of the commentary, however, was hollow. It screamed “Supporting the Vietnamese people is the life-and-death responsibility of the peoples of all the countries of the world”. Soviet Revisionist propaganda about the “Week of Solidarity” was all just an empty formality. Soviet newspapers did not treat “Week of Solidarity” activities as important news. There were few reports and what reports there were took up pitifully little space in the newspaper. Many Soviet newspapers devoted over a page to birthday greetings to the Soviet author Mikhail Sholokhov. Reports of “Week of Solidarity” activities that same day took up less than one-tenth of a page. Pravda was the only Soviet paper to carry a commentary. The Soviet Revisionists claimed to have shot a documentary film entitled “Vietnam is Fighting, Vietnam Must Win” but during “Support Week” Moscow movie theaters did not show any films about Vietnam.

(2) Strictly forbad publication of news about speeches made by Vietnam representatives. All the press reports were the same. The reports were all formulaic. A certain Vietnam representative at the meeting thanked the Soviet Union for its moral and materials support but did not carry the complete content of the Vietnamese representative's speech. The labor newspaper Trud when reporting a factory meeting, placed the name of the Japanese Secretary-General for Evaluations Iwai before the First Secretary from the Vietnamese Embassy. The First Secretary told our comrade later that it made him angry that a Vietnamese representative suffer that kind of disrespect at a meeting to support Vietnam.

(3) Boasting about about the Soviet Union's “internationalist spirit and multi-faceted support for Vietnam.” Speeches by Soviet representatives at these meetings and readers' letters excerpted in the press talk incessantly about Soviet support to Vietnam. The Soviet Red Cross is preparing to sent to Vietnam during the “Week of Solidarity” an insignificant amount of medicines and medical supplies to Vietnam. They have no hesitation in boasting all about their “internationalist” and “fraternal support”. During a television program, a documentary said to be Vietnamese made began with shots of Soviet assistance to Vietnam.

(4) “Support Week” was done in the name of mass organizations. No officials appeared. News of officials such as Brezhnev, Kosygin, and Mikoyan receiving Dang Quang Minh were placed a considerable period of time before or after reports about “Support Week”. No officials appeared at the “Week of Solidarity” meetings.

[Chinese] Embassy Moscow

June 9, 1965

Distribution: Members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, Peng Zhen, Chen Yi, He Long, Kang Sheng, Nie Rongzhen, Luo Ruiqing, Yang Shangkun, Central General Office Confidential Department, Foreign Affairs Office, Central Propaganda Office; Central Liaison Department, Central Investigation Department, National Defense Department, Military Intelligence Office, the Third Department, Foreign Trade Office, Foreign Affairs Office, Foreign Economics Office, Wu Lengxi, Zhu Muzhi,

Liu, Zhang, Luo, Zeng, Meng, Wang, Qiao, Han, Liu, Gong, Dong, Huan, The General Office, Research Department, Division of Soviet and European Affairs, Second Asian Division, Press, Ambassador, Confidential Office, Archive

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