Cable from Huang Zhen, 'Situation Report of the Bogor Conference'

Vice Minister has read this

Forward to: [Chen] Jiakang, Cho Ru

Priority Level: Special Rush

From: Indonesia

Date: 1955 January 2

Already forwarded to: Chairman, [Liu] Shaoqi, [Zhou] Enlai, Zhu De, Chen Yun, [Peng] Dehuai, [Deng] Xiaoping, Chen Yi, [Xi] Zhongxun, [Yang] Shangkun, Foreign Ministry, [Wang] Jiaxiang, [Li] Kenong

Situation Report of the Bogor Conference

To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

(1) Before and after the Bogor conference, [I] received an invitation to the welcome and send off receptions for the four prime ministers, the president and the Indian ambassador; [invitations] to the Indonesian prime minister’s banquet and the Pakistani ambassador’s banquet; etc. invitations from the mayor of Coconut City [Jakarta] to attend the mass conference welcoming the five prime ministers; [in addition to] an invitation to join the presidential new year celebration. Other than the timing conflict between the send off for the prime minister of Ceylon and the Pakistani ambassador’s banquet (the send off was attended by Counselor Zhong), [I] attended all other events. All events have invited madam other than the send off for the four prime ministers and the Indonesian prime minister’s banquet. [We] conducted broad interaction during the above described events, became acquainted with many people and maintained close contact with the Soviet ambassador. As for welcoming and sending off, we only welcomed the American ambassador and did not send [the American ambassador] off.

(2) For welcome and send off, the Indonesian side organized high level personnel (above the level of ministers and secretaries) and diplomats from various countries. Other than [the above], there were various expatriate representatives to present flowers; there were no large crowds. The flags of the five countries were hung at the airport; when disembarking and embarking the plane the national anthems of the two countries were played. [After the playing of the national anthems] there was a review of the honor guard (three teams from the army, navy and air force), the main guest generally does not speak. The guests generally left after reaching the guest lounge and met journalists for three to five minutes. Security was quite tight and secretive; the Indian and Burmese prime ministers both flew on their own national chartered flights; the prime ministers of Pakistan and Ceylon both flew on flights of British companies.

(3) The situation of the reception and banquets, etc.

1. Eight o’clock at night on the 28th, the [Indonesian] president held a reception to treat the delegations from the five countries to dinner prior to the conference. At the beginning of the reception, the [seating] order for the central guests were: the presidential and vice-presidential couple, the prime minister of Burma and his wife, the prime minister of India, the prime minister of Pakistan and his wife, the prime minister of Ceylon, and the prime minister of Indonesia and his wife. After simple drinks, the [guests] were seated to watch Indonesian song and dance.

2. On the night of the 29th the Indonesian prime minister held a reception in Bogor, [there were] a total of forty-five people including the main members of the five delegations, the principal ministers of Indonesia and diplomats (some diplomats did not show up, such as the British charge d’affaires). After the speech of the Indonesian prime minister, the prime ministers of Burma, India, Pakistan and Ceylon gave their speeches. Afterwards conversation was casual and occasionally included some jokes; there was no applause (occasionally one or two people would clap a few times). Only the prime ministers of Indonesia and Burma have written speeches; only the prime ministers of Indonesia and Ceylon suggested a toast. During the conversation prior to being seated, the Indonesian prime minister especially sought me out to wassail with me and express friendliness. After the event and further study with the Soviet ambassador, we believe the conversations all have one common feature: that is they are anti-colonial, anti-imperial and [support] peaceful solidarity; there was no anti-communism; the situation was the same for speeches during the mass assembly.

3. The mass assembly was held on the 30th at nine o’clock in the morning. There were an estimated thirty or forty thousand people present despite the heavy rain. The situation of the crowd was very good but the organization was poor. The mayor, the five prime ministers and Sukarno all gave speeches. At one thirty in the afternoon, the Pakistani ambassador held a banquet (which was actually a buffet reception). The Indonesian prime minister and the Indian prime minister both attended on time (U Nu went to Yogyakarta) and there were about three hundred people present. Since the [Pakistani] invitation came a lot later after the Indian ambassador’s [invitation], this led people to feel that [the Pakistanis] are not only trying to strive for the same as India but they want to do it better [than India] (the buffet was a lot better with more diversity [of food] compared to the Indian embassy’s). At six thirty in the afternoon, three hundred people were present at the Indian embassy’s reception. The Pakistani prime minister was late by an hour. [Jawaharlal] Nehru was very active. At the reception the Indonesian National Party Vice President, head secretary of the foreign ministry, president’s civil officials, all initiated conversations with us about the importance of inviting China to attend the Afro-Asian conference. The foreign ministry head secretary said that Indonesia wants to strive to establish the secretariat before the four prime ministers leave, so as to make preparation work smooth.

(4) Main contents of individual conversations:

1. At the send off for the prime minister of Ceylon, [the prime minister of Ceylon] once said to Counselor Zhong that the attendance of the People’s Republic of China in the Afro-Asian conference is very good; [we] can get together and discuss it. [He] also said that for the past few years trade between our two countries has been prosperous.

2. On the morning of the 31st when sending off the prime minister of Pakistan, the Indonesian prime minister once talked to us and said that [he] is very happy about the success of the Bogor conference. He then asked for my opinion and said that he will write a letter to Premier Zhou.

3. At nine o’clock in the morning of the 1st, we attended the presidential office’s New Year celebration. The foreign minister talked with me: I am very happy that this time the conference passed the [motion] to invite the People’s Republic of China to attend the Afro-Asian conference; we have accomplished what we had hoped for. When the discussion with Sukarno touched upon the Bogor conference he said, “I hope that China can attend the Afro-Asian conference that is being held at Bandung this time, because nothing can be resolved without the participation of China. I heard from Nehru that Premier Zhou Enlai is going to come and attend.” When the discussion with Indonesian National Party parliament representative Bun King To touched upon the Bogor conference, he said: The invitation of China [to the Afro-Asian conference] by the Bogor conference is fulfilling the wishes of the Indonesian National Party. The Indonesian National Party congress held at Bandung decided that China must be invited otherwise nothing can be resolved, which would [render] the Afro-Asian conference meaningless. The conversation with Wilopo at the reception held by the Indian ambassador is in accordance [with what other people said].

4. For the main content of the conversation between Nehru and I at the Indian ambassador’s reception, see the telegram of the 30th.

5. In the interaction described above, U Nu and his wife expressed much friendliness towards us; occasionally saying a few phrases in Chinese to us.

Huang Zhen

2 January 1955