Cable from Peng Di, 'Situation of the Bogor Conference'

Forward to [Chen] Jiakang, [Dong] Yueqian, Gong Peng

Priority Level: Additional Rush

From: Indonesia

Date: 1954, December 31

Already Forwarded to: Mao [Zedong], Liu [Shaoqi], Zhou [Enlai], Zhu [De], Chen Yun, Peng [Dehuai], Deng [Xiaoping], Chen Yi, Xi [Zhongxun], Yang [Shangkun], Foreign Ministry, Su [Yu], [Wang] Jiaxiang, [Li] Kenong, Military Intelligence, Military Unified [Command], [Liao] Chengzhi, [Lu] Dingyi

Situation of the Bogor Conference

To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Xinhua News Agency:

Inside information report on the Bogor conference. Whether or not to invite China to attend the Afro-Asian conference was actually the main issue of the conference. The prime minister of Pakistan [is] opposed [to inviting China] citing fear that other Afro-Asian countries might have views [against China]; India, Burma and Indonesia proposed that it is necessary to have China join. It was said that the prime minister of Pakistan even once threatened that if China was invited then Pakistan might not attend the Afro-Asian conference. U Nu said that if China wasn’t invited then it will cause an even larger chaos, and [that chaos] might originate from Burma (as in Burma might not attend the conference), U Nu proposed that the conference can agree to invite Japan as a concession to Pakistan. The Indonesian side is experiencing difficulty, but for the [sake of] convoking the conference they can only agree. The attitude of Ceylon wavers; [Ceylon is] saying that although communism isn’t good, excluding China isn’t a solution either. [Jawaharlal] Nehru said that last time the Colombo conference had unanimously decided to propose that China [should] join the United Nations, and so now there is even less reason to refuse China from joining the Afro-Asian conference. In the end Pakistan had to finally agree to inviting China but at the same time [the concession to Pakistan includes] inviting Japan, Turkey and etc. other vassal states of the United States; in addition to issuing a communiqué after the conference emphasizing that participating in the [Afro-Asian] conference does not signify a change of attitude on behalf of other participant countries. Nehru is opposed to inviting non-independent countries, because if they do attend they will ceaselessly dispute over who to send as representatives. Not to mention they also can’t solve issues; and at the conference they will be swayed by emotions.

The five principles of peaceful coexistence. India and Burma brought forth [the five principles of peaceful coexistence] at the conference and no one opposed. However if the conference clearly accepts [the five principles] and involves issues such as the charter, organization, etc. of the United Nations then it might cause more disputes. In order to strive for the expected conclusion of the conference, India and Burma did not insist upon inserting [the five principles] into the communiqué; [they are] waiting for the Afro-Asian conference. Actually, the entire communiqué’s spirit is in accord with the five principles; Indonesia and India’s people have all claimed to have a large effect upon the conference; India’s people especially. A member of the Indian delegation told us that India plays a dominating role; he said the achievements of the conference were good but there were certainly many difficulties; he said the five principles have actually been accepted by the conference. From the way Nehru answered questions at the reception held by the prime ministers after the conference, we can see that he was indeed bold and was not afraid of revealing certain situations of the conference. Pakistan and Ceylon (and especially Pakistan) were in hiding, although they did some eloquent talk to win over the masses but actually they have an uneasy conscience. The prime minister of Pakistan emphasized the necessity of confidentiality for the conference, because it [allowed for] honest speech without qualms. It was said that the formal Afro-Asian conference invitation will only be sent after January.

Peng Di

31 December [1954]