Comment for Comrade Minister Oskar Fischer

Department Far East   

Berlin, July 23, 1973

 

Comment for Comrade Minister Oskar Fischer

We suggest that all three points of the attached verbal statement vis-à-vis the council of the Chinese embassy in Berlin be delivered together. 

The diplomatic activities of the Chinese ambassador in Bonn vis-à-vis West Berlin is for us as well the hook for the subsequent statements on point 3. Otherwise, Western press releases are available to me, on which we do not want to draw upon.

Comrade Strauss would however have to take them as a hook or refer to the conversation in Berlin. To us, however, that does not appear to be appropriate. 

[signature]
Jarck
 

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Wording of a Statement to be verbally delivered to the Council of the Embassy of the PR China in the GDR 

In light of recent events, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic believes it to be necessary to present the position of the German Democratic Republic regarding the status of West Berlin and outline some matters that are in direct connection to it: 

1. In judging the status of West Berlin, one must proceed from the following basic facts:

West Berlin was at no time a part of the Federal Republic of Germany. The three Western powers had to account for this circumstance from the beginning and confirmed multiple times officially that West Berlin is not a part of the FRG and not governed by it. 

In the Quadripartite Agreement from September 3, 1971, it was again confirmed in international law that “these sectors are, as heretofore, not a part of the Federal Republic of Germany and will continue to not be governed by it.” At the same time, it was emphasized that the articles of the Basic Law of the FRG that contradict this remain suspended. 

It arises as a result from these facts that the FRG possesses in no way sovereign rights vis-à-vis West Berlin. Connections between the Western sectors of Berlin and the FRG can only be maintained and developed under consideration of the basic facts presented above. 

2. The People’s Republic of China has proceeded from the fact in the past that West Berlin is not a part of the FRG and may not be governed by it. The German Democratic Republic always welcomed this position by the PR China. 

Recently, the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Federal Republic of Germany sent his calling card to the governing mayor of the West Berlin as well as to the minister presidents of the federal states of the FRG. In so doing, the West Berlin mayor was treated by the official representative of the PR China to the FRG in the same fashion as the heads of government of the FRG states, over which the federal government in Bonn exercises sovereign rights set in the Basic Law of the FRG. 

The MfAA expresses its disconcertment about this step by the ambassador of the PR China to the FRG, who developed official diplomatic activities vis-à-vis West Berlin. It is regrettable that through this, the legitimate interests of the GDR are damaged and the efforts by the FRG to undermine the Quadripartite Agreement are abetted. 

The MfAA expresses the hope that the Chinese side consider the standpoint of the GDR and refrain from conducting diplomatic activities vis-à-vis West Berlin through the embassy of the PR China to the FRG. 

3. Recently, some socialist countries have requested the establishment of general consulates in West Berlin with the responsible bodies from the USA, Great Britain and France. In case the Chinese side has similar intentions, the GDR expects that it also proceeds in their realization from the known fact that West Berlin is not a part of the FRG and is not governed by it. That means in particular: 

The establishment of a representation in West Berlin may in no way take place on the basis and in the context of relations between the PR China and the FRG; 

An independent representation of the PR China should be answerable directly to the MfAA of the PR China and not to the embassy of the PR China to the FRG; 

Requesting the establishment of such a representation should be carried out via the Western powers, but not via the embassies of these states to the FRG. 

The MfAA of the GDR would welcome it if the PR China proceeded in its policy vis-à-vis West Berlin from the status of West Berlin determined in the Quadripartite Agreement and considered the legitimate interests of the GDR. 

I ask that you transmit this position of the MfAA of the GDR to the MfAA of the PR China.