Excerpts of Talks between Leading Comrades and Foreign Guests (No. 14)

Secretariat First Section

Secret

No. 0000026

Excerpts of Talks between Leading Comrades and Foreign Guests (No. 14)

December 20, 1982

Contents
Leading Central Committee Comrades on Sino-Japanese, Sino-Soviet and Sino-American Relations

I.

Comrade Deng Xiaoping met with Chairman Takeiri Yoshikatsu of the Komeito Party of Japan on October 24.  Comrade Deng discussed Sino-Japanese, Sino-Soviet, and Sino-American relations. The main points were as follows:

On Sino-Japanese relations. Comrade Deng Xiaoping said that during this decade relations between our two countries have developed well. There are some small problems that still need to be solved, in particular the "textbook" issue.  Sino-Japanese relations should continue to develop in the present direction! In his report to the 12th Party Congress, General Secretary Hu Yaobang put Sino-Japanese relations ahead of Sino-American relations and Sino-Soviet relations. In this paragraph of the report, the most crucial sentence is that the people of China and Japan should continue to be friendly for generations to come.

Let me explain why we pay so much attention to the "textbook" issue.  The "textbook" issue is about how future generations of Japanese will be educated. There are some Japanese textbooks that actually educate future generations in the spirit of militarism.  That being the case, how would it be possible to speak of friendship for generation upon generation to come? Generation upon generation means not just the current generation, but many generations after that as well!  Therefore, we remind Japan that there are some militarists who are making waves, and both of us should be vigilant about that.

The "textbook" issue is not an isolated issue.  In fact, that tendency has already existed for quite some time and in fact is something that has always existed. Of course this does not apply to the vast majority of Japanese people nor to the vast majority of Japan's political leaders. Several years ago your Mishima Yukio was part of that trend!  That was not an isolated case. Why did that old politician want to erect some "Monument to the Founding of Manchukuo"?  This will have an impact on future generations. These problems have been solved now, but of course there are still some things to be dealt with.

On Sino-Soviet Relations. Comrade Deng Xiaoping said that the first round of Sino-Soviet consultations had been completed, and that the two sides were clarifying their views through the consultations. We on the Chinese side proposed that Sino-Soviet relations should be improved and normalized. This accords with the aspirations of the two peoples the interests of world peace. We believe that in order to improve and normalize relations between China and the Soviet Union, we need first of all to remove the obstacles to the improvement of Sino-Soviet relations and to eliminate the threats to China. This is not only the problem of a million troops on the Sino-Soviet border, the Soviet Union still has troops in Outer Mongolia.  There is also the problem of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union's support for Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia. 

Leaving other matters aside, these are the main factors in the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations and constitute a direct threat to China.  Was not supporting Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia a direct threat to China?  The Soviet Union must act on at least one of these things in order to build a basis for mutual trust. We are not asking too much.  It seems too difficult for them to do all three things at one. Could they do one of them first? It would be better if they could do two. The Soviet Union thinks that we are setting a precondition. We said that this was not a precondition, it was a negotiation, which, to be clear, was not a precondition, it was a post-condition. That is because the Sino-Soviet border was created by the Soviet Union, first of all, they sent a million troops, and the Soviet Union had already created the facts of direct aggression against Afghanistan and support for the Vietnamese aggression against Cambodia. Only after they did those things did we propose it!  So, it is a prerequisite.

Our dialogue continues. We can't imagine that the stalemate between two countries will last forever. The atmosphere of the talks was calm.  We can't imagine that the two countries will remain in a stalemate forever.  The atmosphere of the talks was calm but there is no telling how big the gap is, and there are no dramatic changes.

Talks can go on and on. Kosygin and Premier Zhou agreed to have talks on the Sino-Soviet border when Kosygin passed through Beijing in 1969.  The talks lasted from 1969 to 1979, eleven years, without any result.  When the Afghanistan issue arose, we broke off the talks.  Now a new dialogue has started.

The key question is whether the Soviet Union has the determination to make a change in any of the major issues I have just mentioned. We have always criticized the Soviet Union for its hegemony. If it does even one of these three things first, it would amount to a small relaxation of its hegemonic policy. Just a very small change, or perhaps the beginning of a change, and that would be good!  That would not be bad for us! That would not be bad for the people of the world! This would also show that the Soviet Union has made a contribution to world peace. Improving Sino-Soviet relations on that basis could only be good for the people of the world.  There is no downside to that.  Do you think they will do it?  

When Takeiri said that this would take some time, Comrade Deng Xiaoping said that it was worth waiting for. So there will be a second round, the third round, the fourth round, the fifth round, The tenth round, ...... and a hundredth round as talks continue.

On Sino-U.S. Relations. Comrade Deng Xiaoping said, as far as we are concerned, it has always been our policy to develop Sino-U.S. relations.  We will continue this policy in the future. People are saying that China is politically unstable. In fact, it should be said that it was unstable for some time. After the "Gang of Four" was smashed and especially after the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee, our politics has been stable.  All our policies are stable.  Not only are they stable now but they are guaranteed to continue.  The United States is different.  They switch to a new person and things are different.  Not long ago, there was a dispute about Taiwan, wasn't there? It led to the publication of the so-called "Second Shanghai Communiqué". The problem now is the serious implementation of the "Second Shanghai Communiqué." Indeed, ever since Reagan took office, there has been a problem of trust in Sino-American relations. Perhaps they have this trust problem with China as we have this trust problem with the United States.  In this regard, we feel that the United States has made too many small moves, and on the Taiwan issue alone, I don't know how many small moves there have been. For example, it set the highest standard from the Carter era as the basis for arms sales. So, when we jointly issued the "Second Shanghai Communiqué," we stated that we would watch what the United States would do. For example, if the U.S. reduces the amount by one dollar a year, it will be reduced by $10,000 in 10,000 years, or $100 million in 100 million years. That isn't good enough!

There are many other issues such as the poaching of one of our tennis players not long ago.  Americans themselves say themselves that they have played some dirty tricks.  What is meant by "dirty tricks"?  That means secret things.  There have been many instances of officials having direct contact with Taiwan.  So, there is a trust issue here.  We have to watch how well the U.S.  Implements the "Second Shanghai Communiqué". Hopes are one thing but we have consistently hoped to develop Sino-U.S. relations.

II.

On October 23, Premier Zhao Ziyang met with the President of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians League, Mr. Furui Yoshimi.  Premier Zhao discussed the resurgence of Japanese militarism, Sino-Soviet relations, and other issues. The main points are as follows:

When Furui said that he "hoped that China would observe trends in Japan and give reminders from time to time" and that "today we cannot say that Japan has already become militaristic.  To say that would be a bit of an exaggeration," Premier Zhao said that China does not believe that the Japanese government is pursuing a policy of reviving militarism nor does it believe that there are strong forces in Japan engaged in reviving militarism.  We do not believe that Japan has embarked on the path of reviving militarism.   However, there are some people in Japan who want to revive militarism.  That is a fact albeit there are only a very small number of people. Since this issue is a big problem for both Japan and for China, we both need to stay alert.   

When Furui said that "China is now gradually reconciling with the Soviet Union.  However improving Sino-Soviet relations is not the same as fighting with the United States.   China can establish friendly relations with both the United States and the Soviet Union," Premier Zhao said that recently, China is discussing its foreign policy and has been making two points: Chinese foreign policy is independent and principled.  Independent, it means that China will carry out its foreign policy according to its own situation, according to the general interest of maintaining world peace and, of course, according to the interest of China's security. China will not be dependent on any one major power. In our struggle against Soviet hegemony we will not become dependent upon the United States.  Similarly, when we criticize U.S. policy, we will not become dependent upon the Soviet Union. We have said that China would not play the Soviet card or the American card and that the Soviet Union and the United States would not play the China card.

We said that we have principles, and our principles are to oppose hegemony and maintain world peace. China's principle is not to maintain a balance between the United States and the Soviet Union.  We do not have a foreign policy of "equidistance" or "all-round" relations which is the language your country uses.  This is not our policy. China may sometimes focus on opposing Soviet hegemony, and sometimes on criticizing U.S. policy.  This is based on an analysis of the international situation, not on "equidistance" or "all-round" relations. China does not see any change in the two superpowers' competition for world hegemony, including the analysis that the Soviet Union is on the offensive and the United States is on the defensive.

Therefore, China's policy of opposing the hegemony of the two superpowers remains unchanged, as does its analysis that Soviet hegemony remains the main threat to world peace. Of course, in addition to opposing hegemony and maintaining world peace, China's foreign policy also includes the principle that it is willing to maintain and develop relations with all countries on the basis of the five principles of peaceful coexistence. China opposes the hegemony of the Soviet Union, but at the same time it is possible to have dialogue with the Soviet Union.  We will not refuse dialogue with the Soviet Union because they are hegemonic.  We have no such policy.  Merely because China engages in dialogue with the Soviet Union is no reason to say that China has abandoned its opposition to Soviet hegemony. The issue of Sino-Soviet relations can be summarized in two sentences: first, China's opposition to hegemony will not change until the Soviet Union's hegemonic policy changes.  The second is that China and the Soviet Union still need to talk.

When other members of the Japanese delegation said that "China recently invited the General Secretary of the French Communist Party to visit China and Senior Colonel Gaddafi will visit China. This clearly shows the Sino-Soviet dialogue has stepped up the tempo of China's foreign relations''.  Premier Zhao said that there was no connection among these things. Have you not noticed? The General Secretaries of the Italian Communist Party and the Spanish Communist Party visited some time ago. The French Communist Party has changed from what it was before.  Now it advocates the establishment of socialism with French characteristics and opposes the idea of one center and one model. As for Libya's leader Gaddafi's visit to China, Libya is a third world country. Among the Third World countries, some have good relations with the United States and we have good relations with them; some others have good relations with the Soviet Union, and we are developing our relations with those countries. Our view is that Third World countries should not allow interference by foreign forces.  We advocate solidarity among Third World countries.