Ministry for State Security, 'Single Information about Rioting by Employees of the Embassy of the PR China in the GDR in the Context of a Grave Traffic Accident by a Vehicle of the Embassy on 27 June 1967'

Ministry for State Security

Berlin, 29 June 1967

Highly Confidential!

Archive

Nr. 543/67

CC:

1. Comrade [General Secretary Walter] Ulbricht

2. Comrade [Politburo Member Erich] Honecker

3. Comrade [Minister President Willi] Stoph

4. Comrade [MfS General Bruno] Beater

5. [MfS] Main Department XX

6. Archive

Single Information

about

Rioting by Employees of the Embassy of the PR China in the GDR

in the Context of a Grave Traffic Accident by a Vehicle of the Embassy

on 27 June 1967

On 28 June 1967 at about 12:00 PM hours, the Deputy Minister for Foreign of the GDR, Comrade Hertzfeldt, visited with other high-ranking officials from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs the Embassy of the PR China in the GDR in Berlin-Karlshorst to pay condolences. When they left the embassy building, they were pursued and insulted by 8 to 10 Chinese embassy employees.

Right after the departures of the officials from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 5 slanderous posters with the following texts were affixed to the building of the embassy in Berlin-Karlshorst, Hermann Duncker Street:

1. Down with the Modern Revisionists

2. Strongest Protest against the Distortion of the Truth

3. Blood Dues must be compensated with Blood

4. Our just Demand must be met

5. The Death of our 4 Comrades must be investigated

The slanderous posters are made of paper (size about 80 times 100 centimeters) and were affixed to the lower iron bars of the ground floor windows in direction of Hermann Duncker Street.

All passersby who looked at the slogans were photographed by employees of the Chinese Embassy from the balcony of the embassy building.

At about 15:00 hours two additional posters were attached to the lower windows of the embassy building. In this case it was a poster (size about 75 times 50 centimeters] with a quote from Mao Zedong:

“This Army has an unyielding spirit. It is determined to overpower any enemy, but never surrender itself to an enemy. No matter any difficulties and deprivations, it will stay in the fight until the last man standing.” Words of Chairman Mao Zedong.

And it is large poster (size about 3 times 2 meters) with the text:

“Strongest Possible Protest!

On 27 June the Acting Ambassador of our Embassy, Comrade Pu Tiquang, the Attache Comrade Yang Xianwen, and the employees Comrades xxx, xxx, and xxx have fallen.

The 3rd Secretary, Comrade Wang Chuinglung, got severely injured.

After this event, representatives from the GDR Foreign Ministry and the Police of the GDR conspired with each other. They shift responsibilities to each other.

They prevented by all means that the representatives of our embassy, the acting Military Attache, Comrade Ching Wan and three other comrades find out the truth. Without reason, the GDR refused to provide photos from the accident scene - and that our representatives could hear about the course of events of the accident from the eye-witnesses. Without reason, they refused to return the belongings of our comrades at the accident et cetera, et cetera.

This behavior from their side is no coincidence. It does testify to their nefarious intention and that they want to to conceal the truth about the accident on purpose.

The Chinese Embassy in the GDR is raising strongest protest against this with the Foreign Ministry of the GDR”.

Chinese Embassy in the GDR

28 June 1967

Furthermore, over the course of the afternoon until the evening hours the slanderous slogans from the posters were spread from the building of the embassy via loudspeakers.

This way it came to an assembly of up two 400 people on the sidewalks in front of the embassy until about 20:00 hours. Mostly those were students from the College for Economy who protested against the slogans and shouted calls against Mao Zedong and the behavior of the embassy employees.

Though individual people repeatedly demanded to violently remove the slanderous posters, the behavior of the protesters was overall disciplined.

About 20:30 hours the situation in front of the embassy was essentially calm.  

About 22:40 hours two representatives from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the GDR officials delivered a protest note to the Embassy of the PR China. However, apparently without taking notice of the paper, an employee of the embassy tore the note apart and threw it behind the departing vehicle [of the Foreign Ministry].

During the morning and early afternoon hours of 29 June 1967, the situation in front of the embassy building was still calm. The slanderous slogans attached to the windows of the building are still there.

Measures were undertaken to increase the security.