Teimuraz Stepanov-Mamaladze notes covering a discussion between Gorbachev and Yang Shangkun, during the beginning of the Soviet visit to China. Gorbachev and Shangkun compare economic growth rates and initiatives in China and the Soviet Union, and Gorbachev talks about perestroika. Later in the day, Gorbachev explains his impressions that the Chinese are interested in normalizing relations with the Soviet Union, and are worried about the protests occurring in Tiananmen Square. The Soviet delegation connects their visit to China to the protests.
May 19, 1989
Notepad of Teimuraz Stepanov-Mamaladze, 19 May 1989
This document was made possible with support from MacArthur Foundation
19 May 1989
Meeting at E.A. [Shevardnadze’s]
Karpov [?]. General Staff—the Hungarian factor.
E.A.: China. We have been plugged into this process, and it looks normal to us. In reality, these are historic events.
Words of appreciation for [Deputy Foreign Minister] Igor Rogachev. The diplomatic service has excelled. The joint document is at a level of a treaty.
Deng Xiaoping:
- Who offended China most of all
- Where did the threat to China come from?
a) Japan
b) Russia
During his meeting with me, though, he controlled himself better. About Mao: Of course, he could not predict all that would happen in China, in the Soviet Union and in other countries. One should not demand from the classics of Marxist-Leninism more than they could give at the time. The Vietnamese factor. “Russia seized from us 1.5 million square kilometers.”
Zhao Ziyang stressed Deng’s leading role against the background of the student unrest. The future of Marxism. Not to force the tempo of the development of inter-party ties. The Chinese discussed economic questions with us more actively.
The attitude of the youth. The interpreter:
- Why did Deng need to raise the topic of Marxism? For our part, we [the Chinese] understand that soon he will meet with Marx…
The student unrest is a result of stratification. The intelligentsia is in desperate straits.
Attempts to storm the building the All Chinese Congress of People’s Representatives. A nice present for the Congress.
But they were punished, and as a result this punishment [literally, execution] helped the leaders of the extreme type to obtain a terrible rationale—twenty lives… [sic, unclear]
Notes from Teimuraz Stepanov-Mamaladze, covering discussions between Deng Xiaoping, Zhao Ziyang, and Viktor Karpov. The Chinese side discusses Deng's role against the student unrest going on in China, and the punishment of protestors attempting to storm the building of the All Chinese Congress of People's Representatives.
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Hoover Institution Archive, Teimuraz Stepanov-Mamaladze Papers: Notepad 18.05.1989. Translated by Sergey Radchenko.
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2015-03-26
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