Protocol Transcript of the Moscow Meeting on May 16-18, 1973 (excerpts), Including Specific Recommendations of Coordinating Policy toward China

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Generally, we should expect that the PRC's foreign policy will develop toward the direction of implementing its great power, nationalistic, and hegemonic plans by the Chinese leaders. One cannot exclude the possibility, however, that the opposition against the Maoists could come to power and present socialist slogans, which could unite the Marxist-Leninists in the PRC, and they would ask for support from the socialist countries. Then, a totally different situation will evolve which we cannot possibly analyze in details at the moment.

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While being guided by the line of our parties in coordinating our efforts and developing our cooperation on the China issue, the members of the meeting agreed as to the instructions regarding a further and effective countering of the acrimonious policy of the Chinese leadership:

The area of foreign policy

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In Europe

- to decisively counter Beijing's hostile activities directed against the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, to unmask the efforts of Maoists who are counting on weakening the unity of fraternal nations and sowing factionalism in its collective organs such as the Council of Economic Mutual Assistance and the Warsaw Pact Treaty;

- to cut short the efforts of the Chinese leadership in hampering the process of détente in Europe…;

- …in practical [economic] dealings with China to follow the “Joint Market” [directions] agreed upon at the 62-nd session of the Executive Committee of the Comecon.

In Asia

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- in Southeast Asia and in Indochina, to strengthen and raise the prestige of the DRV and counter Beijing's hegemonic ambitions;

- …to expand ties with India and Bangladesh and to improve relations with Pakistan;

- to expand concrete cooperation with Japan based on mutual benefits as a counterweight to closer Sino-Japanese relations which are fueled by racial principles;

- to consistently and methodically to propagate the idea of collective security in Asia…

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Third World and Non-Aligned Movement

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- to actively coordinate work to unmask the real propositions of the Chinese leadership…that run against the interests of socialism and the national liberation movement;
- take all possible steps to counter the Maoist activities which attempt to implement the struggle “with the hegemony of two superpowers.”

The U.S.

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- to continue to expand mutual and beneficial contacts by socialist countries with the US, while stopping the American governing circles from playing “the China card,” to harm the socialist commonwealth;
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The UN and Other International Organizations

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- to carry out a tighter cooperation among the representatives of fraternal countries in the UN and other international organizations;

- …to consult with other suitable institutions of socialist countries to work out a joint position on the forum of international economic organizations…

In the Area of the Socialist Countries' Inter-State Relations with the PRC

The Chinese leadership continues to implement its policy of differentiation, which counts on separating the socialist countries from one another and isolating the Soviet Union. This is why Beijing proposes, in a very selective manner, to renew economic, science and technology, and cultural cooperation with some of these countries in order to spark some kind of a competition among these nations as far as their contacts with the PRC. Some Chinese high-level officials cunningly suggest that expanding the relations with the PRC with this or another socialist nation would favor a normalization of Sino-Soviet relations.

We need to do the following to counter this policy:

- in developing state relations by each of the socialist countries with the PRC (political ties, trade and economic, science and technology, cultural and all other types of cooperation) we need to adhere to a jointly agreed level, not allowing for any other approaches that could be used by the Chinese leadership to undermine the unity of socialist countries and pit them against one another;

- to build mutual relations with the PRC so as it does not lead to strengthening Beijing's positions in their struggle against the socialist commonwealth, and in increasing their military and economic potential of Maoist China;

- in order to coordinate the policy of fraternal socialist countries toward China, we need to exploit such forms and methods, such as a systematic exchange of information and regular meetings at the level of interested ministries and institutions, to expand and strengthen the cooperation between our diplomatic representatives in accredited nations;

- to continue the practice of yearly meetings of the representatives of foreign trade ministries of fraternal socialist countries on issues of coordinating trade and economic policy toward the PRC;

- while taking into account the special meaning which Beijing attaches to trade and economic ties in implementing their differentiation policy toward socialist countries, we should instruct the ministries of foreign trade of the countries which participated in today's meeting to continue the implementation of concrete steps worked out at the conference of deputy foreign trade ministers of fraternal countries in February this year;

- to implement the coordination between the proper institutions of fraternal countries on the question of inviting the PRC to international exhibits and trade fairs organized on the territory of fraternal nations as well as to consult on issue of organizing in the PRC specialized trade exhibits of the socialist countries…;

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In the Area of the International Communist Movement

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- to activate the work of fraternal parties in capitalist and developing countries in unmasking the anti-Marxist, anti-Leninist essence of the theory and practice of Maoism and to mobilize these parties to successfully counter this chauvinistic ideology and the policy of the Chinese leadership…

- to systematically inform fraternal communist parties and some of the friendly social democratic and national democratic parties about the situation in China, about the negative aspects of the activities of Beijing leaders on the international arena, about their hostile activities against the socialist commonwealth, about their factional line of Maoists in the world communist and national liberation movements…;

- to adopt a custom of carrying out theoretical studies of the Chinese issue together with other Marxist-Leninist parties, to encourage them to take part in international and national symposia and conferences devoted to this issue;

- examine, generalize, and widely propagate the positive experiences of the struggle of communist and workers' parties against Maoism…;

- to cooperate with appropriate communist parties and representatives of other progressive forces in creating anti-Maoist propaganda centers in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America…;

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In the Area of Ideological and Propaganda Struggle

- be aware that a decisive and multilateral unmasking of the anti-Marxist theory and practice of Maoism…is one of the most fundamental tasks in the defense of the Marxist-Leninist theory, an important element in the unity of the socialist commonwealth and the workers' movement, for a return of China to the family of socialist countries, and for strengthening the international anti-imperialist front;

- …to unmask the activities of Maoists which aim to weaken the unity of the socialist countries and undermine the collective organs – Comecon and the Warsaw Pact

- …to unmask all of Beijing's efforts to drive a wedge between the socialist commonwealth and the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America;

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- to adhere to a custom of maintaining regular bilateral and multilateral contacts between ideological and propaganda institutions of fraternal countries to intensify coordination of their activities and providing mutual assistance in the struggle against Maoism…

- to widely use mutual reprints of articles on China from the media of the socialist countries participating in this meeting…;

In the Area of Academic Work on the China issue

- to use conferences, seminars, and international symposia regarding various issues to explain and propagate the views agreed upon by our parties regarding China;

- to hold at the end of 1973 or early 1974, a conference of sinologists with the participation of Marxist theorists and progressive sinologists of various countries during which a thorough analysis from the Marxist-Leninist position would take place regarding the current state and future tendencies of china's development, including the assessment of the cultural revolution and its consequences for the future of socialism in the PRC;

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- …organize closed symposia, joint research, preparing monographs, exchanges of academics, lectures, doctoral candidates, and students regarding china within the framework of academic cooperation…

- in the first quarter of 1974, to organize an academic symposium on the topic “The Ideological Basis and Political Practice of Maoism;”

- to consult the topics of papers and statements on China for the participants of the XXIX International Congress of Orientalists to be held in Paris in July this year;

- to create a united and cooperative academic council on the Chinese affairs to coordinate study and research, and to invite the leading sinologists of our parties;

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