September 29, 1976
Secret Telegram No. 3453/III - From Moscow to Warsaw
Secret Telegram No. 3453/III
From Moscow to Warsaw, September 29, 1976
Urgent
To [Foreign Minister Stefan] Olszowski
The Information from the Foreign Ministry for Socialist Countries (without the Romanians) presented by Potapenko, deputy director of the Far Eastern Department...
It is difficult to forecast how the situation will develop in China. The leadership is only making occasional statements and they are primarily pertaining to Mao's funeral proceedings… We should think that the army is in charge of the internal situation in the country…Of course, we know that they are having secret meetings and talks. It is possible that the CC deliberations had already begun. Potapenko thinks that the first official stance of the PRC will be presented on October 1, at the UN forum. The Soviets are preparing a program for the 27th anniversary of the founding of the PRC – the Supreme Council and the USSR Council of Ministers will send a joint congratulatory letter to the National Assembly and the PRC Council of Ministers. The letters as well as the article will be published on October 1 in Pravda. This short letter will include greetings to China's workers, peasants, and intelligentsia, who are building socialism; it will stress the need to normalize Sino-Soviet relations and their development on the principle of sovereign rights and non-interference in internal affairs. It will express that the Chinese nation, just like the Soviet nation, will build socialism and communism for the sake of the mankind, preserving peace and security in the world…
/-/ Nowak
An assessment of the situation in China following Mao's death and a few lines about Soviet policy following this development.
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