Telegram from Ion Dorobantu, Romanian Charge d’Affaires in Beijing to Corneliu Manescu Regarding the Reply of the Chinese Communist Party to the Invitation to Send a Delegation to the 10th Congress of the Romanian Communist Party

No. 56 312 18 July 1969, Beijing

Confidential

Urgent

On 18 July of this year, Sheg Jian, general secretary of the Foreign Affairs Department of the CCP CC, presented me with the letter of reply from the CCP CC to the letter signed by Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu, general secretary of the RCP CC, in which a delegation of the CCP CC is invited to participate at the meetings of the 10th Congress of the Romanian Communist Party.

The Chinese letter holds the date of July 1969, it is addressed to the RCP Central Committee and begins with “Dear comrades.”

In the first paragraph of the document, the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee confirms the receipt of the letter from the RCP Central Committee and expresses its gratitude for the extended invitation.

In addition, the letter contains the following [text]:

“As we know, the traitor cliques together with the Soviet revisionists will participate at the congress of your party. We do not wish to be seated next to them, these acolytes of American imperialism, traitors of Marxism-Leninism.

Under these circumstances we do not feel comfortable sending a party delegation to your congress. We hope that you will understand our motivation.

China and Romania are allies, the Romanian people and the Chinese people are allies, and the Chinese people will support, as in the past, your struggle to defend your country. We express our conviction that the relations between our countries will continue to grow.”

I assured Sheg Jian that I would immediately pass on the message of this letter in the country.

In answer to a question, the interlocutor stated that the CCP CC Foreign Affairs Department did not receive an answer from the leadership of the communist parties in Thailand and Burma to the letters addressed to them.

The consultation took place in a close, friendly atmosphere.

We mention that diplomats from the socialist countries are persistently inquiring about the reply of the Chinese Communist Party to the invitation to send a delegation to the X Congress of the RCP.

I replied that I am not aware of a response from the Chinese side to this invitation.

We kindly ask you for [further] instructions.

(ss.) I. Dorobantu