Soviet Union. Embassy (Germany : East)

This document addresses China's alleged bid to undermine the unity of the Socialist countries while maintaining special relations with Romania, Yugoslavia, and North Korea. Chinese foreign policy is seen as interfering in the domestic affairs of the Socialist states. By maintaining contacts with Western countries and by encouraging further armament of NATO, China is undermining the position of the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet evaluation assesses China as an unreliable partner in international relations and advises that all contacts of the Chinese government with foreign organizations or authorities be closely monitored.

This is a memorandum of a conversation between the first secretary of the Soviet embassy in East Berlin, Rodin, and the director of the West Berlin Press Office, Günter Struve, with regard to China's intention to establish a trade representation in West Berlin. Apart from stressing that by initiating diplomatic relations with West Berlin, China is not implicitly acknowledging the existing international agreements, Rodin makes clear that East Germany will not rescind the rules on obligatory currency exchange for citizens of Western states.