The footprints of New China’s diplomacy

Chen Dunde said: "The People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House wants to collect and publish some of my books, and I gave them a name called "New China Diplomatic Annual Ring Series". This is a name with a lot of historical meaning. ,'annual ring' means that the diplomacy of New China has grown into a big tree over the past 55 years, and the growth of the big tree has left rings of annual rings. I once asked Minister Li Zhaoxing for his opinion in person, and Minister Li said that this name is very special. Good, and gave affirmation and support.”

Recording the footprints of New China’s diplomacy

These documentary literary works by Chen Dunde that record the footprints of New China’s diplomacy date from the Yan’an era before the founding of the People’s Republic of China*. Written from the perspective of the Communist Party’s “semi-diplomacy”.

In the late period of the Anti-Japanese War, President Roosevelt sent a mission of the US military stationed in China to Yan'an to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party in the Anti-Japanese War. During this period, the Communist Party of China produced the first precious document on its diplomatic work. This US military mission was restricted by Chiang Kai-shek and was called the "US Army Observation Group". This was the beginning of the contact between the Chinese Communist Party and the American authorities. The book vividly and detailedly describes the lives of American officers and soldiers in Yan'an and various anti-Japanese base areas, the anti-Japanese war cooperation between the American army and the Eighth Route Army, the political struggles, and the sabotage of Chiang Kai-shek's Chongqing authorities. Even the US military used gasoline generators to screen the first blockbuster movie - Hollywood's "Mickey Mouse" in the Yangjialing Auditorium in Yan'an. The book is titled "Contact in 1944—U.S. Army Observation Group" and uses some precious photos from that year.

The second book in the Diplomatic Rings series, "Cooperation in 1946—The Military Adjustment Years," mainly describes the ups and downs of the highly respected American General Marshall serving as the presidential envoy and mediating the conflicts between the two countries in China. back. According to Chen, this period of history of the Military Adjustment and Execution Department in 1946 has been ignored in the past period, and this was a very important early stage for the Chinese Communist Party’s diplomatic work. At that time, the Chinese Communist Party 1/ 3 members of the Central Committee were trained in the work of the Military Adjustment Department.

"The Rise in 1949—Records of the Diplomacy of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" writes that in the courtyard of the old Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the small alley on the east side of Dongdan North Street, on November 8, 1949, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the founding conference, Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai said, "There are nearly 200 countries and regions in the world, and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs only has personnel in their early 200s." New China's diplomatic team urgently needs to be strengthened.

"Thawed in 1972" and "Set Sail in 1979" are books that describe the relationship between China and the United States from the thaw to the establishment of diplomatic relations. These two books describe the secret negotiations that Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping presided over respectively in the two stages of thawing and establishing diplomatic relations. Their tit-for-tat and ups and downs are vividly written on the page. In the tenth book "Leaping on 2001 - Records of the Negotiations on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between New China", after disclosing important breakthroughs in diplomatic negotiations between China and France, China and Canada, China and the United States, China and Japan, and China and ASEAN countries, Qian Qichen accepted During the interview, he recalled, "We have established diplomatic relations with 161 countries and maintained economic and cultural exchanges with 220 countries and regions. We have friends all over the world!"

Most of the other contents in the series involve The diplomatic policies established at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Geneva Conference, the Five Basic Principles of Peace and Security, the Bandung Asian-African Conference, Premier Zhou Enlai's visit to Africa, the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, the difficult and glorious journey of New China's return to the United Nations, etc. wait.

Making history alive

Chen Dunde has neither attended the Foreign Affairs University, nor been stationed abroad as an ambassador, nor is he a senior adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. How did you come up with the idea of ??writing about diplomacy?

Chen Dunde said: When Nixon made his "Ice-breaking Tour" in 1972, I was jumping in the queue in the Zhuang area near Nanning. In the rural area where I was, there was an old blue brick wall with pictures from the time of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. The big slogan that has survived is "Fight U.S. imperialism with an iron fist and defend New China!" During the Korean War in the 1950s and the Vietnam War in the 1960s, the local people and I have always regarded U.S. imperialism as our irresponsible enemy. , a US military high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance aircraft once shot down the farmland in our neighboring county. It goes without saying that the handshake between Mao Zedong and Nixon in 1972 meant the beginning of a new peaceful era in world history. This was a major reversal, and it left a strong and deep impression on me. When the 10 years of domestic turmoil ended and the era of reform and opening up began, I was fortunate enough to come to Beijing to study at university. My major was not diplomacy or international politics. However, understanding the ins and outs of the "major reversal" in 1972 became my main focus in Beijing. The main thing I want to do.

Be persistent in what you have decided on, and don’t be afraid of failure. I started working hard in the early 1980s. After eight years of hard work, I visited many parties, studied countless documents, and overcame unimaginable difficulties. Finally, in September 1988, I published my first book on diplomacy in Beijing. The documentary monograph "Mao Zedong and Nixon in 1972" instantly became a major best-seller, with 300,000 copies published at one time, and was serialized or selected in more than 20 newspapers and periodicals across the country, immediately attracting attention at home and abroad. "Guangming Daily" called the book "a bestseller that everyone from experts and scholars to ordinary people can't put down." The first edition of this book won the national excellent book award and the first prize of the "National Book Golden Key Award" selected by the masses. Former President Nixon was still alive at the time. After reading the book, he asked it to be kept in the Nixon Library and autographed it for me.

I truly realized the true meaning of "hard work pays off". With the first book, I took the first step, and the subsequent books were published one after another.

Chen Dunde said that writing these books relies on enthusiasm and everyone’s support. An Guozheng, an old comrade of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Qian Qichen's former director of the General Office when he was foreign minister), set up a studio and a computer for him in the old Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, and assigned two division chiefs to serve as his assistants. He provided the convenience of interviewing old foreign ministers and ambassadors and using relevant materials. In addition, he also extensively interviewed the parties involved in the incident, such as former Vice President Wang Zhen, Mao Zedong and Nixon's translator Ji Chaozhu, Lord, Zhang Hanzhi, Qiao Guanhua, Wu Xiuquan, Fu Hao, Xiong Xianghui, Qian Qichen, Tang Jiaxuan, etc. . In addition, there are trillions of documents to read, and through these vivid interviews, historical events are brought to life again with flesh and blood. This may be why everyone likes it.