Cable from the Chinese Embassy in Romania, 'General Report about the Situation in Romania' (Excerpts)

General Report about the Situation in Romania

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[Translator’s Note: The first four sections, or the first two pages of the document, that deal with domestic matters were not translated.]

(5) Increased interaction with Western countries like the UK and Austria. Since last November, after Romania appointed the former Deputy Foreign Minister Lăzăreanu as its ambassador to the UK, there has been significant progress in Romanian-UK relations. There were four instances of UK delegations or representatives visiting Romania last month alone: 1. A professor from the Royal Veterinary College in London visited Romania; 2. Members of the UK's Surgical Association visited Romania; 3. A lecturer in Economic Geography from the University of Nottingham visited Romania; 4. The Director of the East-West Contacts Department of the UK Foreign Office and the Deputy Secretary of the Privy Council visited Romania at the invitation of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Recently, a Romanian drama, "Stormy Night," was performed in Brighton Square in the UK, with both national anthems played before the performance, which is a significant ceremonial practice.

There have also been frequent exchanges between Romania and Austria recently. There were five visits in May alone: 1. A delegation of Romanian journalists visited Austria; 2. An Austrian labor union delegation visited Romania; 3. An Austrian journalist delegation visited Romania; 4. The Vice-Chancellor of Graz University visited Romania; 5. A delegation representing four Romanian cities visited Austria. There were grand receptions on both sides. The Chairman of the Romanian Council of Ministers, Maurer, personally received the journalist delegation. Similarly, the last visit of a Romanian journalist delegation to Austria was also received in a grand way.

(6) Actively supports India: Romania has always been a strong advocate for India's "policy of peace and neutrality". The coverage of India in the Romanian media greatly surpasses that of China. For instance, in May, there were nine reports about India on one issue, while only two were about China on the same topic. ^[1] In terms of the Sino-Indian border issue, Romania appears to be neutral on the surface. It did not publicly publish or discuss the Sino-Indian conflict. However, in reality, it is siding with India. Internal reference news in Romania continues to publish Nehru's anti-China remarks. Even when Romania published debates between China and India, it tends to favor India. Sometimes important documents from the Chinese government are not published or not fully published. Recently, when Ambassador Xu talked about the issue of Indian invasion at a banquet in Indonesia, the head of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not express any opinion. When Xu mentioned that India rejected China's proposal to establish a new trade and transportation agreement between Chinese Tibet and India, the Romanian official asked incredulously: "Did they refuse?"

(7) Attitude towards Yugoslavia: The Soviet Union and Eastern European socialist countries' efforts to get close to Yugoslavia have been developing. During the "May Day" celebration in Romania, due to the proximity between the celebration location and the Soviet Commercial Counselor's Office in Romania, the Soviets used the break time to receive all socialist countries' diplomats (except Albania) attending the ceremony, including Yugoslav diplomats. That night, Soviet military officers invited all socialist countries' military officers to celebrate "May Day" collectively, including Yugoslav officers, who received particularly warm treatment from the Soviets. On Czechoslovakia's National Day, military officers from socialist countries were together. Soviet, Polish, Hungarian officers, as well as the Deputy Chief of the Romanian Armed Forces, all tried to invite the Yugoslav military officer. When the Yugoslav officer left, the Czech officers accompanied him to his car. Recently, the Czech Commercial Counselor invited socialist countries' military officers to visit an exhibition in Prague, including the Yugoslav officers. In the end of the exhibition, the Soviet military officers, representing the military officers of all socialist camp countries, thanked the host, and wrote messages. Soviet officer asked the Yugoslav officer to sign on the message. When the Yugoslav officer found out that the message was for the military officers of all socialist camp countries, he refused to sign. In other diplomatic occasions, Romania are generally warmer towards Yugoslavia, but the degree of warmth varies. For instance, on Tito's 70th birthday, Gheorghe-Dej sent a telegram to Tito, but unlike Khrushchev's, he did not call Tito a comrade, only referring to him as President Tito. The message was relatively simple.

(8) There has been some change in attitude and approach towards Albania: Now Romania and other Eastern European socialist countries have gradually started to invite Albania to diplomatic activities. When they see Albanian diplomats, they greet them proactively. Last month, the Economic Cooperation Committee of the Eight Countries convened a meeting on machinery exports in Prague and invited Albania, but Albania did not participate. Recently, Romania is planning to organize a children's art exhibition and invited Albania along with other socialist countries, but the invitation was sent three days later than ours. Recently, the Third International Conference of the Working People in the Textile, Clothing and Leather Industry was held in Romania, and Albania was invited. Moreover, at the meeting, the Soviet delegation presented gifts to the Albanian delegation. According to Albania's first secretary, they are invited more often to diplomatic activities than before, but the overall attitude towards them is still cold. Recently, the Hungarian ambassador did not say goodbye to the Albanian ambassador when returning to his country.

(9) Romania's recent attitude towards China: Overall, it remains cold, but there is some positive development in specific practices. When our delegation attended the Third Congress of Romanian Handicraft Cooperatives, the sequence of speeches and the entrances to the banquet were arranged in alphabetical order (the Soviet Union did not attend; Bulgaria was the first, Hungary was the second, and China was the third), but the hospitality was generally good. When the delegation left Romania, the Chairman of the General Association of Romanian Handicraft Cooperatives hosted the farewell party; the party is usually hosted by the vice chairman. In addition, my textile delegation and painters were generally well received during their visit to Romania and encountered no provocations or unfriendly incidents. When a teacher from our country went through customs in Romania, a Romanian official told the inspector: "From now on, there is no need to check those from the Soviet Union and China!" Recently, comrades returning to our country were treated politely at customs. Recently, a long article about our paper mill in Guangdong province was published in a Romanian newspaper. This is the first time this has happened in years following the Third Nation Congress in Romania. Recently, the director of the international department of the Romanian "Scînteia" newspaper said to a correspondent from our Xinhua News Agency's bureau in Romania: "I think the tension between the fraternal countries will soon pass." He also said: "Our newspaper rarely publishes things about disagreements on war and peace, and we will publish more news from our correspondents in China in the future." Our correspondent followed up: "Our promotion of a certain socialist country is not only about the issue of this country, but also the promotion of the superiority of the entire socialist system. It is our international obligation." However, there are still some unfriendly behaviors towards us on certain issues. For example, on May 15, our Cultural Office invited 60 people from the Folklore Research Institute to watch a movie, 26 agreed to come, but only 16 actually came.

[Chinese] Embassy in Romania

May 31, 1962