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July 18, 1973

Notice for Comrade Fischer, 'Document for a Conversation with the Ambassador of the PR China'

This document was made possible with support from The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

[GDR Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
Department Far East

Berlin, July 18, 1973

Notice for Comrade Fischer

1. Attached is the draft for the conversation with the Chinese ambassador. The draft was made by the Department FRG and has been agreed on by us. If there is basic agreement with the line contained in it, it would have to be tidied up and polished. 

2. It is suggested that Comrade Dr. Mitdank receive the Chinese ambassador and Comrade Siegfried Karl take part in the discussion. 

Attachment

[over]
 

Document for a Conversation with the Ambassador of the PR China

In light of recent events, the MfAA would like to go into the status of West Berlin and present the position of the GDR on some matters. 

- A short presentation of the status of West Berlin as a city with a special political status, which is not a part of any country, is given. In this, it is emphasized that the USA, Great Britain and France recognized and again confirmed that “these sectors are as until now not a part of the Federal Republic of Germany and will continue to not be governed by it.” (Attachment II Item 1)

- The PR Ch. has proceeded for a long time from the common position of the socialist countries with regards to West Berlin. The recent transmission of the PR Ch.’s ambassador’s calling card to the governing mayor of West Berlin, Schütz, must however be viewed as the expression of a change in the position of the PR Ch. With this official step, the efforts of the FRG to integrate West Berlin into the political and societal system of the FRG in contradiction of the Quadripartite Agreement and to treat West Berlin like a federal state of the FRG are supported. 

The MfAA expresses its disconcertment over this step by the ambassador of the PR Ch. to the FRG, who developed official diplomatic activities vis-à-vis West Berlin with this. It is regrettable that the PR Ch. openly negates, even damages, the legitimate interests of the GDR as well as the common interests of the socialist states. The Chinese side abets the efforts of the FRG to undermine the Quadripartite Agreement through this step. 

The MfAA expresses the hope that the Chinese side consider the standpoint of the GDR and refrain from conducting diplomatic activities vis-à-vis West Berlin through the embassy of the PR Ch. in the FRG. 

- Recently, some socialist countries have requested the establishment of general consulates in West Berlin. In case the Chinese side has similar intentions, it is expected that they proceed from the fact in their realization that West Berlin is not a part of the FRG and is not governed by it. 

That means in particular

a. not establishing a consular representation in West Berlin on the basis of and in the context of relations between the PR Ch. and the FRG. 

b. establishing an independent general consulate that reports directly to the foreign ministry and not to the embassy of the PR Ch. in the FRG

c. making the application with the 3 Western powers, but not via their embassies in Bonn. 

d. rebutting possible other attempts by the FRG to justify the responsibility of the FRG for the establishment of a general consulate in West Berlin. 

In conclusion, the expectation is expressed that the Chinese side accounts for the status of West Berlin established in the Quadripartite Agreement as well as the justified interests of the GDR in their future policy. 

Documents related to East Germany's protest against the intended establishment of a Chinese trade representation in West Berlin. The East German Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses that West Berlin cannot be regarded as part of West Germany. Therefore, by initiating diplomatic relations with West Berlin without considering the existence of the internationally acknowledged Four Power Agreement on Berlin between the US, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, China is deliberately acting against the interests of East Germany.

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Included in the document reader for the international conference "China and the Warsaw Pact in the 1970-1980s" held by CWHIP and the Parallel History Project March 2004 in Beijing. Translated by Samuel Denney.

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