If Mao Zedong went to the Soviet Union in 1957 and did a lot of work to establish the prestige of the Soviet Union and Khrushchev, then Khrushchev's visit to China in 1958 was completely opposite, and he had a sharp conflict with Mao Zedong.
This involves a very sensitive issue — the question of sovereignty.
In 1958, Khrushchev came to Beijing, but it was decided on an ad hoc basis because the signal transmitted by the Soviet Union caused Mao Zedong's anger, so he rushed to explain.
The person who delivered the signal was none other than the Soviet ambassador to China, Eugene.
In the spring of 1958, the Minister of Defense of the USSR proposed to China the establishment of a long-wave radio station in China in connection with submarines, asking the two sides to invest in it and use it together. Mao Zedong was not very happy about this, thinking that this was a lease right.
A wave has not settled, and another wave has risen. In July of the same year, at a meeting with Mao Zedong, Eugene conveyed that the Soviet Union had proposed to build a "joint (submarine) fleet" with China.
This time, Mao Zedong became angry when he heard this, and immediately said: "Why are you doing this, what do you mean?" ”
One day later, Mao Zedong called Eugene and said that he was so angry that he had not slept for a day, and with unprecedented excitement and indignation, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union for many years, and accused:
"Why is Stalin's great-power chauvinism coming again?"
Since Eugene was a philosopher and often discussed theoretical issues with Mao Zedong, the two had a good relationship. So Mao Zedong specifically said:
"Tell Comrade Khrushchev exactly what I said, and don't hide it for me. The more unhappy Comrade Khrushchev listened, the happier I became! ”
At that time, Eugene wanted to explain, but he was a layman in the military and couldn't say it clearly.
Therefore, Mao Zedong said: "I want Khrushchev to talk about this issue." ”
According to Khrushchev's memoirs, he was taken aback by receiving a report from Eugene. The Soviet leader, accustomed to dictating to "fraternal countries", did not expect such a violent reaction from China to his opinion.
So, in the sweltering heat of July, Khrushchev rushed to Beijing.
It was July 31, 1958, and the next day was Army Day of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
A Tu-104 aircraft landed at Nanyuan Airport in Beijing.
The main leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have come here, and they have been waiting in the airport waiting room for a long time.
They could not afford to slack off on this Soviet visitor.
When the plane's engines stopped turning, Khrushchev appeared at the door of the cabin.
Although the main leaders of the CCP are here, there is no diplomatic courtesy, no bright red carpet, and no welcoming crowds.
Khrushchev naturally had a little feeling. But he waved his hand and greeted the Chinese party and state leaders. Mao Zedong stepped forward to shake his hand, and of course there was a little bit of Western etiquette, which was a hug. At the airport, they naturally say a lot of nice things.
Those present remember that they spoke about China's "Great Leap Forward".
Needless to say, Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi and other Chinese leaders were still in the process of heating up at this time, believing that the situation in China was very good, and not ordinarily good. Liu Shaoqi said: "We are not afraid that there is not enough food to eat, but that we are afraid that there will be too much food to deal with." ”
A complicated expression appeared on Khrushchev's face, and he smiled disapprovingly and said: "This is easy to do, you have more food, you can give it to us, we have a way." "They have different views on China's Great Leap Forward and have expressed this to the Chinese side many times. Perhaps they are calmer than the Chinese leaders in this regard. At that time, there was heat everywhere on the land of China, and pouring a basin or two of cold water did not work.
After a period of necessary greetings, they drove straight to Zhongnanhai. It is also interesting to say that after arriving in Beijing, he went straight to Zhongnanhai to hold talks without entering the hotel, which is also uncommon in foreign affairs. Li Yueran, who was the interpreter at the time, still remembers the meeting decades later:
Mao Zedong lit a cigarette and said, "Eugene told me that you have such considerations, but I can't tell you what your considerations are. So I'd like to hear your thoughts, it's good that you're here on your own, we're welcome, let's talk about it together. ”
"Eugene didn't make it clear." Khrushchev first complained to Eugene, saying that he probably did not understand what the Soviet leaders meant. Then say what you think. The gist of it: according to an agreement, Soviet planes could land at Chinese airfields for refueling. Now Soviet long-range submarines are in service, and the Soviet fleet is now operating in the Pacific Ocean, and their main base is in Vladivostok. Previously, China had already made a request to the Soviet Union to hand over the submarine design drawings to China and to teach the Chinese comrades the technology of building submarines. Now the situation in the Taiwan Strait is tense, the United States Seventh Fleet is rampant, and the Soviet fleet entered the Pacific to deal with the United States Seventh Fleet. After the long-range submarine enters service, it is necessary to build a long-wave radio station Yunyun in China. Khrushchev spoke for more than ten minutes with a gesture, and with my translation, he spoke for half an hour. Mao Zedong listened quietly with a solemn expression. Khrushchev thought that Mao Zedong listened carefully, and the more he spoke, the higher his mood became, and he was a little proud.
Suddenly, Mao Zedong made a decisive and concise gesture and said only one sentence: "You have been talking for a long time, but you have not yet reached the point." ”
Khrushchev was stunned for a moment, and then showed embarrassment: "Yes, yes, don't be busy, I will continue to speak, continue to speak......" He forced a smile, a little unnatural, "Eugene told me, you are very hot." Eugene didn't make it clear, we just have an idea and want to discuss it with you......"
Mao Zedong was impatient with Khrushchev's cover-up, and went around the mountains and rivers, so he sharply poked at the point: "Please tell me, what is the common fleet?" "Well, well," Khrushchev hesitated, uttering an obviously nonsensical explanation: "The so-called common means to discuss and discuss together......
"Could you please explain what the Common Fleet is?" Mao Zedong grasped the key issues and did not let go.
"Comrade Mao Zedong, we will pay you to build a radio station. It doesn't matter to us who this station belongs to, we just use it to maintain radio contact with our submarines. We are even willing to give this radio station to you, but we hope that this radio station will be built as soon as possible. Our fleet is active in the Pacific Ocean, and our main base ......"
The more Mao Zedong listened, the more annoyed he became, he got up angrily, pointed to Khrushchev's nose, and said in a fierce voice:
"You are talking about a lot of irrelevance, I ask you, what is the common fleet?"
Seeing this scene, I tried to accurately express Mao Zedong's emotions in the use of translations, so that Khrushchev fully felt the seriousness of the issue. Khrushchev's face turned red, and it could be seen that he was very unhappy in his heart, but he could not justify himself, and he was always in the position of reply, still prevaricating: "We are just here to discuss with you......
"What do we mean by joint consultation, and do we still have sovereignty? Do you want to take all of our coastal areas? Mao Zedong was angry and there was no lack of confident mockery, "You all take it!" ”
Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Federin, who accompanied Khrushchev to the talks, reminded Khrushchev in Russian: "Mao Zedong is really angry!" ”
Khrushchev shrugged his shoulders, a pair of small and sharp eyes blinked twice, the edge was fleeting, spread out two chubby hands, and muttered in a nasal voice: "We don't mean this, don't misunderstand." We have already discussed it at home, and now we are discussing it with our Chinese comrades, that is, to jointly strengthen the defense forces......"
"That's not what you mean." Mao Zedong sat down again, and he never echoed Khrushchev. At the Moscow Conference in 1957, Mao Zedong also paid attention to selecting some issues with common ground to talk about. This time it's not the case, grasp the key point, "You are obviously engaged in a combined fleet!" ”
Khrushchev frowned and raised his voice a little: "We just came to discuss with you, but I didn't expect to cause such a big misunderstanding." As he spoke, Khrushchev shook his head angrily, "This is not negotiable, it is not easy to do." ”
Taken from "Diaoyutai Past Tracking Report", the author is kept by Dong