On April 11, 1955, a Kashmir aircraft carrying 11 members of the Chinese diplomatic delegation and journalists bound for the Bandung Conference exploded near Sarawak, North Borneo. All 11 members of the plane were killed.
This was not an ordinary air disaster, but an assassination planned by Kuomintang agents in conjunction with the CIA against Premier Zhou Enlai.
Because of the temporary change of itinerary, Premier Zhou was fortunate to avoid this conspiracy.
On April 18, Premier Zhou strolled into the conference hall. He was greeted by another organized and premeditated offensive. A large number of U.S. supporters are scrambling to challenge China.
It was in the midst of such a heavy siege that Premier Zhou used his gentle temperament as a humble gentleman and the diplomatic wisdom of four thousand pounds to once again conquer a hard fortress for the diplomatic cause of new China.
After the meeting, the Philippine representative Romulo sighed: "Zhou Enlai won every battle at the meeting, before the meeting he was the enemy of many people, but after the meeting he was a friend of many people." ”
Chairman Mao once said: "Our friends are all over the world." This is the beginning of the Bandung Conference.
So, how did the Kuomintang and the pro-US government encircle and intercept Premier Zhou again and again? How did Premier Zhou turn dangers into disasters again and again? Next, please follow this writer to enjoy Premier Zhou's style at the Bandung Conference.
Assassinated, luckily escaped
In the world of 1955, the power of the old colonial countries such as Britain and France gradually declined. Instead, there was a confrontation between the two camps led by the United States and the Soviet Union. Ideological antagonisms have soared in the proportion of international relations.
In such a world environment, China, as a third world country that has taken the lead in realizing national independence, has not been universally recognized by the international community. After the Korean War, the United States was even more extremely jealous of the power of new China, and while vigorously supporting the Chiang Kai-shek clique, it also co-opted "friendly" countries and jointly strangled socialist China.
In the face of many unfriendly voices and international powers, China decided to further open its doors and let the world see China's goodwill.
On February 10, 1955, China formally decided to participate in the Asian-African Conference to be held in Bandung, Indonesia, on April 18.
It was the first international conference since the Westphalian Conference in the 17th century without the participation of a colonial power. The Bandung Conference was no longer a bet on the imperialist sharing of the spoils, but an increase in weight for the independence and autonomy of the colonized countries.
For safety reasons, Xinhua did not release the news that Premier Zhou would lead the delegation until early April.
However, even though the Party Central Committee carefully planned, the secret service on the other side of the strait still captured the news in advance.
Chiang Kai-shek once said that he was jealous of Zhou Enlai, a diplomat, even more than the People's Liberation Army on the other side of Kinmen and Matsu.
At that time, Premier Zhou had just undergone surgery for acute appendicitis, and his body could not withstand long-distance bumps. Chairman Mao and the Central Committee decided that the trip would be carried out by plane. But China does not yet have a long-range aircraft of its own, let alone its own international routes. After deliberation, the Party Central Committee decided to charter aircraft of Air India's Type 749A Kashmir Princess to fly to Jakarta, Indonesia, via Hong Kong.
This news was captured by the Inspection Office of the Kuomintang Intelligence Bureau. They see this as a perfect opportunity to assassinate the mainstay of the Chinese Communist Party. As a result, Taiwan intelligence agencies bought a cleaner named Zhou Ju at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport for 500,000 Hong Kong dollars.
On April 11, the diminutive Zhou Ju, as a staff member, blended into the Kashmir plane and installed the TNT bomb in the right wing wheel compartment. This kind of bomb was specially supplied by the CIA to the Kuomintang secret service to help carry out the assassination mission. The reason why Zhou Ju was able to quietly bring explosives into the aircraft was largely dependent on its concealment. From the outside, the bomb looks like nothing more than ordinary toothpaste.
At 12:15 p.m., the plane took off on time. Beijing was paying close attention to the plane's itinerary, and everyone was relieved to receive the news that it had taken off on time.
But at 6:30, bad news suddenly occurred: the plane crashed into the sea after three distress signals from the sarawak sea in North Borneo. 11 members of the Chinese delegation and 5 crew members were killed.
Immediately, the Taiwan media reported for the first time: "Zhou Enlai's special plane exploded and fell into the sea. "The reaction was so swift that Taiwan's intentions can be described as Sima Zhao's heart -- everyone knows it."
However, Premier Zhou let them down!
Shortly before departure, Myanmar Prime Minister U Nu suddenly sent an invitation, hoping that Premier Zhou could go to Yangon and discuss the issue of the Bandung meeting with Myanmar and India in advance, and could also take the opportunity to recuperate in Yangon for a few days. After considering it, Premier Zhou acceded to Myanmar's request. Therefore, Premier Zhou and Vice Premier Chen Yi and their party traveled to Bandung via Kunming via Yangon, Myanmar. The remaining members are still flying directly from Hong Kong to Indonesia as originally planned.
Decades have passed, and looking back on that thrilling day, we prefer to believe that providence saved Premier Zhou. Had it not been for a temporary diversion, China's diplomacy might not have been as glorious as it is today.
It is worth mentioning that an hour before the departure of the "Kashmir", the British government in Hong Kong had learned that there was a bomb on the plane, but said that "the bomb is not a safety threat" and allowed the plane to take off on time.
In the turbulent times, the 11 members of the Chinese delegation on the plane became victims.
He was imprisoned and turned the danger into a disaster
After the crash of the special plane, some people once advised Premier Zhou to give up attending the meeting because of safety. The result, of course, is that there is no result.
On April 18, Premier Zhou stepped into the conference hall with great enthusiasm, as if the assassination against him had never happened. His face was full of unsettling and determination to live after death.
However, Premier Zhou, who escaped the disaster, is still far from everything. The Wind Sword frost sword in the venue has just begun.
There are 29 participating countries in the Bandung Conference, of which only 6 are China's countries with diplomatic relations. Most of the rest maintained diplomatic relations with the Kuomintang. Or rather, they are the voices that the United States has placed in this meeting.
The representatives of various countries, who had long learned the American rhetoric, soon began to criticize socialist China. Premier Zhou, in an instant, became the target of public criticism.
Interestingly, the first to attack China was Iraq, which is today deeply poisoned by the United States. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fatil Al-Jamali elevated Soviet intervention in Eastern and Central Europe to the level of communism as a whole. He said bluntly: "Communism is a new colonialism. "There are three international forces in the world that disturb peace and harmony, and the third is communism."
The Prime Minister of Ceylon even made a big fuss: "The first task of the Asian and African countries at present is not to oppose colonialism, but to unite with the United States against the Soviet Union." ”
A conference originally designed to promote unity and national liberation in Asia, Africa and Latin America was remotely manipulated by the United States and became a congress of ideological criticism.
For all this, Premier Zhou seems to have anticipated it. Sitting in the audience, except for the occasional frown, he did not have much emotional reaction.
Although the participating countries are all third world countries, the historical background is not the same. Some countries have been colonized by imperialism for a long time, and have developed intricate interest relations with capitalism. Even the blood in the bones has been deeply stained by capitalism. After World War II, some countries were pulled into the American chariot and became a bridgehead to curb communism.
When it was Premier Zhou's turn to speak, representatives of the other participating countries seemed to be more excited than Premier Zhou himself. They are waiting one after another for how the Chinese diplomatic representative, who was attacked by the masses, will make a case and how he will defend his country and people.
However, they were all wrong. Premier Zhou did not hurry or slow down to take the podium, and did not hurry or slow down to greet the more than 300 deputies under the stage. Then, he said the words that left the history of qingqing: "The Chinese delegation is here to seek unity, not to scold." We Communists have never made a secret of our belief that communism and the socialist system are good. But there is no need at this conference to propagate the ideology of the individual and the political systems of the nations, although this difference is clearly between us. ”
The delegates of various countries did not expect that in the face of the joint strangulation of communism, Premier Zhou would be so calm and frank. The applause in the venue has changed from sparse to overwhelming.
Then, Premier Zhou analyzed what all countries have in common, that is, the calamities and sufferings that all of us have experienced, or are experiencing, caused by colonialism. In this regard, he called on all countries to find a basis for cooperation from the calamities and sufferings of colonialism, so that it is easy for everyone to understand and respect each other, rather than doubts and fears, mutual exclusion and confrontation.
Only by facing the problem head-on can we solve it. It is precisely because Premier Zhou does not shy away from the differences between countries that the meeting has not been used by people with ulterior motives and has evolved into an ideological confrontation.
The central idea of "seeking common ground while reserving differences" brought the meeting back on track.
Nevertheless, since it is an ulterior motive, how can the other party be easily persuaded? The Prime Minister of Ceylon again challenged Premier Zhou: "Taiwan should become an independent country and place it under the joint administration of the United Nations or the countries of Asia." "This has stepped on China's bottom line."
Any Chinese with a national conscience who hears such remarks will inevitably be enraged. However, Premier Zhou at that time actually looked at Pinghu and did not say a word. The Prime Minister of Ceylon took it for granted that Premier Zhou was put in an awkward and passive position by himself.
But surprisingly, just one night later, the confident Prime Minister of Ceylon found himself a step down. At the meeting the next day, he euphemistically stated that he had no intention of leading the meeting to a split.
It turned out that after the first day's meeting, Premier Zhou had left the Prime Minister of Ceylon behind. The two had a long, private conversation. Premier Zhou expressed his admiration for Ceylon to the other side and praised its indomitable efforts for national liberation and national construction. Afterwards, he once again emphasized the relationship between China and Taiwan, and the attitude of the new Chinese government towards Taiwan.
Private conversations are more cordial and in-depth than public statements at the Conference. This conversation enhanced mutual understanding between the two prime ministers and brought the two countries closer together.
In this way, Premier Zhou took a different approach and skillfully defused a crisis.
Fruitful, open up the situation
During the week-long conference, Premier Zhou Enlai participated in a total of 16 meetings, after which he met with representatives of various countries nearly 10 times and participated in nearly 15 large-scale activities. Or tongue-in-cheek, or folding and punching, Premier Zhou used his personality charm to let the deputies see the style of a big country in New China. The arrogance and prejudice of various countries have gradually disappeared between Premier Zhou's talks and laughter.
China's diplomatic career has taken a big step forward.
Before the meeting, only 6 participating countries had established diplomatic relations with China. From the time of the conference to 1959, in just 4 years, 10 countries, including Nepal, Cambodia, Egypt and Algeria, established diplomatic relations with China. From 1960 to 1964, 14 countries, including Ghana and Laos, established diplomatic relations with China.
The new situation opened up by the Bandung Conference directly laid the foundation for China's return to the United Nations. In this way, Chairman Mao's sentence "We were carried into the United Nations by our African brothers." ”
If the establishment of friendly relations with Asian, African and Latin American countries is the stated goal of the Chinese delegation, then the establishment of a new channel of dialogue with the United States can be called a windfall.
When receiving representatives of the eight countries, Premier Zhou said: "China will not go to war with the United States, and China is willing to settle the Taiwan issue through peaceful negotiations with the United States and at the same time ease tensions in the Far East." ”
As soon as these words came out, even thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan, which were very pro-American, were deeply impressed by Premier Zhou's arrogance and sincerity.
This also directly contributed to the Sino-US Warsaw talks 4 months later. The platform of the ninth floor starts from the soil. This ambassadorial-level talk is the prelude to the normalization of Sino-US diplomatic relations.
From being a loner to having friends all over the world, Premier Zhou's sincerity, wisdom, humility, tolerance, and overall view have become a commonly used weapon in new China's diplomatic cause.
In a report, Agence France-Presse said of Premier Zhou: "He was the most popular person in the whole meeting, and his righteous tone, gentle speech, and every promise he made were so flattering to everyone he talked to." ”
The spirit of Bandung is timeless
With the active mediation of Premier Zhou and the tricks of the people, the Bandung Conference was saved from being a tool used by US imperialism. Ideological differences should not be the norm governing international relations. In the post-war world, there is an urgent need to expand the front of peace and unity, rather than falling into the dead end of the zero-sum game.
In the end, the Bandung Conference adopted the Final Communiqué of the Asian-African Conference in the guiding spirit of seeking common ground while reserving differences. The communiqué covers economic cooperation, cultural cooperation, human rights and self-determination, the question of the peoples of the dependencies and other issues that are most in the interests of the people. Among them, the "Declaration on Promoting World Peace and Cooperation" put forward ten principles for handling international relations on the basis of Premier Zhou's "Five Principles for Peaceful Coexistence."
The Bandung Conference was a milestone in the establishment of a new international order after World War II. To this day, international relations are in turmoil, and the Bandung spirit is still the compass for countries to grasp the direction of diplomacy. It is also China's needle in the diplomatic storm.
Premier Zhou Enlai, who never had children in his life, once said: "All the young people of China are my sons and daughters." Today, the sons and daughters of China, full of gratitude and surging with emotion: "This prosperous world is as you wish!" ”