As a marshal who can write and fight, Chen Yi can play a role that others cannot play in many places, which is especially prominent in the field of diplomacy, and he can often carry out foreign exchanges in ways that others do not expect, achieving far more than expected results.
Chen Yi
However, because of his upright personality, when he visited Africa in 1965, Chen Yi inadvertently said an inappropriate sentence, which caused some bad influences, and even premier Zhou, who has always been mild-mannered, got the news and became angry, shouting: "Who gave you the power!" ”
The staff outside the door were silent for a moment, because they rarely saw Premier Zhou so angry.
A "wrong word" in a diplomatic setting
In the early 1960s, the mainland suffered serious natural disasters and economic difficulties, and at the same time, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated internationally, and capitalist countries such as the United States and Japan still blockaded and isolated New China.
In order to improve the international environment and promote the steady development of the domestic economy, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to take measures to win the initiative in diplomacy, and the focus of diplomacy was on the Asian and African countries that had just become independent.
In 1958, considering that Premier Zhou was too tired to hold several positions, the Central Committee appointed Chen Yi as vice premier of the State Council as minister of foreign affairs, thus opening the prelude to Chen Yi's formal responsibility for foreign affairs.
In April 1963, Chen Yi followed Chairman Liu Shaoqi on a trip to four Southeast Asian countries, and just after returning home, he continued to follow Premier Zhou to visit 13 countries in Asia and Africa for more than two months, covering a distance of 18,000 kilometers.
In close cooperation with Premier Chen Yi and Premier Zhou, more than a dozen countries, including Congo, Tanzania, Central Africa, Zambia and Benin, have established diplomatic relations with the mainland.
New China's diplomatic concept of peaceful coexistence has also won the recognition of these countries, and New China's international status has steadily improved, but Baimi has always been neglected, and soon after visiting Asian and African countries, Chen Yi made mistakes.
In June 1965, a military coup broke out in Algiers, the capital of the African country of Algeria.
This made Premier Zhou feel embarrassed, because according to the schedule of the meeting, he had to go to this place to attend the upcoming Asian-African Conference.
Premier Zhou has always been meticulous and thoughtful in his work, and when he saw the telegram, he immediately fell into meditation, what was the purpose of the coup, whether there was a superpower intervention, and what was the domestic situation...
Thinking of this, Premier Zhou, who was in Cairo, sent a telegram to Chairman Mao, requesting a temporary change in the plan of his visit, because the purpose of the mainland was not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and it was not appropriate to go to Algiers at this time, and Chairman Mao immediately agreed and approved Premier Zhou's request.
Therefore, Premier Zhou stayed in Cairo and sent Chen Yi to Algiers to observe the further development of the local situation.
The convening of the Asian-African Conference is a major concern of many Asian and African countries, and since Premier Zhou put forward the diplomatic concept of seeking common ground while reserving differences in the diplomatic field, the influence of New China in the Asian-African Conference has gradually increased.
This time, when chen yi came to Algiers, the media of various countries asked him whether the Asian-African conference would be held as scheduled; Chen Yi was a man of bold and upright personality, a well-known "cannon barrel" in the party, and when he saw that foreign friends were very anxious, he said bluntly without scruples when he was interviewing: "This Asian-African conference must be held, and it must be held well." ”
Chen Yi's words gave everyone a reassuring pill, and the media of various countries reported on it one after another, which was widely circulated for a time, and many Asian and African countries were also full of confidence in the convening of this meeting.
In practice, however, the situation in Algiers was tense and the meeting did not proceed as scheduled. In other words, Chen Yi lost his word.
This has caused some bad influence on the international image of New China.
The news reached Premier Zhou, who was furious when he heard it. In fact, as early as when Chen Yi said this sentence, he had already realized that he had said the wrong thing.
Because of this statement, first, he did not obtain the permission of Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, and second, he violated Premier Zhou's previous instructions of "diplomatic work, limited authorization", Chen Yi was very regretful at that time, seeing that Premier Zhou had already returned to Beijing from Cairo, he also hurried back to Beijing to bear the guilt of Jingjing.
On this day, Chen Yi came to the Zhongnanhai West Flower Hall, and as soon as he reached the gate, he heard Premier Zhou standing at the door and throwing a tantrum, "It's a hoot, he's a hoot!" ”
This startled Chen Yi, because he had known Premier Zhou for such a long time, and he had never seen the premier lose his temper so much, only to see Chen Yi walking slowly toward the premier's office, muttering in his mouth as he walked: "I have come to bear the guilt of Jingjing." ”
"Mr. Chen, here you are." The staff outside the door saw Chen Yi coming and rushed up to greet him, and whispered greetings.
Because they rarely saw Premier Zhou lose his temper, which made Chen Yi feel very uneasy in his heart, but then he quickly calmed down, he had been frank and frank all his life, and he naturally dared to be bold about this mistake, and he asked the staff softly: "What will the premier do?" ”
"Waiting for you, the prime minister has been throwing a tantrum since he got up in the morning." The staff squeezed his eyes at him and whispered.
Chen Yi stood up straight, no longer hesitated, and shouted loudly: "Premier, I am here." ”
Hearing Chen Yi's voice, Premier Zhou took a step, paused, stared at him, then turned around, turned his back on him, and said urgently: "You are unorganized and undisciplined." As he spoke, he clenched his fists and slammed hard three times on the desk.
Chen Yi knew that Premier Zhou was really angry this time, and he did not greet him, and directly admitted his mistake, only to see him stand up straight and whisper: "I was wrong, I did not put a good shot, you punish me." ”
Premier Zhou has always paid attention to principles, and such a big thing can be done with a wrong sentence, and he said loudly: "Just this sentence is finished?" You are China's foreign minister, and you have expressed your position without asking for instructions or reporting, and who gave you the power is a matter of international influence. ”
"I was wrong, I reviewed it to the Prime Minister." Chen Yi continued to bow his head and confess his mistake to the premier, and his voice raised a little.
After hearing this, Premier Zhou became even more angry and said loudly: "It is not to review with me, but to admit the mistake to Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee." ”
The sound reached the door, the staff did not dare to speak, they were still the first time to see Premier Zhou make such a big fire, Chen Yi in the room was also stunned, and his heart was full of guilt.
Premier Zhou realized that his tone might be a little heavy, he breathed a sigh of relief, bowed his head, and said to Chen Yi in a serious tone:
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is different from others, every word and deed will bring about international influence, every word and deed must be cautious, after I learned of this matter, I got off the plane and first reported to the chairman and the central authorities, you dare to make decisions without reporting in the local area, the revolution has been for most of your life, and even this point of organizational discipline is not there."
Chen Yi knew Premier Zhou's good intentions, and he bowed his head and said, "I would like to review Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee. ”
It is worth mentioning that when Chen Yi left, Premier Zhou looked at the surrounding staff members with stern eyes and said seriously: "Don't be afraid, I don't criticize him here, and who dares to criticize him when he goes out?" The crowd was immediately relieved.
Chen Yi with Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou
After reading this incident, some people may question whether Chen Yi's diplomatic ability as foreign minister is average, or whether he only assisted Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou in completing diplomatic activities within their capabilities.
Of course not.
In fact, before Chen Yi formally took over the post of foreign minister, he often accompanied Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai in diplomatic activities and learned from their strengths and strengths.
On the afternoon of September 19, 1954, Chairman Mao received the Bulgarian ambassador and the cultural and labor corps. This was the first time chen Yi attended the ceremony when the head of state received foreign guests. After concurrently serving as foreign minister, he had more opportunities to accompany Chairman Mao to foreign guests and observe and learn from Chairman Mao's diplomatic style.
Chairman Mao
In October 1955, he accompanied Chairman Mao to a delegation of Members of the Japanese Diet. Chen Yi said afterwards that the chairman showed the style of a big politician, asked very sharp and penetrating questions, and every sentence could be spoken to people's hearts, not perfunctory, and did not say scenes.
The way of speaking is witty and humorous, but also thought-provoking, talking and laughing makes people forget and tired, each topic can be unique, new, not stuck in the rigid and rigid ideas, so that people are like a spring breeze. This conversation with Chairman Mao, who jointly received members of the Japanese Diet, gave him a new understanding of foreign conversations.
In April 1955, Chen Yi accompanied Premier Zhou to the Bandung Asian-African Conference. It was the first rally without the participation of a colonialist country.
A very complicated situation arose at the meeting; in their speeches, representatives of certain countries made some public and innuendo accusations against New China. With composure and composure, Premier Zhou temporarily revised the draft, stepped onto the rostrum, and said with sincerity and generosity:
"The Chinese delegation is here to seek unity, not to quarrel." He showed the demeanor of a big country, was reasonable and reasonable, won warm applause from the audience, straightened out the course of the meeting, and the representatives of various countries saw the hope of reaching an agreement. Chen Yi said: Premier Zhou is already at the peak of leading the conference.
Premier Zhou at the Bandung Conference
Chen Yi once said at a meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the premier's diplomatic method is very worth learning, abandoning the immutable model in diplomatic occasions, paying attention to the flexibility of diplomacy, and radiating the light of genius.
Since Chen Yi officially took over as Premier Zhou as foreign minister in 1958, he has demonstrated his outstanding diplomatic ability and creative diplomatic ideas in several diplomatic activities.
Chen Yi's outstanding diplomatic feats
In October 1959, Kenzo Matsumura, a veteran of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party and a member of the House of Representatives, visited China, which was the first japanese government official to take over after Chen Yi became foreign minister.
However, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China realized that if the country is to develop, it must gradually communicate with capitalist countries, and Japan is an important part of this.
During the talks, Chen Yi expressed to the Japanese side the mainland's wish for peaceful and friendly exchanges between China and Japan, and also extended a warm welcome to Japanese non-governmental organizations for visiting China.
However, at that time, the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries were basically in a state of severance, so Chen Yi creatively proposed "Go diplomacy", that is, taking the Go game that China and Japan are very good at as the starting point, and gradually broadening the field of people-to-people exchanges through the exchange of Go.
This proposal was highly recognized by the Japanese side, and Chairman Mao readily agreed.
In the following years, every year, There will be Go players back and forth between China and Japan to compete, and over time, those Japanese chess players have felt the warmth and friendliness of mainland chess players and have embarked on the road of promoting Sino-Japanese friendship.
It can be said that Chen Yi's characteristic "Go diplomacy" laid a solid foundation for breaking the ice of Sino-Japanese relations, and of course, it also provided valuable experience for the "ping-pong diplomacy" proposed by Chairman Mao later.
In addition to working for the improvement of Sino-Japanese relations, Chen Yi has also made considerable achievements in promoting the development of Sino-US relations.
In the spring of 1969, the "Zhenbao Island Incident" broke out in China and the Soviet Union, which shocked the world, and the national security of the mainland was seriously threatened.
At this meeting, Chen Yi made it clear that international relations are complicated, but the center is the struggle between the three major forces of China, the United States and the Soviet Union.
For the foreseeable period, it is unlikely that the United States and the Soviet Union will launch a large-scale war of aggression against China alone and jointly.
At present, the contradictions between China and the Soviet Union are greater than those between China and the United States, and the contradictions between the United States and the Soviet Union are greater than those between China and the Soviet Union; we must make strategic use of the contradictions between the United States and the Soviet Union, and it is necessary to open up Sino-US relations.
Three months later, the Sino-US ambassadorial talks were smoothly resumed, creating favorable conditions for the follow-up Nixon's visit to China and the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.
Nixon visited China
Chen Yi's outstanding contributions to the mainland's diplomatic cause are as indelible as his great deeds in the revolutionary years, and some of the ideas and methods he practiced in diplomatic activities are still the valuable experience of mainland diplomats in carrying out diplomatic activities.
Deep revolutionary friendship with Premier Zhou
Some people asked whether the revolutionary friendship between the two would be affected after Premier Zhou lost his temper, of course not, on the contrary, the deep friendship between Chen Yi and Premier Zhou has always been throughout.
Since August 2, 1927, when Chen Yi and Premier Zhou first met in Linchuan, the two had been frank with each other, and Chen Yi had repeatedly said that he had learned a lot from Premier Zhou, and Premier Zhou also recognized Chen Yi's pragmatic revolutionary attitude.
In 1955, our army implemented the rank system, and when discussing the issue of marshal awarding titles, some central personnel felt that Chen Yi had already assumed the post of vice premier of the State Council and that it was not appropriate to award the rank of marshal again.
At the crucial moment, Premier Zhou stood up, and he firmly supported Chen Yi as a marshal, and Premier Zhou said: "The awarding of military ranks has no inconvenience to Comrade Chen Yi's current and future work, and he can not wear military uniforms in peacetime. ”
It was also under premier Zhou's reasonable and well-founded argument that Chen Yi's marshal title was finally unanimously recognized by everyone.
In a series of subsequent diplomatic occasions, Chen Yi even served as an assistant to Premier Zhou, and the two worked closely together to enhance the mainland's international status.
On January 6, 1972, Chen Yi died of illness in Beijing, and Premier Zhou, who learned the news, could not hide his grief and could not cry, at this time Premier Zhou was also tormented by illness, but he still rushed to beijing 301 Hospital overnight to send his revolutionary comrades in arms for half a lifetime on the last journey.
Later, Premier Zhou personally prepared Chen Yi's memorial service, and at the memorial service on January 10, Premier Zhou stood on the stage and tearfully read Chen Yi's eulogy.
Chen Yi has formed his unique diplomatic style with his own unique personality charm, just like China's wind and rain all the way, countless revolutionary predecessors, Chen Yi has always adhered to the original intention, dared to be bold, and dedicated himself to the country and the people.