Author: Wang Shu Source: "Diplomats Say Things"
About author:Wang Shu has successively served as the editor of the editorial office of the Education Department of Suwan Border District, a faculty member of the Medical College of the Ministry of Health of the East China Field Army, a reporter of the Third Field Army General Branch of Xinhua News Agency, a reporter of the General Branch of the Xinhua News Agency Chinese People's Volunteers, a deputy head of the South Asia Group of the International Department of Xinhua News Agency, a reporter of the Xinhua News Agency bureau in Pakistan, Guinea, Ghana, Mali, Cuba, and the Federal Republic of Germany, a counsellor and ambassador of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Red Flag", a deputy minister of foreign affairs, an ambassador to Austria and a representative to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna. Director, Institute of International Studies.
We arrived at Stanleyville Airport early in the morning of the 29th and saw our old friend Kimanga, who had become the chief of staff of the Ministry of Defense and came to pick up arms and ammunition. He took us and luggage to the property in a big truck. It's just that there are too few guests in the hotel, and only the ground floor is open. They insisted that we charter all ten rooms on the second floor.
Six people took a group photo in front of the embassy, from the right Zhang Tong's chargé d'affaires, Yu Yin, Sun Hao, Xia Yongan, Li Xiang, and the author. Source: "Foreign Relations of the Republic 2"
The biggest problem after living in was the installation of antennas to inform the Cairo embassy. It was impossible in a hotel, and it was difficult to find a house in a few days, but when we were in Cairo, we agreed with the embassy to inform within five days. When he was embarrassed, Zhang Tong mentioned this problem when he visited the Soviet chargé d'affaires. The Soviet chargé d'affaires said that there was a small room for tools in the small garden behind his official residence, and we could borrow a temporary radio station. Our personnel can enter and exit through the back door and have no impact on their work.
After some further discussion, we soon set up a radio station in this small room. I drove Li Xiang there three times a day to establish telegram contact with the embassy in Cairo, and it wasn't until about a week later that we rented a house and moved out. We found a residence of a Greek merchant on the outskirts of the city. He did not dare to live there, afraid of the stragglers and robbery, so he only collected our rent symbolically, saying that if we wanted to exchange dollars, he could exchange them at the black market price.
The house is well equipped, even the bedding. But there are only four rooms in the house, Zhang Tong has an office and bedroom, a newspaper room and a newspaper operator, and the other four people each have a room. Confidential workers work in the toilet and on a board on the bathtub.
At that time, there was a large hydroelectric power station on the Congo River on the outskirts of the city, and there was no shortage of electricity, but the waterworks lacked parts and water supply, especially during the day. In the middle of the night, I had to get up and go to the faucet on the edge of the small garden grass to grab water, and fill all the pots, pots, basins, and bottles with water for the next day. Especially at night, there are many poisonous little green snakes on the grass, and a second secretary from the neighboring Czech embassy was bitten and is still being treated in the hospital. The locals taught us to take a small wooden stick and move the grass while walking so that we could not be bitten by snakes. So when we walked the grass in the middle of the night to grab water, we all brought a small wooden stick.
We formally set up the radio in the house, but the Congo night was stormy, and the antenna was often blown crooked or knocked down during communication, so the comrades climbed into the house and tied the antenna mast. Sometimes the wind and rain are strong and the mast cannot be tied, so they hold the mast with their hands in the wind and rain to ensure that the line is unblocked.
The six of us divided the labor: Zhang Tong, Xia Yongan and I were responsible for external activities and procurement; Sun Hao, Yu Yin and Li Xiang are responsible for duty, liaison and cooking. The embassy also rented two cars, one for Zhang Tong and one for me.
As the National Day approached, we brought a lot of Moutai wine and osmanthus aged wine and canned food from Beijing for the National Day reception, which happened to be stored in the basement.
On 1 August, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kizengade received Zhang Tong's chargé d'affaires in his small house as the Prime Minister's Office. The Chargé d'affaires handed him a letter of introduction from Vice Premier Chen Yi and Foreign Minister, and conveyed the greetings of Premier Zhou and Vice Premier Chen Yi. He thanked the Chinese leader for his greetings and welcomed the arrival of the Chinese chargé d'affaires, saying that he could be approached at any time in the future. When the chargé d'affaires spoke to him about mobilizing the masses to prepare for a long-term struggle, he listened and did not say anything, as if he was a little unsettled. So the meeting was very short, only thirty or forty minutes, and we took our leave.
After returning, we set up the embassy, and there was a flagpole on the grass outside the house, and we raised the first five-star red flag. We nailed the embassy bronze tablet to the wall on the side of the gate. I originally wanted to nail the national emblem to the gate, but the gate was too short, and the national emblem was heavy and large, so I had to give it up temporarily. We sent notes to countries that have established diplomatic relations, stating that the Chinese Embassy has opened its offices. A few days later, we learned that, on the very day of the meeting, the Congolese Parliament met in Leopoldville to elect a new Government with Minister of the Interior Abdura as Prime Minister and Kizenga as Deputy Prime Minister.
After the meeting, Abdullah telegraphed to him, hoping that he would soon take up his post. He hesitated for days and did not call back. On the 16th, Adullah himself flew here to persuade Kizenga to take office. The next day, Kizenga summoned envoys from all countries, including Zhang Tong's chargé d'affaires, to announce that a Government of Congolese Unity had been established, that he himself had accepted the post of Deputy Prime Minister, and hoped that all countries would recognize the Government of Adulla and move the embassy there.
Premier Zhou immediately met with the Congolese ambassador to China after seeing the embassy's report, hoping that he would advise Kizenga to accept Lumumba's lessons, not to be fooled, to have confidence, to rely on the masses to persevere in the struggle, and to achieve final victory. In accordance with domestic instructions, Zhang Tong's chargé d'affaires also met with Kizanga, expressing the position of the mainland government and advising him not to be fooled and to persist in the struggle with the masses.
The chargé d'affaires also told him that we oppose the "two Chinas" stance, and that since Leopoldville has "established diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, our embassy will not be moved there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also instructed us that, in order to express the determination of the mainland Government and people to support the Congolese Government and people to the end, we would withdraw from the embassy and return home only after Kizanga left Stanleyville for Leopoldville.
On August 22, Kizenga flew out of Stanleyville to accept a new position, and we began to evacuate the museum. On the 23rd, Zhang Tong's chargé d'affaires and interpreter went to the municipal and garrison institutions to bid farewell to the person in charge, and presented us with Moutai wine and canned food that we had originally prepared for the National Day reception. That night, we lowered the flag, folded it and brought it home. The six of us also opened wine bottles and cans and made a small meal.
Early the next morning, the national emblem and the bronze medal of the embassy were too heavy to bring back to China, and fearing that the enemy would be captured goods, I drove them and joined Xia Yongan in throwing them into the deep water of the nearby Congo River. The operator made one last contact with Cairo and then packed the box and took it away. Before leaving at noon, the confidential officer burned the code in the toilet, which I supervised and signed. Then, 6 of us left the embassy, which had only been open for 47 days, with our luggage, and drove to Stanleyville Airport, where the heads of the city and garrison were seen off. As is customary, they opened the champagne and toasted several glasses with us.
From there, we passed through Burundi (which was not independent at the time), Greece, and arrived in Cairo the next night. After a few days of rest in Cairo, I went back to Ghana. When Zhang Tong and the others returned to China, Ambassador Chen Jiakang presented each of them with a bucket of braised pork.
On September 14, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that China's relations with the Congo had been suspended because the legitimate Congolese government had ended and the Leopoldville authorities still maintained "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan.
Former site of the Chinese Embassy in Stanleyville (main part)
It was not until November 24, 1972 that relations between China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were normalized. When Comrade Fan Zhenshui, who later served as the mainland's ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, visited Oriental Governor Baghuti in Kisangani (formerly known as Stanleyville), he proposed to visit the site of the six-member Chinese embassy, which had been in operation for 47 days that year. Baguti was pleased and sent the Deputy Governor of Orientale Province and the Mayor of Kisangani to accompany him on his visit.
Comrade Fan Zhenshui said that when he saw the small residence, he was very moved, and remembered the Chinese diplomats who went in and out in and out in order to support the Congolese people's heroic struggle without fear of difficulties and sacrifices in the year after June 1960, and even more remembered Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, and Vice Premier Chen Yi who made strategic decisions.
[Author: Wang Shu
Text: "Foreign Relations of the Republic 2"
Editor: "Diplomats Say Things" Xiaoha]