On August 23, 1992, the night in Beijing was exceptionally quiet, and the summer cicadas lay on the trees and played a waltz comfortably. A foreigner in a dark suit with an oriental face landed at the Beijing airport.
I saw him quickly walk down the ramp of the plane, get into a black limousine that had been waiting for a long time, and go straight to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
He was greeted by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Xu Dunxin, as well as a number of directors of various departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It was none other than Lee Sang-ok, then Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, who could withstand such a high-level reception.
Li Xiangyu took the opportunity to cross the Yellow Sea to China, of course, not to taste the food and nostalgia for the scenery, he came with a major mission.
The next day, in front of Chinese and foreign reporters, Li Xiangyu and then Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen jointly signed the "Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and the ROK," putting an end to the current situation of long-term confrontation between the two countries due to historical grievances and opening a new page in the diplomatic history of the two countries.
But who would have thought that Qian Qichen, who was a great contributor to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, made a special flight to the DPRK on the eve of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK to inquire about Kim Il Sung's attitude.
The meeting was not pleasant, and Kim Il Sung had a black face all the time, and he hurriedly sent Qian Qichen away without fulfilling the friendship of a landlord.
Historical grievances
Diplomatic relations between China and South Korea are on the same page as a result of the Korean War, as everyone knows.
Since the fifties, countries around the world have been under the iron curtain of the Cold War, with South Korea closely following US imperialism and China in the socialist camp.
Therefore, whether it is from the historical festivals or from the ideology of the belief of the two sides, the two countries are on the tip of the needle, saying that they are enemies meeting, and it is not too much to be red-eyed.
Not only did the two countries not recognize each other as sovereign states, but they also did not interact with each other for half a century. Even when the representative of the Republic of Korea spoke at some international conferences, the representative of the Chinese side withdrew from the table in protest.
It is often said that "sports have no borders", but for South Korea, this "principle" has been completely thrown out of the sky.
In some international competitions, South Korean athletes once preferred to abstain rather than compete with Chinese athletes. As for the exchange of national flags, such as acts of friendship, it is even more fantastical.
In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which changed the direction of China, was held, like a thunder on a spring day, waking up the world.
China began to pursue a policy of reform and opening up in an effort to expand its foreign relations. At that time, South Korea's economy was relatively developed, inheriting the industrial chain of the West, and it was once the "Four Little Tigers" in Asia.
China also intends to develop diplomatic relations with South Korea, which is separated by a sea, hoping to introduce advanced technology and industrial experience to improve the quality of life of Chinese.
On the other hand, South Korea also intends to use its economic resources to woo China. South Korea's strategy is to "leverage politics with economics" to force China to isolate its neighbors to the north and accomplish the great cause of reunification.
Under the guidance of this policy, several small incidents that occurred in the 80s of the 20 th century attracted the attention of the Chinese side.
In 1982, a fierce basketball game was being played in a basketball arena in a forest city in Canada. The two sides of the war did not host Canada, but the Chinese men's basketball team and the South Korean men's basketball team on the other side of the ocean.
According to the regulations at that time, the Chinese team was not only not allowed to exchange the team flag with the national emblem with the South Korean team, but also could not accept the flowers of the South Korean team.
However, the South Korean players seemed to have received some kind of political order beforehand, and one player had an idea and threw flowers to the spectators in the stands, and the stadium immediately burst into warm applause, while the Chinese players were very embarrassed and looked a little unkind.
The reporter who accompanied the team reported the matter back in the form of "internal reference" and handed it over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs attaches great importance to how to resolve the issue of exchanges with the ROK.
Just a year later, another major event occurred that strengthened the judgment of diplomats. On May 5, 1983, a Chinese civil airliner took off from Shenyang, was hijacked to South Korea on the way to Guangzhou, and made an emergency landing at Chuncheon Airport.
In order to ensure the safe return of more than 100 passengers, the central government immediately decided to send a delegation to Seoul to discuss a solution with the ROK side.
At that time, the two countries did not have any diplomatic relations, but it was a real innovation to be able to sit at the table in harmony. During the talks, the ROK side took a friendly attitude and quickly agreed to return the plane and passengers to China, which greatly enhanced the Chinese side's goodwill toward the ROK.
These two events have promoted the loosening of Sino-ROK relations. In August 1983, Beijing sent a letter to the Olympic Council of Asia to formally bid for the 11th Asian Games, making it clear that if the bid was successful, South Korea would be welcome to participate in the grand event in China. Sports came first, followed by the trade economy.
China and South Korea are close neighbors, and for a long time, trade was transshipped through Hong Kong, which was time-consuming and laborious.
In 1988, when relations between the two countries improved a little, they could not wait to start private trade to replace the indirect trade that had been in place for many years.
In order to move forward with this matter in a safe way, direct trade was temporarily conducted only in Shandong, which is across the sea from South Korea, so it did not attract much attention from the outside world.
At the same time, many Korean businessmen flocked to Shandong Province like crucian carp crossing the river, which promoted the rapid development of Shandong's economy.
China-South Korea relations begin with sports, flourish in the economy, and the final step is to formally confirm diplomatic relations politically. However, this matter is not only a matter between China and South Korea, but also related to the regional security of the entire Northeast Asia, and also related to the legitimacy of the Chinese mainland government.
To the surprise of the Chinese side, the Chinese side put forward what it wanted to the DPRK, which immediately aroused Kim Il-sung's dissatisfaction.
Qian Qichen flew to North Korea
When establishing relations with South Korea, Qian Qichen, as foreign minister, has been a core member of the team.
In November 1991, Qian Qichen went to Seoul for the first time to attend the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The presence of a Chinese foreign minister in Seoul was unprecedented at the time.
According to Qian Qichen's later recollections: At that time, the Chinese chartered plane did not stop in South Korea and immediately returned to Beijing Airport. When the meeting was over, a plane was sent to pick up the delegation.
The meeting came to a perfect end, and Foreign Minister Lee Sang-ok led Qian Qichen to another antique meeting room, where President Roh Tae-woo, dressed in a navy blue suit, walked into the reception room and shook hands with Qian Qichen.
After taking his seat, Roh Tae-woo first welcomed the Chinese delegation to Seoul to attend the meeting. Then, he said straight to the point: "Foreign Minister Qian, the real intention of my visit this time must be known, and you should also know. For the sake of peace in Northeast Asia, the ROK sincerely hopes to improve relations with China and establish diplomatic relations at an early date. ”
Qian Qichen is a cautious and cautious diplomat, and he does not fully trust Lu Taiyu, or it is not time to express his position.
Qian Qichen replied to Lu Taiyu as follows: "China always hopes that the Korean Peninsula can maintain a state of peace. The total volume of trade between China and South Korea has continued to rise and has developed considerably, and it is hoped that this trend will continue to develop. Qian Qichen only mentioned the economy, not politics, and Lu Taiyu did not mention the establishment of diplomatic relations.
During the dinner, Qian Qichen also euphemistically revealed China's intentions, and said to Li Xiangyu: "There is a Chinese proverb that says that water will come naturally, and this matter should be considered in the long run. ”
When Qian Qichen returned to Beijing, he began to prepare for the establishment of diplomatic relations. Qian Qichen analyzed: "President Lu Tae-woo has a long-term vision and a sincere attitude towards China, but his term of office is only one year left, and if he does not hurry up, he may lose an excellent window for establishing diplomatic relations." The establishment of diplomatic relations with the ROK is conducive to containing Japan and isolating Taiwan, and is also conducive to the mainland's modernization drive. "After the top decision-makers reached a consensus, they began to release some rumors to the outside world.
In March 1992, Qian Qichen was interviewed by Chinese and foreign reporters during the session of the National People's Congress. Chinese and foreign reporters ask questions about various international issues, and they always do not forget to inquire about the sensitive topic of the ROK.
In the past, Qian Qichen would always be perfunctory and say: "We will not develop relations with South Korea." But at this time, when the reporter asked the same question, Qian Qichen changed his tone: "We don't have a timetable for when China will establish diplomatic relations with South Korea." ”
The subtext of this sentence is "The establishment of diplomatic relations is to establish diplomatic relations, as for when, it is a top secret for the time being, and I cannot tell the truth."
The outside world is keenly aware that China's stance has taken a 180-degree turn. Of course, reporters can hear something catty, not to mention North Korea's Kim Il Sung.
When the Chinese side learned of the changes in the DPRK, they found an opportunity to explain the matter to Kim Il Sung.
It was in early April 1992 when President Yang Sang-kun arrived in Pyongyang to celebrate Kim Il Sung's 80th birthday. Yang Sang-kun analyzed the international situation with Kim Il Sung and said: "Now it is different from before, the Soviet Union has collapsed, Eastern Europe has undergone drastic changes, and our situation is very bad. Persistence, as before, will inevitably threaten the stability of the regime. ”
Yang Sang-kun then mentioned the important point: "President Kim Il Sung, for the sake of future peace with the Korean Peninsula, we are preparing to consider establishing diplomatic relations with South Korea. Of course, the relations between China and the DPRK have always been better than those between China and the ROK, and we also support your cause of reunification. ”
When Kim Il Sung heard this, he was not happy, his eyes showed a fierce light, and he said: "Now that the Korean Peninsula is in a delicate period, I am afraid that it is not the best time, you should think more about it and make a decision." ”
Yang Sang-kun did not continue to explain, he just said hello, and after returning to China, he conveyed Kim Il Sung's attitude to the central government.
In order to gain the respect of the DPRK side, the central authorities decided to send Qian Qichen to Pyongyang in person. Time was pressing, there was no room for delay, and with the consent of the DPRK side, Qian Qichen's special plane landed in Pyongyang in mid-July.
Qian Qichen understood that this was not an easy visit, and although Kim Il Sung promised to meet him, it did not achieve the best results.
At 11 a.m., Qian Qichen met Kim Il Sung at a splendid villa. Kim Il is old and frail, and his days are short; Qian Qichen is over the age of six, but he is in good spirits, and it seems that the state of the two indicates who is the final winner.
As soon as they met, Qian Qichen was the first to speak: "Chairman Kim Il Sung, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet me. ”
Kim Il Sung said impatiently: "Let's stop talking politely and get down to business." ”
Qian Qichen did not panic, and said directly: "Before I got on the plane, General Secretary Jiang told me that the Chinese side believes that the time is ripe for negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations with the ROK, and that it is time for the results to be achieved, and we believe that we will get your understanding and support." ”
Kim Il Sung sighed deeply, but still pretended to be tough and said, "Since everything has been decided, why did you send you here?" ”
After speaking, without waiting for Qian Qichen, Jin Richeng signaled to interrupt the conversation, and Qian Qichen had no choice but to leave.
In Qian Qichen's memory, this meeting was the shortest of Kim Il Sung's previous meetings. After the meeting, the banquet was not held according to the past etiquette, which is enough to show how cold Kim Il Sung's attitude was.
While explaining to the DPRK, the Chinese side is also negotiating with the ROK. One of the most important topics is to get South Korea to sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Originally, Qian Qichen and his colleagues predicted that although Lu Taiyu was friendly to China and anxious to establish diplomatic relations with China, after all, the Taiwan region had been operating in South Korea for decades, had eyes and ears, and had a strong influence in political and business circles, and would not easily throw Taiwan away. The negotiations will be a marathon, estimated to last months, if not years.
In the early days, just as Qian Qichen had predicted, the ROK side proposed to maintain semi-official relations with Taiwan, but this was the bottom line that China did not allow for bargaining.
After a period of stalemate between the two sides, the ROK side saw that the Chinese side had no intention of relenting and was worried that something would happen later, so it gave up its original demand, agreed that the People's Republic of China was the sole legitimate government and that Taiwan was a part of China, and accepted the demands of severing diplomatic relations with Taiwan, abrogating the treaty, and withdrawing the embassy.
The two sides held only three talks and took two months to reach an agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations.
On August 24, 1982, at the Fangfei Garden of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and South Korean Foreign Minister Lee Sang-ok walked into the hall side by side, sat at a long table covered with dark green velvet carpet, and officially signed the communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations, marking the normalization of relations between the two countries.
Hundreds of reporters raised their cameras to record this historic moment.
The television stations of the two countries made an exception and broadcast the entire process of the signing, which was unanimously praised by the Chinese and South Korean people.
Epilogue:
The signing of the communiqué was like a full stop, ending the historical state of hostility between the two countries. The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK has played a major role in peace in East Asia, and the relations between the two countries are like a surging river, rolling forward and unstoppable. This also proves once again that state-to-state exchanges have always been about giving priority to interests and speaking about strength.
Resources
"Qian Qichen on the beginning and end of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, he took a special plane to North Korea to meet Kim Il Sung and reported the situation" Qian Qichen - Leader
"1992: Qian Qichen's Secret Visit to North Korea" Qian Qichen, Yan Jing - Party History World
"Promoting the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and South Korea in 1992: Qian Qichen Explores the Inside of North Korea", Popular Digest, No. 9, 2017