At 16:00 on October 22, 1963, former French Prime Minister Edgar Foure came to China with a handwritten letter from French President Charles de Gaulle in the name of personal travel, in fact as de Gaulle's plenipotentiary representative, with the goal of establishing diplomatic relations with China.
On the evening of their arrival in Beijing, mr. and Mrs. Edgar Fuer were placed in Building 15 of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, which specializes in hosting foreign heads of state. The next day, the first round of Sino-French negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations began, and Premier Zhou Enlai received Edgar Fuer and his wife at the West Flower Hall in Zhongnanhai.
After some greetings, Edgar Fuer suddenly asked Premier Zhou Enlai in a serious manner: "Have you ever been to Paris?" ”
In fact, Edgar Fuer knew very well that as early as March 17, 1919, Zhou Enlai and others went to Paris to study as the first batch of work-study students in China, and he deliberately asked this question.
Premier Zhou Enlai met with Fuer
Premier Zhou Enlai replied with a smile: "I have been there, that was more than forty years ago!" ”
Edgar Fuhl immediately continued: "It is time to go to Paris again." ”
"Go again", such a simple two words, point out the mission of Edgar Fuhr's visit to China this time, and the precondition for "going to Paris again" is naturally to establish diplomatic relations between the two sides first.
From the day the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, China's diplomacy faced an unavoidable reality. Under the influence of ideology and the international situation at that time, although the Western capitalist countries hoped to establish diplomatic relations with China, they still maintained diplomatic relations with Taiwan under the influence and pressure of the United States, and the core of the negotiations between Edgar Fuer in Beijing this time was still the Taiwan issue.
At the very beginning of the negotiations, Edgar Fuer told Premier Zhou Enlai directly: "General de Gaulle does not want to forget the friendship he and Chiang Kai-shek formed during the Second World War, and hopes not to do anything that embarrasses him." ”
Premier Zhou Enlai
Premier Zhou Enlai was not surprised by Edgar Fuhr's remarks, but gave an example. At that time, the former French foreign minister Biddou was a well-known figure against de Gaulle's government, and Premier Zhou Enlai asked: "If Bidu is now forming a government-in-exile overseas, is it not necessary for the Chinese government to recognize both French governments because it dealt with him during World War II?" ”
Such a clever answer made Edgar Fuhl not know how to answer for a while.
In fact, Edgar Fuer's trip was completely according to the meaning of de Gaulle, the French president with both romantic feelings and realism, after World War II, determined to revive the glory of the "Gaul Golden Rooster" and was unwilling to continue to play Washington's little follower. As soon as he took office, he set four diplomatic goals, one of which was the establishment of diplomatic relations with China.
In de Gaulle's handwritten letter to Edgar Foure, there is this sentence: "Strictly speaking, we have nothing to ask for. ”
In his reply to de Gaulle's report, Edgar Fuhl also said: "Following your instructions, I have made it clear that we are not the requesters, and we have no urgent reason to change the status quo, but only regret the obvious anomaly." ”
To this end, Edgar Fuhr specifically proposed to Premier Zhou Enlai: "The decision to be taken should not contain any preconditions, which will infringe on our self-esteem and be inconsistent with our status as non-demanders." ”
De gaulle
One of the important issues that Edgar Fuhl calls "prerequisites" is the Taiwan issue.
Earlier, de Gaulle drew up three plans for the Sino-French negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations:
First, the extension of the recognition plan means that the negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France have actually failed.
Second, there are conditions to recognize the plan, Fuer proposed: "I hope that China will not ask France to take the initiative to break diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and on this basis, complete the establishment of diplomatic relations with China as soon as possible." ”
Third, the unconditional recognition of the plan means completely avoiding the Taiwan issue.
In these three proposals, the "conditions" referred to actually mainly refer to "China's acceptance of France's handling of the Taiwan issue." That is to say, what de Gaulle most wanted to see was that China was willing to avoid the Taiwan issue and establish direct diplomatic relations with France. If not, we hope to negotiate with the Chinese side on the basis of retaining the previous relations between Taiwan and France.
For de Gaulle, because of U.S. pressure, he did not want to undermine the feelings between the United States and western allies because of the Taiwan issue.
Shortly after Edgar Fuhl arrived in China, the CIA received news that then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy was so surprised by France's move that he sent the deputy director of the CIA bureau to Taiwan to deliver the news of Edgar Fowl's visit to China to Chiang Kai-shek.
At this time, de Gaulle's heart was also very anxious, and what worried him was whether the United States would secretly obstruct the news that Edgar Fuer had learned of his visit to China.
At the same time, due to communication conditions, de Gaulle in France was completely unable to learn the progress of Edgar Fuhr's negotiations at the first time.
Since China and France have never been able to reach a consensus on the Taiwan issue, Premier Zhou Enlai proposed: "The first round of negotiations is over."
On October 25, the second round of talks between China and France officially began, at which Edgar Foor proposed: "France can lower the diplomatic level with Taiwan and set up only one consulate in Taiwan." ”
Premier Zhou Enlai replied: "China is resolutely opposed to two Chinas, there is no room for maneuver on this issue, and if France wants to establish diplomatic relations with China, it must sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan." ”
In response to Premier Zhou Enlai's answer, Edgar Fuhr appeared somewhat embarrassed, and the negotiations once again reached an impasse.
In order to ease the atmosphere, Premier Zhou Enlai decided to arrange for Edgar Fuer to visit Inner Mongolia for three days.
The reason why Edgar Fuer was arranged to leave Beijing and go to Inner Mongolia for a visit and visit was because, according to the contents of these two talks, Premier Zhou Enlai realized that although the French side intended to establish diplomatic relations with China, they had not come up with a reasonable solution to the Taiwan issue, and if they continued to talk like this, it would be difficult to negotiate a satisfactory result for both sides.
During the few days that Edgar Fuhr was away, Premier Zhou Enlai and foreign ministry personnel re-discussed a plan for establishing diplomatic relations that was more acceptable to both sides.
Three days later, when Edgar Fuhr returned to Beijing, Premier Zhou Enlai had come up with an entirely new plan.
This new plan is known as the "three-point tacit understanding" of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and its contents include:
"1. France recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China;
Second, France supports the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China at the United Nations;
Third, after the withdrawal of Taiwan's diplomatic representatives in France, France also withdrew its diplomatic representatives in Taiwan accordingly. ”
Chen Yi, Fuer, Mao Zedong, Fuer's wife, Zhou Enlai
Premier Zhou Enlai knew Chiang Kai-shek as early as the Whampoa Military Academy, and he also knew Chiang Kai-shek's character very well; after the founding of New China, Chiang Kai-shek almost all the countries that established diplomatic relations with New China withdrew their diplomatic representatives. Therefore, if France recognized New China and established diplomatic relations with New China, according to Chiang Kai-shek's temper, it would certainly take the initiative to end the original diplomatic relations.
After the new plan was proposed, Edgar Fuhr expressed satisfaction, but in the end, the two sides must obtain the permission of the country's top leaders to reach an agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations.
At this time, Chairman Mao Zedong was in Shanghai, so Premier Zhou Enlai, at the end of the meeting, informed Edgar Fuer: "The next round of talks will be held in Shanghai." ”
On November 1, when Edgar Fuer arrived at the Peace Hotel in Shanghai with his wife, they were personally received by then Foreign Minister Chen Yi and said: "Your stay in this Peace Hotel is the best in Shanghai, General Marshall once lived here as a special envoy of the President of the United States, his mission failed, but your mission will succeed." ”
At the Peace Hotel, as soon as Chairman Mao Zedong saw Edgar Fuer, he said to him: "You two have come at the right time to establish Sino-French relations, please tell de Gaulle, if you want to send an ambassador." ”
Chairman Mao Zedong met with Mr. and Mrs. Fuer
Edgar Fuer replied with a smile: "The purpose of my coming to China is to build an embassy in China in the future." ”
As Edgar Fuer and China's leaders grew more and more harmonious, de Gaulle, who was far away in Paris, encountered a difficult problem.
When charles Pollan, the U.S. ambassador to France, saw in the newspaper a photo of Edgar Fuhr and Chairman Mao Zedong in Shanghai, he suddenly met de Gaulle again, hoping that the sooner the better.
When Charles Pollan saw de Gaulle, he asked straight to the point: "Didn't your excellency say that if new possibilities arose in Sino-French relations, he would inform us as soon as possible?" So what's going on with this photo? Why don't we know? ”
De Gaulle replied with a smile: "Mr. Ambassador, Edgar Fuer traveled to China in 1957, and was also received by Mao Zedong at that time, and this time he went to China again, and mao Zedong saw him again, and it is not surprising that Mao Zedong saw him again!" ”
Listening to de Gaulle's answer, Charles Pollan could not help but be a little disappointed and dissatisfied, but he also had no way, and there was no evidence at hand to prove that there was official contact between China and France, so he had to choose to leave.
Edgar Fuhl (center)
On the evening of November 2, Premier Zhou Enlai compiled the results of the talks with Edgar Fuhr and handed them to Chairman Mao Zedong for inspection, who gave three words on the new "Three Plans for the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and France": "Do as you will."
On 6 November, Edgar Foure returned to France, and de Gaulle was so pleased with the results of his visit to China that he decided to immediately begin the process of establishing diplomatic relations between China and France.
However, at this moment, an unexpected serious incident occurred in the United States, which once again caused the establishment of Sino-French diplomatic relations, which had already come to fruition, to suffer twists and turns.
On November 22, as China and France were preparing for the establishment of diplomatic relations, the 35th President of the United States, Kennedy, was assassinated and de Gaulle was invited to the United States to attend Kennedy's funeral.
Because earlier, charles Pollan, the US ambassador to France, asked de Gaulle to explain Edgar Fuhr's visit to China, and de Gaulle only adopted a delaying strategy, telling him: "We will not know the specific situation until Edgar Fuer returns to France." ”
Now that Edgar Fuhl has returned home, if de Gaulle goes to the United States for a funeral, he will inevitably face questions about Sino-French relations by the new US president. Once the United States decides to intervene, it is unclear what kind of situation the Sino-French relations that have been brewing for a long time will lead.
After listening to Edgar Foure's detailed report, de Gaulle stared at the repeated images of Kennedy's assassination on the television, and then said: "If I go to the United States for Kennedy's funeral and talk with the former President of the United States during the period, and do not make me change my mind, I intend to have a positive outcome in Sino-French relations." ”
Kennedy's funeral was held at Arlington National Cemetery on 25 November, attended by de Gaulle as Head of State of France.
After the funeral, at a reception at the White House, de Gaulle held talks with Lyndon Baynes Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy as the 36th president of the United States, but after only 10 minutes of talking, they did not disperse.
Upon his return to France, de Gaulle immediately convened a cabinet meeting to discuss the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, that is, de Gaulle's visit to France did not make him change his mind.
However, some pro-American and anti-communist people in the French cabinet were not very willing to see The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and de Gaulle immediately retorted: "China is a country with a longer history than France, and we cannot ignore any country, let alone such an ancient country of oriental civilization." ”
At the urging of de Gaulle, the French cabinet finally passed the resolution on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Immediately afterward, Edgar Fuhr relayed the news to Li Qingquan, the Chinese ambassador to Switzerland.
After receiving the news, Li Qingquan flew non-stop to Algiers, the capital of Algeria, when Premier Zhou Enlai was visiting Algiers, and Li Qingquan wanted to report the good news to Zhou Enlai in person.
At 11:00 a.m. on January 27, 1964, the Sino-French Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations was published simultaneously in Beijing and Paris, and the communiqué read:
"The Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the French Republic have unanimously decided to establish diplomatic relations, and the two Governments have agreed to appoint ambassadors within three months."
This communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations, which is only 44 words, is perhaps the most concisely worded communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations in China's diplomatic history. France became the first capitalist power in the Western camp to establish diplomatic relations with China, and was evaluated by the Western media as "a diplomatic nuclear explosion."
On the 14th day after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, the Taiwan authorities announced to the outside world that Taiwan and France had "severed diplomatic relations." ”
China and France establish diplomatic relations
According to the stipulations of the last item of Premier Zhou Enlai's "three-point tacit understanding," after the withdrawal of Taiwan's diplomatic representatives in France, France also withdrew its diplomatic representatives in Taiwan accordingly, and the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France was finally successfully completed.
After the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, de Gaulle has always wanted to come to China to see, and he has even decided to officially visit China on June 18, 1971.
Unfortunately, on November 9, 1970, de Gaulle died of illness, and the president, who had made great contributions to the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, was not able to come to China.
The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France is a huge victory in New China's diplomatic work, marking an important breakthrough in China's strengthening relations with Western European countries, completely bankrupting the US policy of blockade of New China, and also a beautiful battle fought in the storm of New China's diplomacy.