In 1969, the chairman gave the four old marshals the task of changing the world, which four people?How did it end?
Xiong Xianghui, a well-known senior diplomat of Red ** and New China, once pointed out: "Opening Sino-US relations is a major strategic choice of President ***, and its impact is far-reaching. This decision went through a tortuous process, the prelude of which can be traced back to 1969, when, under the auspices of **, four veterans made a profound analysis and made suggestions on the international situation. ”
In 1969, China faced a grim choice.
With the hostilities between China and the Soviet Union, China had to face the challenge of being isolated by major powers on the international stage. Since China and the United States have de facto no diplomatic relations, China is the opposite of the world's two superpowers. Around the world, most influential countries either supported the United States or were satellites of the USSR. How to prevent China from falling into a state of isolation and helplessness has become a question that leaders such as *** think about day and night.
On the afternoon of February 19, 1969, ** met with several special guests at his residence. These guests are special because they are all old comrades-in-arms who once lived and died together, and on the other hand, because they are no longer in senior leadership positions and have not seen each other for a long time.
** looked at these old comrades-in-arms with a smile on his face, including **, and *** They are all the founders of New China, senior generals of the People's Liberation Army, and the fathers of the country and the nation. ** Gazing at them as well, time has passed, and the chairman looks even older.
**Encourage them to conduct in-depth research and learn about various industries. Finally, ** told the four veterans that they need to study international issues, and ** will be in charge and ** will participate.
**'s international strategic vision is very unique. Soon after, the Zhenbao Island incident shocked the world, and Sino-Soviet relations warmed up into a huge powder keg, as if it only took a fuse to plunge the world into chaos.
The USSR was already unreliable, so how should China assess its relations with the United States?This is a thorny issue before *** and *** and others. With the old adversary, the powerful United States, on the one hand, and the new adversary, the more powerful Soviet Union, on the other, what should China choose?
More than 40 days after the four veterans were summoned, that is, on April 1, 1969, the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held. According to the opinion of ***, ** and *** were both elected as ** members. At this congress, a new analysis of the world situation was made, the danger of war was imminent, and the direction of China's diplomacy was determined: we must be fully prepared, ready for war, ready for early war, ready for conventional war, and also ready for nuclear war.
According to the argument of the Ninth National Congress, in order to compete for hegemony in the world, the United States and the Soviet Union have both cooperation and contradictions. And China needs to be prepared to deal with both powers.
After the Ninth National Congress, **asked** about the research status of the International Trend Report of the Ninth National Congress, **I was stunned. He believes that the report of the Ninth National Congress is already an established policy, so why does it need to be further studied?
Response, of course, requires in-depth research. He then explained in detail why *** gave them this task.
**Tell**, I hope that the four-member team led by ** can make an independent judgment on the international situation, because they are experienced marshals with deep strategic vision and a unique understanding of the rapidly changing international situation. At present, many people who are familiar with international affairs are not working normally, and *** himself is too busy to deal with emergencies and find it difficult to separate. In such a precipitous international situation, I hope that I can lead the organization of research and discussion, and then report to ***, and then report to *** after being sorted out.
* Holding his forehead with his hand in a daze, he suddenly realized. He immediately called a meeting of the veterans, which were attended only by four veterans and their secretaries for the sake of secrecy. **When reporting to *** about the first meeting, he was criticized by ***.
**Say, why do you bring a secretary to a meeting?Future meetings will be limited to four marshals, and no more secretaries will be allowed to be brought with them.
*Afterwards, when I recalled the special request of ***, I was quite emotional. ** Fear that the four marshals may make disgruntled remarks when they are together, and that they may be used as evidence if the secretary is present. **The reason why secretaries are not allowed is to protect the veterans and the secretaries.
This is *** a person who runs around all day and only sleeps two or three hours a day, and can still take into account such a subtle problem!
Of course, ** also understands that the four veterans are old, and such an important discussion requires an assistant. Therefore, it was agreed to let Xiong Xianghui assist. On the one hand, Xiong Xianghui has been engaged in underground work for a long time and has a special relationship with the four veteransOn the other hand, he has extensive experience in the field of diplomacy, having served as chargé d'affaires in the UK and knows foreign languages. At the same time, Yao Guang of ** was sent as Xiong Xianghui's assistant.
The staffing of the meeting was determined, with four veterans and two young men, once a week, usually on Saturday afternoons, at the Ziguang Pavilion in Zhongnanhai, and convened by Xiong Xianghui.
* said that the format of the meeting is flexible and diverse, and everyone can speak freely, debate, express opinions, and even quarrel. Everyone sat on the sofa and sat down to talk, which was called a symposium. During the meeting, everyone has a cup of tea, which is a little "material stimulus" for everyone to contribute their opinions.
* Pointed out that the current international situation is extremely complex and rapidly changing. Therefore, the content of the discussion must not be aimless idle talk, but must have a clear focus. The focus of the discussion was mainly on Sino-Soviet relations and Sino-US relations.
At present, the Soviet Union threatens China in the north, while the United States is hostile to China in the West. Among the concerns were whether the Soviet Union would launch a surprise attack from Mongolia in the north, and whether the United States would use Vietnam in the south to launch a direct attack on China. This became an important topic of discussion. How to extricate China from the unfavorable situation of being caught between the United States and the Soviet Union has become a crucial topic of discussion.
* Tell everyone that once a consensus is reached, Xiong Xianghui will be responsible for sorting out the records and reporting to the prime minister. The Prime Minister will review its strategic value and, if there are no issues, make a final report to the President.
At the same time, ** emphasizes the discipline of the meeting, and no discussion content shall be disseminated without the approval of the organization.
In Beijing, from June to July, the heat is scorching, and the summer is like a fire. Zhongnanhai is even more enthusiastic, and the team under the leadership of ** has conducted many in-depth discussions and discussions. In the end, the four outstanding military strategists reached an agreement, and Xiong Xianghui was responsible for compiling the document. This document occupies an important place in the diplomatic history of New China and is known as "A Preliminary Estimate of the War Situation".
Although at the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a judgment on the international situation has been made and distributed to the whole party, but it is necessary to continue in-depth discussion and research. Sure enough, the four veterans' "Preliminary Estimate of the War Situation" put forward completely different views: Although the United States and the Soviet Union are antagonistic to China and there is also the possibility of strengthening collusion and cooperation with each other, under the general trend of anti-China, their contradictions have not eased, but intensified!
In this article, four seasoned veterans provide an in-depth analysis of the conflicts of interest and geopolitics between China, the United States, and the Soviet Union. They pointed out that the Sino-Soviet contradiction was greater than the Sino-US contradiction, and the US-Soviet contradiction was greater than the Sino-Soviet contradiction. Therefore, the contradictions between the United States and the Soviet Union will have a crucial impact on the world pattern for a long time to come, and the contradictions between China and the United States are relatively light. And given the need for the United States to confront the Soviet Union, which is expected to ease the contradictions with China, this is an opportunity that we can take advantage of.
The four veterans also vividly cite historical examples. ** mentioned that in the contradictions of Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan in the east and Cao Cao in the north were rejected, which can be used for reference;**Taking World War II as an example, it is also worth learning from Stalin's strategic signing of the friendship treaty with Germany.
After the preliminary assessment of the battle situation was reported, ** in-depth study.
The report pointed out that the four veterans judged the situation and believed that the Soviet Union did not dare to start a large-scale war against China rashly, based on the threat of the United States and China's firmness. The demands of the United States and the Soviet Union on China can be resolved through negotiations, and we must adhere to the principle of "firm in principle and flexible in strategy."
* It is even recommended to improve Sino-US relations!
The events that followed are well known to all, although the Soviet Union showed a tough attitude on the China issue, and at one time stationed a million troops on the Sino-Mongolian and Sino-Soviet borders (many of which were bluffing), but as judged by the four veterans, the Soviet Union did not dare to send troops to China on a large scale;The United States, for its part, has strengthened ties with China.
**and*** at the airport to welcome Nixon** and his wife to China.
After two years of discussions on the international situation among the four veterans, Nixon's senior aide Kissinger secretly came to China via Pakistan to meet with Chinese premiers. In a joint communiqué issued by the two sides, Nixon was invited to visit China by May 1972 to seek the possibility of normalizing relations between China and the United States.
The communiqué shocked the world!
Unfortunately, Marshal **, an advocate of China's policy toward the United States, was hospitalized due to illness and was unable to personally participate in the reception of American guests.
Xiong Xianghui visited ** and was excited about the loosening of the international situation, he said: "Only the chairman dares to make this determination, and only the chairman dares to play the strategic card with the United States." The chairman's move changed the whole situation. ”
**Accompany the Nixons on a tour of the Forbidden City in the snow.
On February 21, 1972, Nixon was invited to visit China, and this time Marshal and *** met him at the airport and participated in negotiations with the United States.
It is a pity that at this time, ** had died of illness in Beijing a month and a half ago, and he could not witness the fruits of the "research" he presided over.
On January 28, 1979, the then Vice Premier visited the United States, and China and the United States officially established diplomatic relations. After 30 years of tortuous relations, the two countries have finally normalized diplomatic relations.
From the establishment of New China in 1949, to the retreat of the four veterans in 1969, to Kissinger's secret visit to China in 1971, and then to Nixon's visit to China in 1972 when the two countries had no diplomatic relations, they were finally taken over by *** and solved the problem of normal diplomatic relations between China and the United States.
Fortunately, in addition to the marshal, the other three veterans, such as *** and ***, have witnessed the normalization of Sino-US relations and seen the fruitful results of their unremitting research with the efforts of several generations. If the ** marshal can know, he will definitely smile at Jiuquan!