** The general pleaded with the country in a telegram that New China sent its first ambassador to Western countries. This request made the ** marshal very angry, and instructed: "I will never agree!" ”
Although the marshal had a good temper and rarely got angry, this time he was really angry.
* was concentrating on reviewing a report when he suddenly heard the correspondent's words, and raised his head and replied, "Okay, I see." When political commissar Li Zhimin announced to him that he was going to be transferred to Beijing to do diplomatic work, he was very surprised, and he hurriedly asked: "Are you sure it's not a joke?"
Let me do diplomacy? "You know, since coming to the Red Army, ** has been fighting for more than 20 years, always holding the barrel of a gun, defending the country. Now that the revolution has been defeated, he still wants to continue to fight and protect the country.
However, he was very surprised when he was asked to do diplomacy at this time. Yang Dezhi saw his doubts and thoughts on his face, and said: "Old Geng, the Corps is like your home, you can come back to see it in the future." ”
Yang Dezhi and ** are old comrades-in-arms for many years, and he knows that ** is reluctant to leave the place where he has worked for many years, and he does not want to leave his comrades-in-arms who have fought together. In addition, Yang Dezhi is also very reluctant to leave, but this is something that cannot be avoided.
Yang Dezhi then added: "* is important, but diplomacy is also crucial. Now that I have entrusted you with this important task, I have obviously found a suitable candidate, and you are the only one in our corps who is most suitable for this work. ”
Yang Dezhi's words made ** unable to shirk anymore. Even without his persuasion, **will obey**'s orders, because the duty of a soldier is to obey the arrangements of his superiors.
* said: "I will naturally obey the orders of ** unconditionally, and I also understand the importance of diplomatic work, but I am too emotional about the people and things here to be reluctant to leave ......."After the Spring Festival, ** took his wife and daughter to Beijing and lived in the guest house of the North China Military Region.
One day, the director of the General Office told: Comrade Geng, you clean up, the prime minister wants to come to see you. "* I was very excited to hear this, he and *** are old comrades-in-arms, although they haven't seen each other for many years, but the relationship has always been very good.
He knew that Prime Minister *** had a lot to deal with, but he still took the time to visit him, which made *** very excited and excited. "Hello, Prime Minister! As soon as I saw ***, I shouted softly.
* Comrade, here you are! * responded cordially.
**Tell** that he will be appointed as the Representative to the Joint Affairs. ** was surprised by this because he only knew that he was transferred to *** job, but he didn't know the specifics of the job.
Asked about his reaction to the appointment, he said it was unexpected, but he knew that China was one of the initiators of the United Nations and one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
** Expressed satisfaction with this and said that from now on, he should be ready to attend the General Assembly. ** Indicates that he will resolutely obey the arrangements of his superiors, although he knows nothing about diplomatic work.
Comfort him by saying that he already has some experience in diplomatic work and believes that he is up to the job.
**The day is full of opportunities, and I still remember** the things of my youth, which makes ** deeply moved. However, despite his high hopes for the United Nations, he was still a little unsure, because he knew nothing about the organization of the United Nations.
**Comfort**, told him that he could learn all this slowly, and instructed him to participate in the preparations for the delegation to the General Assembly, under the leadership of the head of the delegation.
Soon, **met again**, announced that our country and Sweden had established diplomatic relations, and decided to appoint ** as ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden. **Tell in a serious way**: You are the first ambassador sent by my country to Western countries! ”
On his first mission abroad, as ambassador to Sweden and minister to Denmark and Finland, he almost caused a "diplomatic accident" due to a difference of one letter. At the beginning of July 1950, more than 20 people, including the staff of the embassy and their families, set off for Moscow by international train.
* Recalled: "It was the first time I took an international train, the first time I became an ambassador abroad, the first time I wore a suit, ate Western food, and ......"September 19, 1950, was an important day in his diplomatic career, as it was the day when he presented his credentials to a foreign head of state for the first time.
Gustav, the crown prince of Sweden, sent a six-seater to take him to the palace, and it was a special vehicle for the royal family, which shows that they attach great importance to **. ** and the interpreter took the king chariot to the palace, only to see two rows of guards standing on both sides of the palace gate, they were wearing the costumes of ancient samurai, giving people a solemn feeling.
When he entered the palace, he heard his name being called in English, and the interpreter immediately said, "He is calling the ** general of China." * stepped through the door and saw the old King Gustav of Sweden sitting in the room, with the crown prince standing behind him.
Although he was a little nervous, he didn't show it on his face. **Take a few steps forward with respect and respectfully hand the credentials to each other with both hands. The crown prince took it, and before he could speak, the king politely asked him to sit down and chat.
* During his mission to Sweden, he had direct contact with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Hammarskjöld, and this was the first time that my country had a face-to-face discussion with the most important member of the United Nations on the issue of restoring our lawful seat in the United Nations.
When the news of the election of Swedish Deputy Foreign Minister Hammarskjöld as Secretary-General of the United Nations reached China, he immediately reported it to China and received instructions from Prime Minister Hammarskjöld for an interview in order to make efforts to restore China's lawful seat in the United Nations after the other party took office.
After Hammarskjöld was elected, he was cautious about the ** appointment and suggested that it be held in a secret location. However, he still put forward his own proposal in a confidential meeting of about an hour and a half, and although the time is not yet ripe to restore his lawful seat in the United Nations, his efforts have left a deep mark in the history of New China's diplomacy.
* Soon after taking office, I deeply experienced the meaning of the phrase "diplomacy is no small matter", what is going on? Immediately after the death of King Gustav V of Sweden, a secretary was sent to send a letter of condolence to the Protocol Division.
However, after reading it, the head of the protocol department of Sweden*** pointed out that there was a mistake in the French word in the condolence letter. Since the secretary did not understand French and did not know which word was wrong, he had to say, "I need to go back to the embassy to check it out." ”
*Upon hearing the news, a legal advisor was immediately brought in to study the issue.
* The legal counsel looked at the draft of the condolence letter, his expression became more and more serious, and he pointed to a word on the condolence letter and said: "This word is mistyped, it should be written 'sadly', not 'honoredly'!" ”
Although these two words are only one letter apart, they mean completely different things, especially in this special time. Immediately ask the secretary to reprint the letter of condolence and replace the wrong letter of condolence.
He also personally handed over a new letter of condolence to the Swedish Foreign Minister and apologized to him: "I'm sorry we made a mistake. In addition to our negligence, there was also the reason why the staff did not understand French. ”
The Swedish Foreign Minister said: "I know that your mistake is only technical and will not affect friendly relations between us. And the fact that you have corrected your mistakes as soon as you know them and apologized in person has already shown your sincerity, and we will not blame you for it.
On the contrary, we are deeply touched by your sincerity and respect you even more. "Although this diplomatic incident ended perfectly, it was a profound lesson. Therefore, the Party Committee of the embassy decided to strengthen the study of foreign languages, enhance the sense of responsibility of all staff, and make greater contributions to the closer friendship between China and Pakistan.
At the beginning of 1956, ** was transferred to the post of Ambassador of Pakistan. After returning to Beijing, he was received by ***. ** Tell him: "Although Pakistan is a member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and the Baghdad Treaty Organization, it is not hostile to our country and has a good desire to increase its contacts with our country. ”
*Call**, hoping to meet him. Puzzled friends may ask, why did the marshal want to meet**? In fact, the reason is very simple, Pakistan established the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and had a historic inauguration ceremony of the first **.
*and***decided to send** to Pakistan to participate in this momentous event. Therefore, **I want to discuss the follow-up with **. After the meeting, **tell directly**: I heard that the prime minister said that you are preparing for your appointment, can you take office in advance?
In this way, we can also go to Pakistan together. * replied, "I just want to take up my post early." Then he said, "But Mr. He, I'm afraid I can't go with you." ”
* Puzzled by this, he immediately asked, "Why is that?" * Answer: "I do have to take up my post early, and I went before you." ”
Why can't you go with **? What is the reason behind this?
* said: "If I go early, I will need to present my credentials and then participate in Pakistan's ceremonies and diplomatic activities as ambassadors." In addition, Comrade Han Nianlong has already left his post, so I need to contact the comrades on the Pakistani side to discuss your schedule on the Pakistani side and make preparations for the reception. ”
*Agreed** and agreed with his suggestion. After arriving in Pakistan, his first task was to submit his credentials, but due to the preparations for the new appointment, the submission of credentials was postponed until after the National Day ceremony.
Surprisingly, within a few days, Pakistan will be receiving **, which shows the importance they attach to our country. After all, it is rare to be the first to receive a foreign ambassador before presenting his credentials.
Pakistani ** Mirza was very interested in the history of the Red Army, so ** used his status as a general to tell the other party about classic deeds such as the four crossings of Chishui and the Long March.
This move won the respect of Mirza, who called him "a hero in the Long March, a veritable general."
* In Pakistan's second year as ambassador, Pakistan was hit by a severe natural disaster and was in dire need of food aid. The Pakistani side has approached ** and hopes that he will be able to report the situation to our country and request our assistance.
* The situation was immediately reported to our country and a proposal was made to sell the rice to Pakistan. He also hopes to be able to consider donating some rice to Pakistan to help them tide over the difficult time.
After listening to the report, he personally instructed: "Agree to sell 60,000 tons of rice to Pakistan, calculated according to the market." In addition, an additional 4,000 tons of rice will be given to them. ”
At the signing ceremony of the agreement, the minister of Pakistan took the initiative to write the words "Chinese aid" on the donated grain. However, after hearing this, he shook his head and said: "We are helping you out of friendship between the two peoples and sympathy for the people in the disaster area, and to help the people of Pakistan overcome their difficulties."
And for no other purpose. Therefore, the Pakistani side was only asked to write the word "China" on the donated grain to prove that the rice was produced in China.
As for the word "aid", he did not agree to write it. Therefore, the new copy can be: In his second year as Pakistan's ambassador, ** helped Pakistan survive severe natural disasters.
He had reported the situation to my country and had made a proposal to sell the rice to Pakistan and hoped that consideration would be given to donating some rice to them. ** This proposal was approved and an additional 4,000 tons of rice were given away.
At the signing ceremony of the agreement, the Pakistani side hoped to write the words "Chinese aid" on the donated grain, but ** said that the aid was only to help the Pakistani people overcome difficulties and had no other purpose.
Therefore, the Pakistani side was only asked to write the word "China" on the donated grain to prove that the rice was produced in China.
When China's aid rice arrived in Pakistan, the other party was deeply moved by the word "China" on the rice bag and expressed his gratitude to **. ** said that although China's economy is not very developed, its assistance to Pakistan is sincere.
However, the telegram made ** rarely furious. Hopefully, the organization will transfer his job because he is doing a good job in diplomacy, but he wants to change the environment and do something else at home.
Although he was pleased with the improvement of Sino-Pakistani relations, he did not agree with his demands, believing that his approach was wrong.
Considering that Japan has signed friendship treaties with Myanmar, Cambodia and other countries, did we sign a similar treaty when we visited Indonesia? ”
*Discussed cooperation with ***, and **put forward a proposal, which was supported by *** and Sukarno**, Indonesia. The next day, ** reported the results of the negotiations and the contents of the treaty to the country.
** We were very pleased with this and promptly submitted the treaty to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation and ratification. After discussions, the NPC Standing Committee quickly adopted the treaty.
In the summer, ** and *** decided to send ** to Myanmar to take over as ambassador, ** jokingly said: "Change the commander before the battle!" ”
Change of coach before the formation"The weight of four words makes ** feel the weight of responsibility. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he took it and did it brilliantly. Respecting *** and *** arrangement, he became one of the first ten generals and ambassadors of New China, and during his 20-year diplomatic career, he was diligent and studious, and successfully transformed from a senior general to a well-known diplomat.
In 1978, when he led a delegation to Pakistan, General Haq invited him to cut the ribbon for the completion of the Karakoram Highway and thanked him for his efforts in this regard during his tenure as ambassador.
In 1979, he served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, assisting the chairman and vice chairman of the Military Commission in handling the daily work of the Military Commission.
* It is China's first military delegation to visit the United States led by a vice premier, and has made important contributions to enhancing exchanges and mutual trust between the Chinese and American militaries. In 1981, he became the first defense minister not to be awarded a military rank since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The cadres present were very confused by the questions of *** and *** and did not know how to answer. However, the problem of ** reminds all cadres that they must always adhere to the principle of building the party for the public, governing for the people, and not forgetting the original intention, so as to win the trust and support of the people.
On June 23, 2000, ** left us at the age of 91.