In July 1971, during Kissinger's visit to China, assistant John saw a newspaper with an English-language press release"The people of the whole world unite to defeat US imperialism and all its lackeys! ”Alert, he immediately approached the person in charge of the Chinese side, asked with a serious face what the slogan was all about, and asked the Chinese side to give a reasonable explanation.
When this matter was reported to ***, **ha, let the staff reply to them, Kissinger heard ***'s "international joke", swept away the previous nervousness, and also laughed.
So what kind of "international joke" did the US representative make during his visit to China? Why did this "international joke" defuse Americans' nervousness?
Looking back at that time, the historical background before and after Nixon's visit to China was unique and complex.
In relations with the USSR,China and the United States have followed very similar paths. In the sixties and seventies, Sino-Soviet relations were extremely tense, and the Soviet Union reached an agreement with Mongolia to drive the Soviet army to southern Mongolia, and the Sino-Soviet Union was already full of gunpowder, and in 1969 an armed conflict broke out on Zhenbao IslandRelations between the two sides have fallen to their lowest ebb.
After Brezhnev came to power, he vigorously developed the military industry, and the Soviet Union's military strength was markedly enhanced, and it constantly engaged in an arms race to compete with the United States.
In an international image,In the sixties and seventies, the atomic bomb was successful, and China became the fifth nuclear power after the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France; Brilliant achievements have also been made in terms of international statusIn 1971, Qiao Guanhua laughed at the United Nations General Assembly, and China's legitimate seat in the United Nations was finally restored.
On the other hand, the United States, in economic recession, is on the defensive in the struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union, and its international hegemony has obviously been shaken. In addition, anti-war sentiment in the country has also intensified, and the people and the Diet are resolutely opposed to the continuation of the war, and the image of the country and the world has been shaken. Nixon, who served as the United States, desperately wanted to get out of the quagmire of war.
The big environment determines the microclimate, and many of these international and domestic factors have led to the breaking of the ice between China and the United States, and both sides need to seize the opportunity in this sensitive and fragile context. Therefore, we must carefully "grasp" and control, if we are a little careless, then the momentum of breaking the ice will stop, and the foreshadowing made in the past will be wasted.
In 1971, Kissinger came to China as an advance team, and he shouldered the mission entrusted by Nixon to meet with the Chinese side. At noon on 9 July, the plane in which Kissinger and his entourage were traveling landed at Beijing's Nanyuan Airport, and the icebreaker ship between China and the United States set off.
Kissinger and his entourage stayed in Building 5 of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, and on the same day, his assistant John found an English version of a newspaper in his room, which published *** quotations"The people of the whole world should unite and bring down US imperialism and all its lackeys! ”John was extremely nervous when he saw this, and the meaning of this sentence was very incongruous with the meeting that would take place later, and he quickly found the person in charge of the Chinese side and asked what was going on in the newspaper.
He expressed the hope that the newspaper had been mistakenly placed in the room and asked the Chinese side to give a reasonable explanation. But the person in charge was also confused, and after reading it, he realized that the newspaper published a quotation from ***.
Regarding the origin of this sentence, we have to pull the timeline back to 1970. On April 30 of that year, the U.S. and South Vietnamese troops invaded the "Khmer Rouge" on a large scale in an attempt to further expand the war, and on May 4, the Chinese side issued a statement strongly condemning the actions of the United States. On May 20, ** was publishedThe "May 2 Statement" supported Sihanouk's struggle against US imperialism and its lackeys.
On the eve of Kissinger's visit to China, the prime minister had already noticed these problems, and he was worried that these slogans would bring misunderstanding to Kissinger and his party and affect the subsequent peace talks. So he asked *** to take down these banners and newspapers with slogans, but *** considered that Kissinger was visiting China secretly this time and did not want to leak this information, so he signaled ***Everything is left as it is, and nothing is altered.
Because everything remained the same, Kissinger saw these slogans "Down with US imperialism and its lackeys" when he came to Beijing. The US representatives, who did not know the truth, were extremely nervous, and they were worried that the visit would not achieve the desired results, so they hurriedly asked if the Chinese side had made a mistake.
Due to the extremely special situation at that time, the person in charge reported the matter to *** and laughed after listening to it, so he made an "international joke" and asked the staff to tell the US side"The slogan on the slogan is to fire the cannon, and doesn't the United States also shout all day long about the elimination of communism? It's air-to-air. ”
This seemingly marginal reply is actually the embodiment of *** humorous style, which was said as early as the Yan'an period"Speak with interest."。Anyone who has spoken to *** will be impressed by his language skills, and the American representative who came to visit China this time is no exception.
When Kissinger heard this "joke", he also laughed, he understood the meaning of ***'s words, **focused on the content of the newspaper, and used it as a metaphor for "firing air cannons", implying that it was just an "air-to-air battle" between China and the United States. Later, Kissinger lamented that the message of the past conveyed by China was always roundabout and careless people could not understand the meaning, which was a kind of foresight at the time. He has been impressed by *** humorous language skills.
After returning home, Kissinger expressed his insights and analysis to Nixon:"That's just a very empty slogan, and it's not threatening. ”Nixon finally relented and prepared to leave for Beijing for an official visit to China.
In February 1972, Nixon's special plane landed at the airport in Beijing"Handshake across the Pacific".It's finally here. China sent a guard of honor to the airport to welcome him, and he also personally went to the airport to greet Nixon, and when Nixon just stepped off the plane, he warmly shook Nixon's hand, and he felt the enthusiasm of China.
Then Nixon and his entourage were arranged to go to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where he saw many things with Chinese characteristics. Suddenly a painting came into view, on which the Chinese pointed a gun at the blonde foreigner, Nixon's face suddenly changed, he said nothing, and walked straight towards the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
After the luncheon, ** accompanied Nixon and his entourage to Zhongnanhai to meet *** After meeting Nixon and Kissinger, they exchanged greetings and exchanged a few words of greetings, and then said that they would discuss philosophical issues with Kissinger. Although he is sick, he is still sharp-eyed and active, and Kissinger, who is standing opposite him, has already appreciated the demeanor of *** and felt his unique personal charm.
They discussed the international situation together at that time and mentioned the conversation with **, at which time Nixon and Kissinger had a clear understanding of China's position and attitude. They know that the ice between China and the United States is about to break and that a new era is coming.
In the subsequent conversation, he and Nixon and others did not discuss substantive diplomatic issues, but only discussed Taiwan and China's sovereignty with philosophical thinking. ** To Kissinger, let those policies of the past be buried, and China will shake hands and build a new friendship.
At this time, Nixon talked about the poster he saw when he first arrived, and after listening to his question, he explained to him with a smile"We just set off a lot of empty cannons, such as the people of the world united to defeat imperialism on the posters. If we do hit you all, we won't have any friends. ”Nixon smiled when he heard this, and he also understood the hint of ***.
Soon after, Nixon and Premier *** signed the Sino-US Joint Communiqué in Shanghai, and the relationship between China and the United States was on the right trackAt leaving, Nixon said he would "complete the normalization of relations between China and the United States" during his second term.
Nixon was re-elected in 1973, but was forced to resign from his position due to the Watergate scandal. In 1974, when Kissinger visited China again on behalf of Ford, he proposed a solution for Ford: a "Japanese way" to normalize relations between China and the United States, but this plan was rejected by us. In 1975, Ford personally visited China, and in a meeting with ***, Ford talked about it rhetorically and said humorously:"We don't have the capital, so we let go of the cannon. ”Ford was criticized in this way, but Ford did not hear the implications.
In the subsequent rounds of negotiations, China and the United States did not make much progress until 1978The United States pledged to one China and agreed to "sever diplomatic relations, withdraw troops, and abrogate the treaty."China and the United States reached an agreement and agreed to issue a communiqué and statement on the establishment of diplomatic relations. On January 1, 1979, after seven long years of negotiations, China and the United States finally truly shook hands.
This game of chess is finally over, this is a contest of wisdom and endurance, in this 7-year competition, we have not only taken into account the overall situation, but also kept our own principles. We have always taken the initiative to let the United States go completely with our paceIt is precisely under the "careful layout" of the leaders of the United States and other countries that we were able to establish diplomatic relations with the United States in 1979 without losing principle, which is the embodiment of the wisdom of diplomacy.
The international joke of "unleashing the cannon" is by no means just a joke, but a high degree of condensation and display of diplomatic wisdom and language skills.