Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1929, Volume II

861.77 Chinese Eastern/228

The Chinese Minister (C. C. Wu) to the Secretary of State

Washington, August 19, 1929.

Sir: I have the honor to enclose herewith for the information of your Government a communication from my Government relating to the present controversy between China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Accept [etc.]

Chao-chu Wu

[Enclosure]

A Communication of the National Government of the Republic of China to the Signatories of the Treaty for the Renunciation of War

On the 27th of May, 1929, the police headquarters of the Harbin special area, having received reliable reports that a propaganda conference of the Third International (Comintern) was to be held at the local Soviet consulate between 12 noon and 3 P.M. on that day, detailed a special force to conduct a search of the consulate premises. Over eighty persons attended the conference, and all were placed under arrest. Forty-two are members of the Soviet consulate—such as Melnikoff, the Soviet Consul General; Znaminsky, the Soviet Vice Consul; and Kuznetzoff, the Soviet Consul General at Liaoning (Mukden). Thirty-nine are important officials of the Chinese Eastern Railway, members of the Chinese Eastern Railway Labor Union, the Soviet Central Commercial Federation, the Soviet Mercantile Shipping Bureau, the Soviet Far Eastern Petroleum Bureau, and the Soviet Far Eastern National Trading Bureau, and communist leaders of the Harbin special area, Chita, Habarovsk and other centers along the same railway. Of these the most important leaders are: Zimbarevitch, Manager of the Far Eastern National Trading Bureau; Taranoff, Inspector of the Mercantile Shipping Bureau; and Stankevitch, member of the Commercial Department of the Chinese Eastern Railway. All three are members of the North Manchuria Executive Committee under the direct control of Habarovsk. This Committee supervises the Chinese Eastern Railway Labor Union, the Young Men’s Communist Group, the Boys’ and Women’s Communist Groups and other organizations.

Various documents and evidence of plots and conspiracy as well as propaganda material were discovered. Thirty-nine were taken to the police headquarters for detention and cross examination. Melnikoff and the other members of his staff were permitted to remain in the consulate while Kuznetzoff was escorted back to Liaoning.

A thorough examination of the arrested persons and the documents discovered in the premises revealed the fact that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was not only conducting communist propaganda in China but was actually pushing forward its secret plans to nullify China’s unification, to overthrow the Chinese Government, to organize secret forces for destroying the Chinese Eastern Railway, and to carry out a policy of wholesale assassinations and thereby bring about a world-wide revolution. What is more, the Chinese Eastern Railway and the Soviet State enterprises and organizations were being utilized as bases for carrying out the nefarious schemes of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In order to preserve peace and order and to nip the menace in the bud the local authorities felt compelled to adopt precautionary measures. On July 10, 1929, they dissolved the Labor Union of the Chinese Eastern Railway, the Young Men’s Communist Group and the Boys’ and Women’s Communist Groups, and sealed up the offices of the Soviet Far Eastern National Trading Bureau, the Soviet Far Eastern Petroleum Bureau, the Soviet Mercantile Shipping Bureau, and the Soviet Central Commercial Federation. At the same time Emshanoff and Ezomentov [Eismont?] Soviet Manager and Assistant Manager respectively of the Chinese Eastern Railway, as well as sixty important communist leaders of the Labor Union were dismissed and taken to the frontier owing to their abuse of the special position in the railway and their participation in the plots and conspiracy against the safety of the railway.

Article VI of the Sino-Soviet Agreement of 1924 provides as follows:

“The Governments of the two contracting parties mutually pledge themselves not to permit within their respective territories the existence and/or activities of any organizations or groups whose aim is to struggle by acts of violence against the Governments of either contracting party.”

“The Governments of the two contracting parties further pledge themselves not to engage in propaganda directed against the political and social systems of either contracting party.”

The facts being as above stated, it is clear that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has violated the entire treaty stipulation. Since the Soviet manager and assistant manager and other important officials of the Chinese Eastern Railway as well as the Labor Union and other unions of the railway and other Soviet State enterprises and organizations have not only carried on propaganda directed against the political and social system of China but also conspired to overthrow the Chinese Government, to destroy the Chinese Eastern Railway, and to perpetrate other outrages, the Chinese Government was constrained by the urgency of the situation to maintain the integrity of the agreement and adopt precautionary measures in pursuance of the treaty undertaking of the two Governments that they would not “permit within their respective territories the existence and/or activities of any organizations or groups whose aim is to struggle by acts of violence against the Government of either contracting party”. And since these precautions are justified by the above-cited agreement, the Chinese Government was under no obligation to consult the Soviet Government beforehand nor was it able so to do. The action taken against the Soviet manager and assistant manager of the Chinese Eastern Railway in consequence of their participation in the above-mentioned plots is amply warranted by the same treaty provisions and has no connection whatsoever with the question of the right of administrative control over the railway.

Moreover ever since 1927 repeated Soviet attempts have been unearthed in northern and southern China to conduct communist propaganda from the vantage points of the Soviet embassy, consulates, and state enterprises and organizations, to use the revenue of the Chinese Eastern Railway for supplying funds to the counter revolutionary elements in China, to overthrow the Chinese Government, and to destroy China’s political and social system. The documents and evidence found recently in the Soviet consulate at Harbin establishes the further fact that important Soviet officials of the Chinese Eastern Railway are important communist leaders for conducting such propaganda. Under the cover of their special status as railway employees and relying upon the support of the Labor Union to tighten their hold upon the railway, they have conspired to obstruct the smooth working of the Chinese Eastern Railway, sacrificed its true interests and endangered the safety of China.

Confronted by these accumulated facts and evidence the Chinese Government cannot but feel the gravest concern for the future of the railway. It can only wait for the Soviet Government to awake to a full realization of that Government’s responsibility and together with it to devise a fundamental solution in accordance with the provisions of their agreement so that a recurrence of the attempt by Soviet nationals to abuse their employment in the railway and reenact the same incidents as those recently discovered may be obviated and the safety of the railway preserved. In that way communications between Europe and Asia may be maintained uninterruptedly.

The precautionary measures adopted by the Chinese Government had been called forth by the conspiracy of the Soviet manager and assistant manager and other important employees of the Chinese Eastern Railway and other Soviet state groups acting in direct violation of Article VI of the Agreement of 1924. Yet in the note dated July 13th received from the Soviet Government the measures adopted by the Chinese Government in pursuance of the above mentioned agreement were characterized as calculated to abrogate the existing agreement and to seize the Chinese Eastern Railway. In addition the precautions adopted by China to combat the plots of the employees of the railway acting in violation of the agreement were purposely lumped together with the question of the administrative control over the railway so as to whitewash the illegal acts of officials of the Soviet Government, the railway, and other state groups and organizations and thereby disclaim the responsibility of treaty violation. Furthermore in utter disregard of the actual facts a reply was demanded to be given within a stated number of days.

The Soviet Government was well aware that the Soviet employees had been removed from their posts because of their acts in contravention of the agreement and yet it demanded that China restore the status quo. The Soviet Government was well aware that the thirtynine communists had been arrested because of their conspiring in the Harbin Soviet consulate to conduct Soviet propaganda against China’s own safety and yet it demanded their release. Finally the Soviet Government insisted on satisfaction being given to its proposals although unjustified by the facts as a condition for holding a conference to settle the various outstanding questions in connection with the Chinese Eastern Railway and thus compelled the Chinese Government into adopting a defensive position.

In conformity with its traditional, peaceful and liberal policy, however, the Chinese Government replied on the 17th of the same month according to the actual facts of the case. The language of China’s reply was couched in all sincerity and it was hoped that the Soviet Government would realize its mistakes and make amends for its improper acts. Moreover in response to the Soviet suggestion that the Chinese Chargé d’Affaires in Moscow be authorized to settle the outstanding questions in connection with the Chinese Eastern Railway the Chinese Government stated that it would instruct its Chargé d’Affaires to return to Moscow and discuss with the Soviet Foreign Office a reasonable and legal solution of such questions.

Unfortunately the Soviet Government chose to persist in its arrogant attitude and employ misrepresentation for whitewashing the actual facts. On the 18th of July it declared, first, that it would recall its embassy and consular staffs, second, that it would recall its nationals who were serving in the Chinese Eastern Railway, third, that it would sever railway communication between China and Soviet Russia, and fourth, that China should immediately withdraw her embassy and consular staffs from Soviet territory. Such action on the part of the Soviet Government constitutes a gross violation of the Sino-Soviet Agreement, a contemptuous disregard for international good faith, a wilful juggling of the actual facts, a misrepresentation of the true intent contained in China’s reply, and a calculated design to bring about the present situation which has resulted in a severance of international communication. The responsibility for such a situation should be shouldered entirely by the Soviet Government.

According to the reports of the frontier officials the Soviet Government has been despatching and preparing active troops to be distributed along the Chinese border and indulged in rifle shooting by way of threat and also sent aeroplanes to reconnoitre over China’s territory. Should such acts of provocation on the part of the Soviet Government result in unavoidable clashes arising out of China’s determination to defend her own rights the responsibility for disturbing the peace of the world must entirely rest with the Soviet Government. In a manifesto issued to the public on the 19th of July the Chinese Government declared that it would employ its entire strength within the scope of self-defence to act up to the spirit of the treaty for the renunciation of war and would persevere in the maintenance of that attitude.

In the renunciation of war, it will, apart from preserving its territorial sovereignty and adopting precautionary measures of self-defence against external invasions, strictly abide by article II of the Treaty for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes. Consequently the Chinese Government whether now or in the future is ready at any time within the limits of possibility to discuss and settle with the Soviet Government the disputes induced by a misrepresentation of facts on the part of the Soviet Government.