A probe into the latest declassified archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs： publishing the evolution documents of Sino-Soviet relations

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　　The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently opened the third batch of the latest declassified archives from 1961 to 1965 to the public, and the archives are open to the public on weekdays (except Friday afternoon). Data map of this newspaper

　　The declassification of the latest batch of diplomatic files took three years, and about 70 serving and retired diplomats and archivists participated in the work. The number of declassified files was the sum of the first two batches.

　　International Herald Tribune reporters Chang Lu and Hou Lijun are from Beijing. There is a slightly old office building on the east side of the Foreign Ministry Building outside Chaoyang Gate in Beijing. If you don’t look carefully, it’s hard for people to notice a bronze medal at its door. After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released the third batch of declassified files on November 12th, the reporter of International Herald Tribune walked into this office building called South Annex Building to unveil this still slightly mysterious place.

　　Take the elevator from the South Annex Building to the seventh floor and walk for a corridor, then you will arrive at the Open Archives Lending Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There are two lending offices, one of which is the registration front desk and the retrieval desk, and the file reading room is next to it. At first glance, it looks like the internal reading room of an ordinary government agency. However, it is here that the precious diplomatic archives of People’s Republic of China (PRC) are unfolded one by one in front of reporters like a picture scroll with rich connotations …

　　Yellowing paper has gone digital.

　　Since the first public declassification of archives by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2004, people at home and abroad can check the declassified documents they are interested in, including the instructions of former party and state leaders, messages and telegrams on major diplomatic events, intergovernmental treaties and agreements, etc. Unlike the reporter’s previous imagination, there are no yellowed pieces of paper or piles of documents here. These precious historical files have been completely digitized-they have been scanned into the computer, and users can read them directly on the Internet.

　　When registering at the front desk, our reporter showed my ID card and letter of introduction from the company. After completing the registration, according to the guidance of the staff, I filled out an electronic form on the retrieval computer, including submitting my identity information and the purpose of using the file. After completing the form, I can start to consult the file.

　　Then, the reporter tried to input keywords such as "China, Soviet Union" and "Zhou Enlai" on the computer, as well as related time periods, and the computer screen immediately showed a series of documents containing keywords. After selecting the files of interest, the reporter submitted the application and came to the front desk to pay the fee. The staff told the reporter, "each file needs to pay a cost of two yuan, and up to 10 applications can be submitted at a time." And immediately gave the reporter a password.

　　After using this password to log on to the computer in the reading room, the reporter sat down and slowly read these electronic files. Although these originals can’t be checked out, if users need copies, they can directly submit a copy application on the machine and collect it after paying.

　　Tang Jiaxuan suggested starting file decryption.

　　In 1999, at the suggestion of then Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs set up an "open file appraisal team" to officially start the file decryption work. At that time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized nearly 100 serving and retired diplomats to participate in the file decryption work.

　　Considering the high requirements of archives declassification, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires all regional departments to send experienced diplomats at or above the deputy division level to screen the voluminous historical archives one by one, make a preliminary examination by division of labor, and write their own opinions on the examination list, such as judging the classification, agreeing or disagreeing with the opening, etc., and give reasons. It will be reviewed by the major departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the relevant central ministries and commissions involved in the archives, then approved by the leading group for archives appraisal and opening of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and adopted by the ministerial meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and finally the plan and catalogue for publishing diplomatic archives will be submitted to the State Council for approval.

　　The first batch of decryption work was completely done by hand. In the second batch of decryption work, all files were scanned into the computer in advance, and after the experts read the original, they wrote the audit opinions directly on the computer. At the same time, the second batch of decryption does not need to be reviewed, and the files can be opened after the experts’ opinions are reported for approval step by step. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has purchased special file decryption software, which can greatly improve the work efficiency of the staff engaged in file decryption by setting standards and classifying.

　　November 12th this year is the third batch of declassified files. Zhang Sulin, director of the appraisal and opening department of archives, told the International Herald Tribune, "Between 2006 and 2008, about 70 serving and retired diplomats and archivists participated in the decryption of the third batch of archives." The number of files declassified this time is the sum of the first two batches, and the opening ratio has reached 70%, which is close to international standards. Zhang Sulin said, "It is by no means easy to complete this work. Behind it is the hard work of many staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

　　The outgoing ambassador leads the appraisal team

　　In June 2006, entrusted by the Eurasian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yao Peisheng, a former ambassador of Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and three other diplomats formed a file appraisal team and began to decrypt the third batch of files, including the diplomatic files related to Sino-Soviet relations from 1961 to 1965.

　　"There are nearly 600 volumes of diplomatic archives of Sino-Soviet relations to be declassified during this period." Yao Peisheng told the International Herald Tribune, "The archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed these files to our group, asking us to review them every page, and put forward the approximate deadline for completing the task."

　　According to Yao Peisheng’s memory, in the process of file review, members of the appraisal team often exchange views and refer to each other on some important files. "Take the Record of Talks between the Two Parties of China and the Soviet Union in July, 1963 as an example. This record is 600 pages long and is a document with the highest machine density. However, after careful discussion, the team members unified their opinions and thought that they could all be open. "

　　In order to facilitate readers’ access, the staff also split the original 600-volume file into 2,000 small volumes according to the content. "There were 20 to 30 small volumes in the original stack of files. For example, Deng Xiaoping led a Chinese Communist Party delegation to Moscow for talks with the Soviet side, including protocol activities, meeting records and many other contents. We classified them according to the content during the decryption process, so that it was clear from the catalogue and convenient to access." Yao Peisheng said.

　　Publish the documents on the evolution of Sino-Soviet relations

　　Since 2004, more than 41,000 files have been opened in two batches in the diplomatic sector, spanning from 1949 to 1960. This time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declassified 41,097 diplomatic files at home and abroad, and the time span was from 1961 to 1965. Guo Chongli, director of the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the International Herald Tribune that this is the largest number of files declassified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so far, "accounting for 70% of the total diplomatic files in this period, while the opening ratio of the first two batches was 60% and 30% respectively."

　　郭崇立说，本次解密档案中，中苏关系演变文件的开放比例为历年最高。从1963年7月14日苏联发表《苏联共产党中央委员会给苏联各级党组织和全体共产党员的公开信》到1964年10月赫鲁晓夫下台，包括当时党和国家领导人对中苏关系问题的指示、批示、内部讲话、情况调研报告、双边谈判记录、往来电报等文件，完整地记录了这一时期中苏两党意识形态论战的过程。其中涉及的重要历史事件包括1963年以邓小平为团长的中共代表团赴莫斯科与苏方就国际共产主义运动总路线问题进行会谈；赫鲁晓夫下台后，中苏国家关系相当紧张，面临何去何从的问题；1964年周恩来出席苏联十月革命纪念活动；中国协助转运苏联对越南的军事援助等。

　　“这次中苏档案开放程度非常高。比如中苏两党会谈记录的详细内容，包括赫鲁晓夫接见邓小平时的所做的讲话，我们一个字都没有保留。”姚培生大使说。

　　此外，本次开放的档案中，1962年的中印边境战争相关文件也同样引人关注，其中包括中方当年的应变措施和撤退人员等情况，中方释放印度战俘的声明以及具体安排，以及中方与印方交涉情况如《国防部发言人声明》、《中方向印方通报释放战俘》等文件。

　　Decryption of 26 ambassadorial talks between China and the United States

　　About the truth that China actively improved its relations with developed countries from 1961 to 1965, the declassified diplomatic cases were also recorded one by one, most notably the Sino-US ambassadorial talks. From 1955 to February 1970, the Chinese and American ambassadors held 136 talks, which laid the foundation for the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. The open archives involved 26 conversations between China and the United States through ambassadorial talks (103rd to 128th), covering the return of Chinese nationals from both sides, the exchange of journalists, disarmament, the Vietnam War, weapons testing, etc., including documents such as China’s talks plan, telegrams exchanged, negotiation caliber, and China’s protest against U2 aircraft violating China’s airspace.

　　In this declassified archive, many documents related to the process of establishing diplomatic relations between China and France were published for the first time, such as "The Head of European Affairs of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs talks about the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France" and "Huang Zhen submits credentials to French President Charles de Gaulle".

　　In addition, in this declassified file, Liao Chengzhi and Gao? Tatsunosuke signed the Memorandum of China-Japan Long-term Comprehensive Trade on the development of non-governmental trade between China and Japan, and also signed an agreement to set up resident offices, appoint resident representatives and send resident journalists to each other. "These files reflect that the important feature of Sino-Japanese relations at that time was’ promoting officials by the people’." Guo Chongli said.

　　Decrypt the files during the Cultural Revolution in the next three years.

　　According to our reporter’s understanding, according to the Archives Law and its implementation measures, the archives formed since the founding of New China have been open to the outside world for 30 years since its formation. Guo Chongli said, "At present, the file decryption work is’ centralized clearing of debts’. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to complete the file decryption work from 1965 to 1977 in the next three years, and then the files will be decrypted and opened year by year."

　　Guo Chongli introduced that there are four principles for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to decrypt files. In a nutshell, they are "four noes", that is, "all files that affect national interests, especially security interests, are not open; Files that affect China’s relations with other countries are not open; All files involving personal privacy are not open; All files that affect national unity are not open. " Other diplomatic files can be opened.

　　Our reporter found that many archives were written by hand, such as documents drafted by leaders such as Zhou Enlai and Chen Yi, which were written in small letters with a brush, while some conversation record were written by diplomats with fine pens at that time. Guo Chongli said, "All these have brought many difficulties in word recognition to the staff’s review work."

　　When reading the archives, the reporter also noticed that the parts of the archives that cannot be made public will be blocked by blacking out. According to Guo Chongli, "the introduction of this cover technology conforms to the international standard practice, avoiding the situation that some important documents cannot be used by the public because one or two paragraphs cannot be made public, and improving the proportion of open files."

　　Open archives are widely used.

　　Since the first batch of declassified files was released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2004, the Open File Lending Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received more than 3,400 file users, including more than 700 foreign users, including some foreign scholars who have studied China’s diplomatic history.

　　At present, these open diplomatic archives not only provide rich first-hand materials for Chinese and foreign scholars to study China’s diplomatic history, but also become vivid cases of news reports and an important channel for the public to understand diplomatic history. Many experts believe that the further opening of diplomatic archives reflects the idea of China government governing the country according to law and its respect for citizens’ right to know, and it is also a manifestation of China’s increasingly confident and mature diplomacy.

　　According to the declassified archives, the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have published the first and second episodes of Selected Diplomatic Archives of People’s Republic of China (PRC), as well as a series of bestsellers such as Decrypted Diplomatic Documents-Archives of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations in People’s Republic of China (PRC): 1949 ~ 1955, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Early Days of the People’s Republic of China, so that the public can know more about the process of diplomatic decision-making and the history of China’s diplomatic development.

Editor: Wang Jiaolong