Chinese Premier and Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang on a tour of East Germany in June 1987. Zhao and his entourage are presenting East Berlin Mayor Erhard Krack (3rd from right) with a gift. Oskar Fischer (fourth from left), Minister for Foreign Affairs of the GDR, was also present.

Photograph by Rainer Mittelstädt, June 10, 1987, Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1987-0610-024, CC-BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1987-0610-024,_Berlin,_Besuch_Zhao_Ziyang.jpg.

China-Eastern Europe Relations

This collection follows China's relations with countries in Eastern and Central Europe from the Sino-Soviet alliance through the Sino-Soviet split and the end of the Cold War. It contains files from China, Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Romania, Albania, and other countries inside and outside of the Soviet bloc. See also the Digital Archive collection on Interkit, 1966-1987. For materials on China's relations with Western Europe, see China-Western Europe Relations. (Image: Photo #Z368 - Official visit of Nicolae Ceausescu and Elena Ceausescu in the People's Republic of China. Welcomed by President Mao Tzedun, June, 1971)

Connected Conn.

People

Mao, Zedong

1893- 1976

Zhou, Enlai

1898- 1976

Gomułka, Władysław

1905- 1982

Li, Xiannian

1909- 1992

Cyrankiewicz, Jozef

Honecker, Erich Ernst Paul

1912- 1994

East Asia

China

Soviet soldier taking a photograph of another soldier in Red Square, Moscow, 1959

Eastern Europe

Soviet Union

Eastern Europe

Poland

The Palace of the Republic (Palast der Republik) in Berlin

Eastern Europe

East Germany

Eastern Europe

Albania

Eastern Europe

Hungary

Trade agreement between European Economic Community and China

China-Europe Relations

Sino-Soviet Relations

Sino-Soviet Split, 1960-1984

Interkit, 1966-1987

China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976

Conversations with Mao Zedong

Popular Documents

July 18, 1973	Letter, Oskar Fischer to Cde. Hermann Axen, 'Text of a Statement to be Presented Verbally to the Council of the Embassy of the PR China to the GDR' Documents related to East Germany's protest against the intended establishment of a Chinese trade representation in West Berlin. The East German Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses that West Berlin cannot be regarded as part of West Germany. Therefore, by initiating diplomatic relations with West Berlin without considering the existence of the internationally acknowledged Four Power Agreement on Berlin between the US, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, China is deliberately acting against the interests of East Germany.
July 18, 1973	Notice for Comrade Fischer, 'Document for a Conversation with the Ambassador of the PR China' Documents related to East Germany's protest against the intended establishment of a Chinese trade representation in West Berlin. The East German Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses that West Berlin cannot be regarded as part of West Germany. Therefore, by initiating diplomatic relations with West Berlin without considering the existence of the internationally acknowledged Four Power Agreement on Berlin between the US, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, China is deliberately acting against the interests of East Germany.
May 13, 1959	From the Meeting of the Delegation of the Party of Labor of Albania with Comrade Mao Zedong on 13 May 1959 Mao and Kapo discuss Albania's history and its present day struggle with Yugoslavia. Mao reviews the CCP's own history as well as developments in Tibet.
June 11, 1971	GDR Embassy in Bucharest, 'Assessment regarding the Visit by the Party and Government Delegation of the RSR under the Leadership of Gen. Ceauşescu to the PR China from June 1 to June 9, 1971' This document examines the visit of the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party, Nicolae Ceauşescu, to China. This visit is seen by East Germany as evidence of anti-Soviet sentiments. The Romanian endorsement of Chinese politics is strongly criticized, as it is seen to strengthen China's position and to weaken the cohesion of the Warsaw Pact. Ceauşescu's visit to China is said to have met with a positive response in the US.
October 26, 1972	Draft of a Planned East German Demarche, to be Read to the Chinese Ambassador, Against Chinese Statements on the Occasion of the Establishment of Chinese-West German Diplomatic Relations and Walter Scheel's Visit This document is a demarche to be delivered to the Chinese ambassador in East Berlin on the occasion of China's establishment of diplomatic relations between West Germany and the People's Republic of China (PRC). The demarche says the West German government is pursuing a revisionist policy and does not accept the post-war separation of Germany. It assesses the role of Bonn in international relations as detrimental to the entire Socialist camp and regards the visit of West German Foreign Minister Walter Scheel to Beijing, as well as diplomatic relations between China and West Germany, as damaging the interests of East Germany. The author asks China to reconsider this policy, with reference to East Berlin's support for the PRC's territorial claims to Taiwan/Formosa. According to a marginal note, the demarche was never delivered.

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