Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes an archival document issued by the Central State Archive in Tirana (Fund of the former Central Committee of the ALP), where there is an information report with the logo ‘secret’ dated August 29, 1961, where diplomat Gaqo Pojani, on duty at the Albanian Embassy in Beijing, informs the Central Committee of the ALP in Tirana, regarding the meeting and conversation that he and Ambassador Reiz Malile had with the member of the Politburo and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Chen Yi, where the main issue was the meeting of the Chinese Minister with the Vietnamese leader, Ho Shi Min, who had openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the government of Tirana, because he had postponed his visit to Albania. Full report-information of the Albanian diplomat Pojani, regarding some of the main points and issues that were discussed in that conversation with the chief diplomat of the People’s Republic of China, such as the aggravated relations of official Tirana with the Kremlin and its leader, Nikita Hurshov, who, to the suggestion of the leader of Vietnam, Ho Shi Min, for Moscow to agree with Albania, had responded by saying: the Albanian side should apologize to us and return the two submarines to us…!
Report-information of the Albanian diplomat Gaqo Pojani addressed to the Central Committee of the ALP in Tirana, regarding the meeting and the conversation that he and the ambassador, Reiz Malile, had held in Beijing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Chen Yi
INFORMATION ON THE MEETING WITH COMRADE CHEN YI
In the following, we briefly write about the conversation that Comrade Chen Yi, member of the Politburo and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, had on August 29, 1961 with the Albanian Ambassador to China, Comrade Reis Malile.
(Since Comrade Reis Malile left urgently and unexpectedly for Vietnam, we are writing the notes of the conversation with Comrade Chen Yi as they were kept by Comrade Gaqo Pojani, who also assisted in the aforementioned conversation).
“We are very happy for the correct and determined position of the ALP, Comrade First Secretary of the ALP Enver Hoxha and Chairman of the Ministerial Council and Member of the Political Bureau of the ALP, Comrade Mehmet Shehu. The exact position of your party is in the interest of the whole socialist camp. The fact that you are not and will not back down from your position in the face of pressure and blackmail is also the right path and a great contribution. The position of the ALP in the differentiation between Khrushchev, the PKBS and the Soviet people, is correct.
Your silence, avoiding the open revelation of contradictions and all the blackmail and pressure exerted by Khrushchev is also correct. If in the future Khrushchev will speak openly against Albania and the disputes that exist (he is talking about the possibility of expulsion from the Warsaw Pact and possible attacks that may be openly directed against us at the 22nd USSR Congress), then your opinion that you should respond openly to this situation is also correct.
“The ALP and the Albanian people have been strengthened and made more steely by all the unjust actions and pressures of Khrushchev. They (the PKBS leadership) act unjustly in their intentions to make the ALP kneel and become soft. Their position is in open contradiction with the teachings of Marxism-Leninism. In their relationship and relations with the imperialists, they make compromises. The same goes for Yugoslavia. But to Albania, which is a socialist country, they make no effort to reconcile.
“The ALP, if it continues to stay in a course like the one it has followed so far, will undoubtedly be successful. You have acted very correctly against their intentions. They want to subjugate a small nation and base this on the wrong notion of being a big, powerful and rich nation.
“I fully support your stance against the Soviet Union. On this issue (preservation of principles) we also stand in such a firm position.
Responding to the thanks from our party and the people for the great help that the Communist Party and the Chinese people gave us from Comrade Reis Malile, Comrade Chen Yi said: “As for what you said about the help you receive from us, i.e., It is an international duty and it is imperative that we act in this way. You said that the help we are giving you is a savior of your life, but in this case we are acting according to the principles of Marxism-Leninism and against those who are trying to change them.
“Do not be afraid of any pressure on you, because your course is right. We will criticize the PKBS not whether it is strong or not, not whether the Soviet Union is a powerful country or not. We will criticize him because of the incorrect course he follows.
“We told our Soviet comrades that they were wrong in hating the ALP simply because it criticized them. It is a grave mistake on their part to love people they expect to always applaud them. Either way, the more time passes, the clearer it will become for the peoples of the world who have the right flow. I will convey to our Central Committee all that you said and there is no doubt that they will be happy for your position.
Later, Comrade Reis Malile asked about Comrade Ho Chi Minh’s positions in China on his return from Moscow and what he thought about not going to Albania.
“I will give you the information you requested and I would ask you, please, to communicate it to the ALP, as it is possible that my information will be useful to you during your trip to Vietnam. I accompanied my friend Ho Chi Minh for three days and talked to him about this topic.
Words from Comrade Ho Chi Minh:
“When I heard that the Albanians postponed the date of my visit, I became dissatisfied. Whatever the situation, the Albanians should have accepted my visit. I tried to reconcile the Albanians and the Soviet Union. I made this effort in the interest of unity, so that it becomes stronger. My intentions were not to find out who was wrong and who was right, because such a thing is difficult to resolve at this stage of disunity. This initiative was mine and not that of the Vietnamese Party.
“When I was in Moscow, Khrushchev told me: ‘we are ready to reach an agreement with the Albanians, if they return the two submarines and send a delegation to Moscow for discussions.’
“I have now made every effort to strengthen unity and reconcile the Albanians and the Soviet Union. In the future, such efforts should be taken by Chinese comrades. Please transmit this proposal to K.Q. of the PKK.
The words of Comrade Chen Yi to Comrade Ho Chi Minh:
“Albanian friends had good reasons to postpone the date of your visit there. Today they find themselves in a difficult situation, under constant pressure and blackmail by Khrushchev. Towards Albania, he maintains an incorrect attitude and follows an incorrect course. You should have understood the situation in which Albanians find themselves.
“If you had gone to such a situation in Albania, it would have meant that the Albanians and the ALP were on their knees before Khrushchev and that would not have been right. You are trying to persuade Albanians to leave their wrong path, despite the fact that they have done nothing wrong.
“If you cannot see the differences that exist between the position of Albanians and that of the CPSU; if you do not want to distinguish between the two, then Albanians do not have to support you. The union between the small and the big in such conditions cannot be successful.
“How can it be possible to resolve all these disputes if we do not establish our Marxist-Leninist principles?”
“You are an old friend of the international communist movement. You should have first talked to Khrushchev about his mistakes and criticized him, and then gone to Albania. Thus your visit would have been successful.
“Why should Albanians send a delegation to Moscow and not the Soviets as they are the ones who have been unfair to Albanians?” You should have told Khrushchev that he should send a delegation to Albania first. As for the issue of handing over the two submarines, they, as it is known, according to the known protocol, belong to the Albanians. However, this is not a contentious issue in the disputes that have arisen. When compared to current relations between Albanians and the Soviets, the issue of submarines is a very small thing. The Soviet Union has many submarines. What problems can two submarines cause in Albania?
“The lack of recognition of mistakes and the refusal to send a delegation to Albania means that Khrushchev is acting contrary to the teachings of Marxism-Leninism. He visited many capitalist countries and Belgrade told them very nice things. Why then does he not do the same for Albanians? This is where a friend is distinguished from an enemy. During the last meeting in Moscow, Khrushchev expelled the Albanian delegation from the proceedings, saying that the ALP was not at a sufficient level. You should have told Khrushchev that what he is doing to the Albanians, even the imperialists did not do.
“Do you know that Tito is trying to destroy the ALP? And Khrushchev is telling Albanians that they should not fight Tito. This is an incorrect course. Stalin did a good thing by removing the mask from Tito and fighting him as a traitor to Marxism-Leninism. Why were the naval bases and specialists from Albania removed, leaving it exposed to the imperialists? How would you have reacted if such an injustice had been done to Vietnam? He is trying to do the same with China, but as you know we are a great country and here he has not had any success. In such a situation, it is Albania that should be absolutely supported, not Khrushchev. If we supported Albania, we would help strengthen unity; the opposite action would weaken it. You know very well that the PKBS has not spared reconciliation efforts, but Khrushchev does not listen.
“Now in the international communist movement a tendency similar to the one that exists in the UN has arisen. There most capitalist states support the US because it is the most powerful, largest and richest state and do not take into account the evil intentions of American imperialism. The same thing is happening in the international communist movement. At the 81-Party Moscow Conference, most of them supported the PKBS because it is the strongest, largest and richest despite its grave mistakes.
“The truth is on our side even though we are few. The right is not always with the strongest, the richest or those who are more in number.
“Imperialism is making every effort to divide and destroy the socialist camp. I am using the tactic of exerting pressure on the edges of the camp, such as, for example, in Hungary, Germany, etc. You can see what is happening in the German Democratic Republic. The war has not yet begun and several million people have already fled to the West.
“You must understand Comrade Ho Chi Minh that Albanians honor you and have a high regard for you as an old comrade of the international communist movement. One should not be angry with them. Albanians are very determined in their correct performance. If the need arises, they are ready to fight to the last man.
“I mentioned all the issues I brought to Comrade Ho Chi Minh because I wanted him to understand his mistakes regarding the visit. For this reason, I also told him that at the moment the comrades of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, are busy with other problems. If true, I allegedly joked and told him that we are not at a sufficient level to discuss such issues. During this conversation, Comrade Ho Chi Minh said that he had made a subjective mistake in the way he had acted.
“During the conversation I noticed that Comrade Ho Chi Minh’s views had changed somewhat. At first he was saying that only Albanians are wrong in this, while later he was also saying that the Soviets are also wrong. However, as for the criticism of Khrushchev, he did not do it and remained silent.
“I would ask you to convey to Comrade Enver Hoxha and Comrade Mehmet Shehu that the Vietnam Party is not completely in agreement with the views of Comrade Ho Chi Minh and his method. I urge you to consider these points in your relationship with them. On the other hand it must be said that Khrushchev was able to influence Comrade Ho Chi Minh. It is therefore necessary for you to think about how to attract friend Ho Chi Minh and explain all the problems that are obscure to him. It would be good to think of asking Comrade Ho Chi Minh to come for a visit to Albania in the near future, with the aim of attracting him and telling him of all the unjust activities that have been done to you. He is a good and old friend, but has some misconceptions and shakes.
“It would be a good thing if you went to Vietnam and explained to them the main issues and the injustice from the leadership of the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. I think that Khrushchev will not declare open war on Albania in the XXII Congress. If he does, he will do so after Congress. It would be very favorable to keep Vietnam on our side in this situation. The fight against Khrushchev’s incorrect views will be very long and we must have the patience to see it.
“You, Comrade Reis Malile, must go to Vietnam for the celebrations of the anniversary of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. If you encounter any problems with transport in Vietnam, for example, due to lack of time, then you can ask us and we will put a special plane at your disposal “./ Memorie.al
Beijing, August 29, 1961
Gaqo Pojani
