Mao's Great Famine (63 page)

Read Mao's Great Famine Online

Authors: Frank Dikötter

7
Yunnan, 28 Oct. 1959, 2-1-3639, pp. 23–31.
8
Hebei, 1960, 879-1-116, p. 43.
9
Hebei, 9 Nov. 1959, 855-5-1788, pp. 3–6.
10
Mao,
Jianguo yilai
, vol. 8, p. 431.
11
Hunan, 2–4 Sept. 1959, 141–1–1116, pp. 40–3, 49–50 and 121.
12
Li,
Private Life of Chairman Mao
, pp. 299–300; an almost identical conversation took place earlier over the phone, as Zhou ridiculed Wang’s sputnik fields and challenged him to come to Changsha to find out about the local supplies of grain; see Hunan, 1 Sept. 1959, 141-1-1115, pp. 235–7.
13
Roderick MacFarquhar,
The Origins of the Cultural Revolution
, vol. 3:
The Coming of the Cataclysm, 1961–1966
, New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, pp. 61, 179 and 206–7; Lu,
Cadres and Corruption
, p. 86, quoting from figures provided at the time in the
People’s Daily
; speaking in September 1959, Peng Zhen put the party membership at 13,900,000 and the number of cadres purged over the two preceeding years at 700,000; see Gansu, 19 Sept. 1959, 91-18-561, p. 28.

Chapter 14: The Sino-Soviet Rift

1
Instructions from State Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 1 Aug. 1960, 109-927-1, pp. 1–5.
2
Klochko,
Soviet Scientist
, p. 171.
3
Several diplomats see this as the main reason for the rift; see Kapitsa,
Na raznykh parallelakh
, pp. 61–3; Arkady N. Shevchenko,
Breaking with Moscow
, New York: Alfred Knopf, 1985, p. 122.
4
Zubok and Pleshakov,
Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War
, p. 232.
5
The original letter of recall, in Russian and Chinese, can be found in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 16 July 1960, 109-924-1, pp. 4–8.
6
Jung Chang and Jon Halliday,
Mao: The Unknown Story
, London: Jonathan Cape, 2005, p. 465.
7
Wu,
Shinian lunzhan
, p. 337.
8
Gansu, 5 Aug. 1960, 91-9-91, pp. 7–11.
9
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 1960–1, 109-2248-1, p. 38.
10
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 20 Aug. 1963, 109-2541-1, pp. 12–13.
11
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 28 March 1960, 109-2061-1, p. 3; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 1962, 109-3191-6, p. 5.
12
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 109-2541-1, pp. 12–13.
13
Report from the Bank for Foreign Trade, RGANI, Moscow, 2 June 1961, 5-20-210, p. 34; for the deal see
Sbornik osnovnykh deistvuiushchikh dogo-vorokh i sogloshenii mezhdu SSSR i KNR, 1949–1961
, Moscow: Ministerstvo Inostrannykh Del, no date, p. 198.
14
Ginsburgs, ‘Trade with the Soviet Union’, pp. 100 and 106.
15
BArch, Berlin, 12 Nov. 1960, DL2-1870, p. 34.
16
RGANI, Moscow, 14 Feb. 1964, 2-1-720, p. 75.
17
Interview with Mr Chan, born 1946, Hong Kong, July 2006.
18
Taubman,
Khrushchev
, p. 471.
19
Li,
Private Life of Chairman Mao
, p. 339.

Chapter 15: Capitalist Grain

1
Jin,
Zhou Enlai zhuan
, p. 1398.
2
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 20 Aug. 1960, 118-1378-13, pp. 32–3.
3
Oleg Hoeffding, ‘Sino-Soviet Economic Relations, 1959–1962’,
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
, vol. 349 (Sept. 1963), p. 95.
4
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 31 Dec. 1960, 110-1316-11, pp. 1–5.
5
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 18 Jan. 1961, 109-3004-2, p. 8.
6
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 31 Dec. 1960, 110-1316-11, pp. 1–5.
7
BArch, Berlin, 12 Nov. 1960, DL2-1870, p. 34.
8
‘Famine and bankruptcy’,
Time
, 2 June 1961.
9
Jin,
Zhou Enlai zhuan
, pp. 1414–15.
10
Colin Garratt, ‘How to Pay for the Grain’,
Far Eastern Economic Review
, vol. 33, no. 13 (28 Sept. 1961), p. 644.
11
Jin,
Zhou Enlai zhuan
, p. 1413.
12
Report by Zhou Enlai, Hunan, 4 Dec. 1961, 141-1-1931, p. 54.
13
MfAA, Berlin, 1962, A6792, p. 137.
14
Report by Zhou Enlai, Hunan, 4 Dec. 1961, 141-1-1931, p. 54.
15
Boone, ‘Foreign Trade of China’.
16
Report by Zhou Enlai, Hunan, 4 Dec. 1961, 141-1-1931, pp. 52–3.
17
‘Famine and bankruptcy’,
Time
, 2 June 1961.
18
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 8 March 1961, 109-3746-1, pp. 17–18.
19
RGANI, Moscow, 14 Feb. 1964, 2-1-720, pp. 81–2; the contract for the delivery of sugar is in
Sbornik osnovnykh deistvuiushchikh dogovorokh i sogloshenii mezhdu SSSR i KNR, 1949–1961
, Moscow: Ministerstvo Inostrannykh Del, no date, pp. 196–7.
20
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 4 April 1961, 109-2264-1, pp. 1–8.
21
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 22 Aug. 1961, 109-2264-2, p. 38.
22
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 6 April 1962, 109-2410-3, p. 53.
23
Ibid.
24
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 15 Aug. 1962, 109-2410-1, pp. 62–3.
25
BArch, Berlin, 1962, DL2-VAN-175, p. 15.
26
Chang and Halliday,
Mao
, p. 462.
27
MfAA, Berlin, 11 July 1962, A17334, p. 92.
28
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 1 July 1960, 102-15-1, pp. 26–39; see also MfAA, Berlin, 11 July 1962, A17334, pp. 89–94.
29
Shanghai, 1 Dec. 1959, B29-2-112, p. 3.
30
Report from the Ministry of Finance, Gansu, 1 July 1961, 91-18-211, p. 25.
31
MfAA, Berlin, 4 Jan. 1962, A6836, p. 33; see also the analysis of the East Germans of the policy of foreign aid, which they identified as one of the main reasons for the famine; MfAA, Berlin, 4 Jan. 1962, A6836, p. 16.
32
Report from the Ministry of Finance, Gansu, 1 July 1961, 91-18-211, pp. 22–5.
33
Hunan, 29 March 1960, 163-1-1083, pp. 119–22; by the end of the year, following a resolution at Beidaihe in September 1960, this was lowered to 310 million, with rice halved to some 144,000 tonnes; see Hunan, 22 Oct. 1960, 163-1-1083, pp. 130–4.
34
Guangdong, 29 Sept. 1960, 300-1-195, p. 158.
35
Guangzhou, 5 April 1961, 92-1-275, p. 105.
36
Gansu, 16 Jan. 1961, 91-18-200, p. 72.
37
Shanghai, 21 Oct. 1960, B29-2-112, pp. 2–5.
38
‘Back to the farm’,
Time
, 3 Feb. 1961.
39
ICRC, Geneva, telegrams of 18, 28 and 30 Jan. and 6 Feb. 1961, BAG 209-048-2.
40
ICRC, Geneva, discussions on 1 and 14 March 1961, BAG 209-048-2.
41
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 27 Jan. 1959, 109-1952-3, p. 13.

Chapter 16: Finding a Way Out

1
Bo,
Ruogan zhongda shijian
, p. 892.
2
Mao,
Jianguo yilai
, vol. 9, p. 326; Lin,
Wutuobang yundong
, p. 607.
3
Zhang Zhong, ‘Xinyang shijian jiemi’ (Revealing the Xinyang incident),
Dangshi tiandi
, 2004, no. 4, pp. 40–1.
4
Yang Zhengang, Zhang Jiansheng and Liu Shikai, ‘Guanyu huaifenzi Ma Longshan da gao fanmanchan jiqi houguo deng youguan cailiao de diaocha baogao’, 9 Nov. 1960, p. 7.
5
Li Zhenhai, Liu Zhengrong and Zhang Chunyuan, ‘Guanyu Xinyang diqu Xincai qu dong jin chun fasheng zhongbing siren he ganbu yanzhong weifa luanji wenti de diaocha baogao’, 30 Nov. 1960, p. 1.
6
Xinyang diwei zuzhi chuli bangongshi, ‘Guanyu diwei changwu shuji Wang Dafu tongzhifan suo fan cuowu ji shishi cailiao’, 5 Jan. 1962, pp. 1–2.
7
Zhang, ‘Xinyang shijian jiemi’, p. 42; see also Qiao Peihua,
Xinyang shijian
(The Xinyang incident), Hong Kong: Kaifang chubanshe, 2009.
8
Mao,
Jianguo yilai
, vol. 9, p. 349.
9
Nongye jitihua zhongyao wenjian huibian (1958–1981)
(A compendium of important documents on agricultural collectivisation [1958–1981]), Beijing: Zhongyang dangxiao chubanshe, 1981, vol. 2, pp. 419–30.

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