Liao Chengzhi

Liao speaks at the 2nd Conference of the Chinese Communist Youth Association

Liao Chengzhi ( Chinese  廖承志 , Pinyin Liào Chéngzhì , W.-G. Liao Chʻeng-chih ; born September 25, 1908 in Tokyo , † June 10, 1983 in Beijing ) was a Chinese politician and the leading Japanese specialist of the Communist Party of China in the 1960s and 1970s. He shaped the Japanese policy of the People's Republic and was instrumental in the normalization between the once warring nations.

Liao came from a wealthy family in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. He was born in Japan and grew up bilingual. His father, Liao Zhongkai, was a leading Kuomintang politician and was murdered when Liao Chengzhi was 17 years old. Three years later, Liao joined the communists and participated in the Long March . He survived the political cleansing in the Communist Party mainly because of his family origins. He raised support for the party in Hong Kong during the war against Japan , was arrested, spent five years in Kuomintang prisons, and resisted efforts by Chiang Kai-shek to convince him to defecate. During the civil war , Liao worked in the Communist Party's propaganda machine.

After the People's Republic was proclaimed in 1949, he worked on the first private agreements on trade and prisoner repatriation and shaped relations with the states of Southeast Asia, where many overseas Chinese live. He also filled this role when Mao Zedong challenged the intellectuals with the Hundred Flower Movement , during the time of the great leap forward Liao was able to take bigger steps towards normalization with Japan. During the Cultural Revolution , however, Liao was expelled from the Central Committee and came under house arrest. After Lin Biao's fall , Liao was rehabilitated. After Mao's death, he pushed ahead with the normalization negotiations, which culminated in Deng Xiaoping's highly regarded visit in 1978 and the conclusion of the peace treaty . Liao died a few months after he was accepted into the Politburo .

Childhood between Japan and Guangdong

He Xiangning with Liao Chengzhi, Tokyo 1909

Liao Chengzi came from a family of Hong Kong businesspeople whose roots were in Huiyang County, Guangdong Province . Grandfather Liao Zhubin was born in the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in the 1860s in San Francisco , where Liao's father Liao Zhongkai was born in 1877 or 1878 . Father Liao was a proud Chinese, although he may have experienced racial discrimination in San Francisco, and campaigned for a strong China. He returned to China as a teenager, where he married He Xiangning in 1897 . Liao Zhongkai was among the large number of Chinese students who went to Japan, which had rapidly modernized and opposed the aggressive actions of the Western powers. Liao and He arrived in Tokyo in 1902, where Liao was studying economics at Waseda University . Here they met Sun Yat-sen in 1903 , later also Hu Hanmin and Zhu Zhixin , and in 1905 they joined his revolutionary Tongmenghui . Liao and He's house appeared so unsuspicious to the Japanese police that it served as a secret meeting place for Tongmenghui members. Liao Chengzhi was born in this environment on September 25, 1908.

Liao Chengzhi on his father's deathbed

In 1909, the Liao family returned to China. After the Wuchang uprising and the subsequent Xinhai Revolution , Guangdong declared itself independent and Liao Zhongkai took over the financial administration of the province. However, the revolution came under pressure from Yuan Shikai's efforts to revive the empire. In this atmosphere, the family fled to Tokyo. Here Liao Chengzhi attended a Catholic school and learned Japanese perfectly. From 1919 the family was back in Guangzhou, where Liao continued to attend a Christian school. His father was very busy because of his political activities and was rarely at home. He was a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang , represented anti-imperialist views and advocated cooperation with the Soviet Union . In 1922, he was arrested during the conflict between Sun Yat-sen and Chen Jiongming . The family fled to Hong Kong, but Liao Zhongkai was released after his wife intervened. Liao Chengzhi and his sister Liao Mengxing took an interest in politics in their early teens and may have joined one of the Kuomintang's youth organizations in 1924 or 1925. Here they met the then head of the political department of the Whampoa Military Academy, Zhou Enlai , and on June 23, 1925 Liao was an eyewitness to the Shaji massacre , in which his hat was allegedly shot off his head. In August 1925, father Liao Zhongkai - now one of the most influential men in the Kuomintang - was murdered. The later Kuomintang boss and generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek offered the family to live in the guest house of the Whampoa Military Academy , so that Liao Chengzhi spent a lot of time with Chiang Ching-Kuo , who was almost the same age .

After numerous left-wing members were killed in the course of the wing fighting within the Kuomintang and an anti-communist government was established in Nanjing , Liao left the Kuomintang, probably in 1927. He went to Tokyo, where he attended a school that was part of Waseda University. Above all, however, he was involved in communist study groups for social sciences. He has been repeatedly arrested and actively participated in clashes between supporters of the Chinese nationalist governments and the communists or left-wing Kuomintang members. After the May 3, 1928 Jinan Incident , Liao attended a conference on Resistance to Japanese Aggression, which established a Great Anti-Japanese Alliance. Liao was on the front lines of this organization, which led to his arrest and expulsion. In Japan - or before that - he had joined the Chinese Communist Party .

Liao returned to Shanghai, where he worked for the Communist Party Propaganda Department. Probably in November 1928, he set off for Europe because of concerns for his safety. It is not exactly clear where he was and what he was doing. He may have worked for the International Seamen's Union , studied in Berlin for a while and visited several ports. He was arrested several times for participating in organizing strikes. He also visited the Soviet Union, where he probably attended a congress and was enrolled at the Communist University of the Working People of the East .

Liao returned to Shanghai between 1932 and 1933. Here he was appointed head of the Propaganda Department of the China-wide Union and party secretary in the Sailors Union. He worked underground under the code name He Lianhua. During this time he met his future wife Jing Puchun. In 1933, Liao was betrayed and arrested and faced with execution. His mother He Xiangning campaigned for his release through her relationships, which Chiang Kai-shek had to personally approve. In August 1933, Liao left Shanghai despite three close relatives vouching for Liao to stay out of politics.

Long march

Liao went to the Eyuwan Soviet , where he became, among other things, general secretary of the political department of the 4th Front Army . In the Eyuwan Soviet, as in the entire communist-ruled area, violent political cleansing was the order of the day. Commander of the 4th Front Army, Zhang Guotao , believed Liao to be a traitor and probably had him arrested in March 1935. Zhang probably did not have Liao executed because he needed his propaganda skills. Liao took part in the already grueling Long March as a prisoner under additional difficult conditions; later he remembered that he wanted to cook his leather belt to eat. Liao owed his release to Zhou Enlai , who met and recognized him by chance. Zhou was probably aware that the eventual execution of Liao would have seriously damaged the Communist Party's reputation in the left wing of the Kuomintang. Zhou is said to have asked Liao harshly in Zhang's presence if he regretted his mistakes and vowed to get better. Liao answered in the affirmative and was released, rehabilitated and assigned to the Red China News Agency in late 1935 or 1936 , which was then headed by Zhang Jinjiu and Bo Gu .

After the communist troops of Zhang Guotao merged with those of Mao Zedong , Zhang and Mao had fallen out over how to proceed. Liao followed Mao's units to northern Shaanxi , while Zhang first moved to western Sichuan . Zhang's troops were almost completely destroyed by 1937, so that after Zhang's arrival, Mao organized a political campaign against him in the Yan'an base area . During the discussions about Zhang's mistakes, which took place under the leadership of the then General Secretary of the Communist Party, Zhang Wentian , Liao criticized the treatment of alleged counterrevolutionaries. In particular, he accused Zhang and the 4th Front Army of having sex orgies with daughters and wives of the local elite, raping them and torturing them to death.

Since arriving in Yan'an, Liao had held several positions in the Communist Party's propaganda apparatus. He was the editor-in-chief of the weekly Liberation, head of the Xinhua News Agency, and deputy chairman of the Central Committee's United Front Working Group. He taught at the Resistance University and acted as an interpreter when visiting foreign delegations - all under extremely simple circumstances. Apart from that, he was a popular actor in the revolutionary theater plays of the Soviet and otherwise impressed those around him with his artistic skills. He was one of the few CP members with an upper-class background who had survived the numerous political purges.

War against japan

In the fall of 1937, Liao left the communist base in Yan'an and returned to his home province. It is unclear whether he volunteered or whether he was sent to Guangdong by the party. His mother and Jing Puchen immediately left for Hong Kong, where Jing and Liao were married on January 11, 1938. Meanwhile, the Second Sino-Japanese War had broken out and the pressure on the Kuomintang government to fight the Japanese instead of the Communists had grown so much that the Second United Front was formed.

In January 1938, Liao began soliciting support for the Communist Party from Hong Kong. He was elected to the leadership of the South China Party organization and tried to win as many as possible for the party, its 8th March Army and its New 4th Army from the large number of organizations that wanted to support China in the fight against Japan . The party presented Liao as the legitimate successor to Sun Yat-sen and Liao Zhongkai . During this phase, Liao appeared friendly, obliging, approachable and generous to all possible supporters and avoided the typical communist political speech. He was particularly successful in soliciting donations from overseas Chinese in Thailand , Singapore , Malaya , Indonesia and the Philippines . The party headquarters, which had no such facilities in Yan'an, gave him a lot of freedom. Liao was also active in the Hong Kong media on behalf of the CP and was involved in the publication of the first international edition of Mao's selected works.

War against the Kuomintang

Liao Chengzhi in the 1940s

Hong Kong was attacked by the Japanese army on December 8, 1941. Liao had his wife and two children flee to Haifeng by fishing boat , and he himself went to north Guangdong . Before that he had worked out plans to work with the British against the Japanese, but these failed. His stay in northern Guangdong was not long hidden from the Kuomintang secret police . He was arrested in May 1942 and sent to Majiazhou Concentration Camp , then to a secret prison in Xifeng ( Guizhou ) and in 1944 to a prison in Chongqing . The authorities tried in vain to get Liao to divulge secrets or join the Kuomintang. In the summer of 1945, Liao was elected in absentia as a candidate for membership in the Central Committee, but Liao knew nothing about it. In the fall, Chiang Kai-shek personally visited Liao in prison, but even he was unable to win Liao over to the Kuomintang. Negotiations about the release of Liao had been going on for a long time when, following the capitulation of Japan, negotiations on a political solution to the Chinese civil war resulted in an agreement for the release of political prisoners. Liao regained his freedom on January 22, 1946, worked briefly in Chongqing before going to Nanjing , where he met his family again and was given the task of organizing and negotiating the withdrawal of communist units from southern China to the north. He also became a member of a trilateral committee that was supposed to negotiate a ceasefire.

In July 1946, Liao and his family went to Yan'an, where he was appointed chairman of the New China News Agency . Thus, for the first time, he was at the head of one of the central organs of the Communist Party. Here he was seen as a superior who worked hard himself, demanded the same from his employees and motivated them to be creative. Liao remained in this position even after Yan'an had to resign. In the socialist education campaigns of the late 1940s, Liao was also criticized personally for, in the opinion of Mao Zedong , his agency had distributed documents that had not been submitted to Mao for approval. Liao had to be self-critical but was not a victim of political cleansing.

In 1947 Liao was transferred to Hong Kong, which had become a retreat for the CP under the re-established British colonial administration. Liao's job was to build collaboration with other opponents of the Kuomintang government, work with the trade unions, and regain support from overseas Chinese. Liao also made contact with the Việt Minh and visited their bases in Viet Bac .

1950s: beginnings of the People's Republic of China's foreign policy

Liao Chengzhi (2nd from left) with Mao Zedong , Zhou Enlai and Kuhara Fusanosuke in Zhongnanhai , 1955

Probably in the spring of 1949, the Liao family moved to Beijing, where Liao got a certain number of positions in the united front work. He worked in the World Federation of Democratic Youth , in the New Democratic Youth League and in the All-China Federation of Democratic Youth . In these organizations he was most likely to have played the role of party representative. In late 1949 he became vice chairman of the Chinese Abroad Commission , which was formally headed by his mother, He Xiangning , while Liao was significantly higher in the party hierarchy. In November 1949 he was also elected a permanent member of the Central Committee. Liao represented the People's Republic of China at numerous international events: in August 1950 he was a member of the Chinese delegation at the international student congress in Prague , in November 1950 he took part in the first conference of the World Federation of Democratic Youth in Warsaw . From March to May 1951 and for several weeks from March 1952 onwards, he stayed in Korea , where he got involved in fighting and was only barely uninjured. From August to September 1952 Liao was a member of the People's Republic's first civilian delegation to North Vietnam , and in December 1952 he took part in the conference of the World Peace Council in Vienna .

In 1952 or a little later, Liao became head of a working group on Japan policy under Zhou Enlai , which can be seen as the beginning of his career as a leading Japanese specialist for the Communist Party. Liao's in-depth knowledge of Japan, his affinity for the media and propaganda, and his family background should have contributed to this appointment. After Liao had used his participation in international events to exchange ideas with the Japanese delegations, he was able to establish contacts with like-minded Japanese on a non-governmental level. On June 1, 1952, an unofficial trade agreement between Japan and China was concluded, in which Liao was likely to have played a key role. However, this agreement did not lead to a significant increase in the volume of trade - not least because of its disapproval by the Japanese government. In January 1953, delegations from the Chinese and Japanese Red Crosses met to negotiate the return of prisoners of war from China to Japan. Liao was named as head of the delegation in place of the allegedly ill chairperson of the Chinese Red Cross, Li Dequan . These negotiations enabled the Chinese side to contact a much wider spectrum of Japanese society, including the anti-communist Liberal Democratic Party . A communiqué was signed on March 7, 1953, which allowed 26,000 Japanese to return home, which significantly improved the image of China in Japanese society.

In 1955, Liao was a member of the Chinese delegation to the Conference of Asian Nations in Delhi , where efforts were made to make Zhou Enlai's Five Principles the main topic of the subsequent Bandung Conference . At the Bandung conference itself, Liao acted as an advisor to the Chinese delegation. In this role he organized, among other things, a conversation between Zhou and Takasaki Tatsunosuke , then director of the Japanese Economic Planning Office . Liao met with officials from the Indonesian government after the conference; Together with Zhou, he agreed on the Chinese side that the loyalty of the overseas Chinese should apply to their country of residence and less to China. In June 1955, Liao was a member of the Chinese delegation to the Helsinki Peace Conference.

After the reorganization of the united front organizations , Liao's work from 1956 onwards likely focused on the International Relations Office and the External Relations Committee. The former coordinated the work of numerous non-governmental organizations such as the Society for Sino-Japanese Friendship and the Buddhist Society . In both organizations, Liao was mainly responsible for cooperation with communist organizations in the states of Southeast Asia, Japan and Hong Kong, and for relations with the overseas Chinese. The main goal of the People's Republic at that time was to alleviate the isolation into which the People's Republic had fallen, especially in the course of the Korean War. Since many of these communist organizations overseas were under the control of the CPSU, their interactions with the CCP were informal or personal. Liao may also have been involved in obtaining classified information.

In the second half of 1955, the People's Republic of China suddenly demanded more concession from Japan in order to resolve Japanese concerns. Mao Zedong had directly and openly set the establishment of formal diplomatic relations - and thus the isolation of Taiwan - as a condition in order to negotiate the release of the remaining 1,069 Japanese citizens detained as war criminals. It is not known to what extent Liao was involved in the formulation of a policy on Japan at this stage. An exchange between the consuls general in Geneva on the subject of war criminals, but also over 40,000 other Japanese, about whom no information was available, came to nothing. The main reason for China's hardened negotiating position is likely to be found in the fact that China itself was in negotiations with the USA about the release of prisoners of war from the Korean War and did not want to weaken its negotiating position. At the same time, however, China sent contradicting signals regarding further trade relations.

Liao received numerous delegations from the Japanese Parliament , the Japanese Communist Party and the Japanese Council for the Resumption of Relations with the Soviet Union and China, but tensions did not ease. Negotiations on a new trade agreement dragged on for almost two years. However, Japan was allowed to hold a trade fair in Beijing and mutual visits increased. On June 24, 1956, the Red Cross organizations of the two states signed a final agreement and a further 335 war criminals were released; again Liao was significantly involved in this development. China now increasingly directed its advertising in Japanese society through the Socialist Party of Japan and liberal politicians from the Liberal Democratic Party , while attacking pro-Taiwanese or pro-American politicians. Liao played a leading role in these operations. In the summer of 1956, Liao received a delegation of former Japanese military personnel around Endo Saburo , which led to a scandal because some delegation members were critical of Beijing.

In 1956 Nikita Sergejewitsch Khrushchev initiated the de-Stalinization with his secret speech , as a result of which the Soviet Union and Japan established diplomatic relations . Liao had no part in the Soviet Union's policy in the People's Republic, but when the People's Republic tried to forge better relationships with third world countries bypassing the Soviet Union, Liao took on numerous tasks in this field. During the Suez Crisis , Liao initiated the Chinese response and established the Egyptian-Chinese Friendship Society. Mao Zedong took the political weakening of Khrushchev as an opportunity to find his own way in building socialism. In the course of the Hundred Flower Movement and the repression that followed, Chinese foreign policy also hardened, China strengthened its contacts with the left-wing opposition in Japan and violently attacked Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke . Liao was involved in bringing the Japanese Socialist Party to the one-China policy , among other things . Talks on various topics between the two nations remained without result.

In 1958, China wanted to push ahead with the rapid construction of socialism independently of Soviet aid and launched the great leap forward . The need for trade and cooperation with other states has been denied. A fourth trade agreement, which was fully negotiated in 1958, was ratified by the Japanese government only under certain conditions. China protested and took this and the Nagasaki flag incident as an opportunity to break off talks and verbally attack the Japanese government. China tried to stimulate trade with other countries and called on the overseas Chinese to boycott Japanese products. Liao became the deputy director of the foreign affairs bureau headed by Foreign Minister Chen Yi during this period . He represented the overseas Chinese at the second National People's Congress . Although Liao did not have the same radical attitudes as the party leadership, he made a career in Chinese foreign policy.

During the great leap and after the Nagasaki incident, it was Liao who kept the thread of conversation on Japan alive and, with Ishibashi Tanzan , sought ways to get relations between the two countries out of the impasse. In line with Chinese policy, he used harsh words against the Conservative Kishi Cabinet and subsequent Ikeda Cabinet , whom he described as reactionary clique and whom he accused of being lackeys of the American imperialists. He tried to build a united front with the Japanese socialists against the US and the Japanese government, with which China would fight until the imperialists were driven from Japan and Taiwan. However, the JSP was not in agreement internally. Ultimately, Beijing was also aware that there was little opportunity to influence politics in Japan. Apart from official requests to speak, Liao negotiated a cultural exchange agreement with Nakajima Kenzo . From September 12 to 25, 1962, delegations from Japan and China negotiated better trade relations, whereby, unlike in 1959, political issues were excluded. Negotiations were concluded in November 1962 with a delegation led by Takasaki Tatsunosuke , with the communiqué also containing a mutual promise that both sides should gradually work towards normalizing relations. Because of the key role Liao played in reaching this agreement, it is also called the Liao-Takasaki Memorandum . This agreement made it possible for the People's Republic to import goods from Japan that were urgently needed for the development of the ailing economy. It laid the foundation for long-term stable economic relationships that the private agreements of the 1950s had not been able to do. However, it did not impair relations between Japan and Taiwan and it can be assumed that Beijing had no hopes for this either. The agreement also led to cultural exchanges, China gained a greater presence in Japan, and additional private trade missions were received in 1963 and 1964. Liao stayed in the background during these activities, coordinating the repatriation of overseas Chinese from India as a result of the Indo-Chinese border war . Liao became president of the Sino-Japanese friendship association founded on October 4, 1963, and concluded the first trade protocol on December 27, 1963 after negotiations with a delegation around Suzuki Kazuo .

In 1959, Liao succeeded his mother as chairman of the OCAC. Tensions between China and Indonesia increased, which Liao tried to ease, while at the same time he had to deal with the repatriation of refugees from Indonesia; they were settled in Guangdong and Hainan . He sat on the Executive Committee of the Bandung States with Oginga Odinga , Joshua Nkomo , Fanuel Kozonguizi , Ahmed Tlili and Patrice Lumumba . He also took part in the discussions on Khrushchev's theory of the peaceful transition from capitalism to communism and peaceful coexistence between capital and communist states and tried to convince the Asian communist parties of the Chinese point of view. At peace conferences in Delhi and Stockholm he made speeches full of hostility against the USA, criticized the Soviet Union and assured the oppressed peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America of the solidarity of China, which had also had colonial experiences. He received numerous visitors from third world countries .

Cultural revolution

At the beginning of the 1960s, the People's Republic tried to establish a United Front against the United States, sometimes showing ideological flexibility, but demanded from left groups in other states to accept Beijing's true revolutionary point of view. Liao was very closely involved in relations between the Chinese Communist Party and the Japanese Communist Party during this period. In the Sino-Soviet quarrel , the Japanese communists tended to the Chinese side, there were numerous mutual visits, which in May 1964 led to an internal split in the communist movement in Japan. In April 1964, Liao signed a memorandum with Matsumura Kenzo , which provided for the bilateral stationing of sales representatives and journalists.

Shortly thereafter, however, relations with Japan deteriorated and made no progress until 1972. The reasons for this include China's first nuclear test in 1964, differences with Japanese socialists over the issue of nuclear armament and the strengthening of Taiwan's relations through the Sato cabinet . Japan repeatedly banned Chinese officials from traveling to Japan and limited the activities of Chinese representatives on the ground. The Japanese government refused to finance projects that involved the sale of industrial plants to China by Japanese companies from the Exim Bank . China tried in vain to change Japan's mind and at the same time called for a decisive fight against the USA and its supporters - including Japan. Liao was little present during this phase, but carried the aggressive rhetoric, and it is not known whether he had secret tasks to do, whether he was involved in power struggles, or whether records are simply incomplete.

In 1965 it became clear that China's foreign policy had been counterproductive. The People's Republic was largely isolated. After the attempted coup in Indonesia , it lost its most important partner in Southeast Asia . Trade with Japan stagnated, although Prime Minister Zhou Enlai adopted a conciliatory tone and announced that China would continue to trade with Japan even in the event of a war against the United States. The break with the Soviet Union deepened, and Liao also repeatedly verbally attacked the Soviet leadership, although it is difficult to assess whether he was convinced of the policies of his party or not. When Liao was invited to Japan in April 1966 to speak to Matsumura Kenzo about the trade under the Liao Takasaki Memorandum, the Cultural Revolution had already begun.

On June 5, 1966, attacks on Liao began in public because the OCAC's policies were not revolutionary enough; Liu Ningyi , who was declared a martyr in the revolutionary, because Japan refused him entry to a congress on nuclear disarmament, took over his role in relations with Japan . In December 1966, the attacks became so violent that Liao's associate Nan Chanchen , who played a leading role in the trade talks , killed himself. Liao fell victim to political cleansing mainly because of his opposition to Lin Biao , his role on the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, and rumors that he insulted Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing . In 1969 he was expelled from the Central Committee , while Lin Biao was named Mao Zedong's designated successor. Liao lived in hiding in Beijing that Prime Minister Zhou Enlai had organized for him and where he was protected from attacks by the Red Guards , while he was separated from his family members. He likely spent part of the Cultural Revolution in a May 7th cadre school for re-education and repeatedly had to seek medical treatment for a heart condition. After Lin Biao's death, Liao Chengzhi was one of the first officials to be rehabilitated. The dominant role that Liao had played in relations with Japan in the years before the Cultural Revolution could not be assumed by anyone during his absence from politics.

Way to the friendship contract

From his rehabilitation from 1971 to 1972, Liao's role was initially of minor importance, while Wang Guoquan and Wang Xiaoyun managed relations with Japan. At the same time, a diplomatic apparatus was being rebuilt in the Foreign Ministry. The left-wing radicals around the Gang of Four were unable to bring the Foreign Ministry under their control after the death of Foreign Minister Chen Yi . Ji Pengfei succeeded Chen's. Liao's first official act was condolence on the death of Matsumura Kenzo. Between 1970 and 1972, Sino-Japanese relations improved significantly, even though there were vehement verbal attacks on the Sato cabinet as late as 1970 . Their aim was probably to weaken pro-Taiwan groups in Japan and to build up a better negotiating position for China with regard to claims on Taiwan and the Senkaku Islands . Parallel to these attacks, relations with the United States eased after President Nixon's visit in July 1971 and secret talks between Japan and China were held, in which Liao was likely to have played a key role. Liao acted as the first negotiator with Japan, directly under Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. Liao's visit to Japan was canceled in 1972 when a breakthrough was looming in secret talks with representatives of the Tanaka cabinet .

In September 1972, Japan severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan and established relations with the People's Republic of China. However, it maintained high-level contacts with the government of the Republic of China, which China bothered. China retained its "people's diplomacy" tactics, which Japan disliked. Contrary to all expectations, Liao did not become the first ambassador to Japan, but instead led negotiations from Beijing to conclude a peace and friendship treaty. These talks quickly led to a stalemate because, contrary to diplomatic practice, China wanted a hegemonic clause in the treaty.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 23-26 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c} 廖承志 的 传奇 人生.中国 互联网 新闻 中心, September 26, 2008, accessed on August 14, 2019 (Chinese). 
3. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 26-35 .
4. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 35-40 .
5. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 40-42 .
6. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 42-45 .
7. ^ ^{A b c} Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 45-51 .
8. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 63 .
9. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 63-70 .
10. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 71-80 .
11. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 100 .
12. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 78-80 .
13. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 80-83 .
14. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 88-93 .
15. ↑ ^{a b} Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 100-101 .
16. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 94-95 .
17. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 99 .
18. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 105-109 .
19. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 93-94 .
20. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 116-117 .
21. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 117-119 .
22. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 121-123 .
23. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 123-125 .
24. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 125-130 .
25. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 132-143 .
26. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 143-147 .
27. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 131-139 .
28. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 160-161 .
29. ↑ ^{a b} Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 161-169 .
30. ^ Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 170-183 .
31. ↑ ^{a b} Kurt Werner Radtke: China's relations with Japan: 1945-83; the role of Liao Chengzhi . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, ISBN 0-7190-2795-0 , pp. 192-196 .

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Liao is the family name here, Chengzhi is the first name.