In December 1935, Chen Lifu took a boat from China to Europe, to start negotiations in Moscow. For decades, the details of this mission remained unknown. Quoting a Chinese source, the American historian Garver argued:
According to Xiang Qing, Chen [Lifu] still had full plenipotentiary powers to negotiate an agreement when he arrived in Moscow. Although Chen remained in the Soviet capital for several weeks, Stalin was unwilling either to meet with him or to express his opinions on Sino–Soviet relations to other Chinese diplomats. (Garver 1988a: 45)
This strange description is, however, the result of a translation error. The Chinese text was a translation from a well-known American book by O. E. Clubb, which said:
He arrived in Berlin and then, instead of proceeding to Moscow to present his full powers and the Chinese proposals, waited for word from Stalin agreeing to the negotiations. The cagey Stalin sent no word, and Ch’en returned home in April. (Clubb 1971: 278)
In fact, Chen was told to return to China and never arrived in Moscow. Chen Lifu himself wrote that he secretly travelled to Berlin (via Marseille), but was recalled by Chiang Kai-shek before proceeding to Moscow.Thomas Kampen "Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and the Evolution of the Chinese Communist Leadership" Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Publishing. 2000 (pp. 85-86)
Короче, и на старуху бывает проруха. А вот
книга того же Гарвера о китайско-индийских отношениях - вообще одна из самых интересных вещей, прочитанных мной за последние пару лет...
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