FCWH262035-29/8/2007-RAJA-282679 Cold War History 515 At a meeting with Indian ambassador to Beijing N.Raghavan on 19 April,Zhou also declared that China would do everything possible to ensure that the Geneva Conference must not fail.Although anticipating grave difficulties in reaching agreements on all the issues on the agenda,he said that 'whatever the Chinese 245 delegation will propose will be in the spirit of peace,justice,equality,opposition to aggression,and non-belligerency.What Beijing expected to convey through the venue of Geneva consisted of three messages: first,it is certain that the US will invade Asia;second,the most urgent issue that Asian nations and peoples must tackle is how to self-help,namely,how to get united 250 and be friendly to one another,oppose aggression,and not become a part of any military aggressive bloc;third,England,France and all other Western countries must understand that their only choice is to strike a good relationship with Asian nations so as to preserve some of their interest,and should they reject this opportunity and choose to take the road with the US,they will lose all of their interests and be spat on for ever by the Asian peoples. 255 Zhou urged India to watch closely how China would perform at Geneva and to give feedback and suggestions throughout.27 Since it was the first time for Beijing to take part in such a conference,Zhou told his aides just before heading for Geneva on 20 April that 'China is a major power [daguo]and [we]go to Geneva to attend 260 formally an international conference,thus getting on the international stage';China was ready put on 'a formally staged performance The PRC delegation of more than 200 arrived in Geneva on 24 April.The principals of the PRC delegation settled in luxurious accommodation at the Grand Mont-Fleur estate at Versoix.Priceless antiques and furnishings were shipped from China to ready 265 the stately rooms and corridors for the international spotlight.29 The peak of the PRC's active diplomacy at Geneva was Zhou's articulation of the five principles of peaceful coexistence.To challenge the US policy of 'using Asians to fight Asians,Zhou said at the third plenary session on Indochina on 12 May that: Asian countries must mutually respect each other's independence and sovereignty 270 and not interfere in each other's internal affairs;they must solve their disputes through peaceful negotiation and not through threats and military force;they must establish normal economic and cultural relations on the basis of equality and mutual benefit and disallow discrimination and limitation. Only in this way could the Asian countries avoid the neo-colonialist exploitation of the 275 unprecedented catastrophe of Asians fighting Asians and achieve peace and security.30 Zhou Enlai could not have done better in reiterating his 'five principles of peaceful coexistence,but encountered difficulties when coming to specific issues.On Korea, Beijing had little control over Pyongyang.The head of North Korean delegation Nam Il kept blasting US imperialism.Molotov did not want to start negotiating in a hurry' 280 so as to show that 'our side is not the one anxious to negotiate.3 Neither did the US delegate John Foster Dulles give China's conciliatory diplomacy any hope.32 There seemed to be hardly any chance for an agreement on Korea,a disappointed Zhou reported to Mao on 28 April,because 'the US does not want a solution,France is in noAt a meeting with Indian ambassador to Beijing N. Raghavan on 19 April, Zhou also declared that China would do everything possible to ensure that ‘the Geneva Conference must not fail’. Although anticipating grave difficulties in reaching agreements on all the issues on the agenda, he said that ‘whatever the Chinese delegation will propose will be in the spirit of peace, justice, equality, opposition to aggression, and non-belligerency’. What Beijing expected to convey through the venue of Geneva consisted of three messages: first, it is certain that the US will invade Asia; second, the most urgent issue that Asian nations and peoples must tackle is how to self-help, namely, how to get united and be friendly to one another, oppose aggression, and not become a part of any military aggressive bloc; third, England, France and all other Western countries must understand that their only choice is to strike a good relationship with Asian nations so as to preserve some of their interest, and should they reject this opportunity and choose to take the road with the US, they will lose all of their interests and be spat on for ever by the Asian peoples. Zhou urged India to watch closely how China would perform at Geneva and to give feedback and suggestions throughout.27 Since it was the first time for Beijing to take part in such a conference, Zhou told his aides just before heading for Geneva on 20 April that ‘China is a major power [daguo ] and [we] go to Geneva to attend formally an international conference, thus getting on the international stage’; China was ready put on ‘a formally staged performance’.28 The PRC delegation of more than 200 arrived in Geneva on 24 April. The principals of the PRC delegation settled in luxurious accommodation at the Grand Mont-Fleur estate at Versoix. Priceless antiques and furnishings were shipped from China to ready the stately rooms and corridors for the international spotlight.29 The peak of the PRC’s active diplomacy at Geneva was Zhou’s articulation of the ‘five principles of peaceful coexistence’. To challenge the US policy of ‘using Asians to fight Asians’, Zhou said at the third plenary session on Indochina on 12 May that: Asian countries must mutually respect each other’s independence and sovereignty and not interfere in each other’s internal affairs; they must solve their disputes through peaceful negotiation and not through threats and military force; they must establish normal economic and cultural relations on the basis of equality and mutual benefit and disallow discrimination and limitation. Only in this way could ‘the Asian countries avoid the neo-colonialist exploitation of the unprecedented catastrophe of Asians fighting Asians and achieve peace and security’.30 Zhou Enlai could not have done better in reiterating his ‘five principles of peaceful coexistence’, but encountered difficulties when coming to specific issues. On Korea, Beijing had little control over Pyongyang. The head of North Korean delegation Nam Il kept blasting US ‘imperialism’. Molotov did not want to start negotiating ‘in a hurry’ so as to show that ‘our side is not the one anxious to negotiate’.31 Neither did the US delegate John Foster Dulles give China’s conciliatory diplomacy any hope.32 There seemed to be hardly any chance for an agreement on Korea, a disappointed Zhou reported to Mao on 28 April, because ‘the US does not want a solution, France is in no FCWH 262035—29/8/2007—RAJA—282679 Cold War History 515 245 250 255 260 265 270 275 280