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Principled Pragmatism: The Eastern Committee of German Economy and West German–Chinese relations during the early Cold War, 1949–1958

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2016

GIOVANNI BERNARDINI
GIOVANNI BERNARDINI*
Affiliation:
Italian-German Historical Institute, Bruno Kessler Foundation, Italy Email: bernardini@fbk.eu
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Abstract

This article focuses on the interplay between the political authorities and economic actors in the Federal Republic of Germany in the process of establishing relations with the People's Republic of China after 1949. Within this framework, the article will assess the role played by the Ost-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft (Eastern Committee of German Economy), a semi-official organization recognized by the West German government. Both the ability of German economic actors and China's urgent need for economic contact with the West caused German-Chinese trade relations to circumvent the strict non-recognition policy followed by the West German government. The article also argues that, while economic relations heralded official recognition of the People's Republic of China by other Western European countries, in the case of the Federal Republic of Germany a division between the two spheres was finally accepted by the major actors involved, and ended only after the change of attitude imparted by the Nixon presidency in the United States during the early 1970s.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 51 , Special Issue 1: Circumventing the Cold War: The parallel diplomacy of economic and cultural exchanges between Western Europe and Socialist China in the 1950s and 1960s , January 2017 , pp. 78 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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References

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33 RWWA, Abt. 72, 389-1, David L.F. Sung, Managing Director of ‘United Engineering Corporation Ltd.’ Hong Kong to Otto Wolff von Amerongen, 25 March 1950.

34 Ibid.

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40 RWWA, Abt. 72, 389-1, Memorandum of Bilow to Otto Wolff, 18 June 1953.

41 Jüngerkes, Diplomaten der Wirtschaft, p. 142.

42 RWWA, Abt. 72, 389-1, Voges to Otto Wolff on the meetings in East Berlin, 25 November 1952.

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46 RWAA, Abt. 72, 389-1, Lange from East Berlin to Otto Wolff von Amerongen, 18 March 1954.

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49 RWWA, Abt. 72, 389-1, Memorandum of Otto Wolff von Amerongen on the meetings held in Geneva, 6 May 1954.

50 RWWA, Abt 175, 4-3, Reinhardt of the Ministry of the Economy to the ‘Ost-Ausschuss’, 21 January 1954.

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52 Jüngerkes, Diplomaten der Wirtschaft, p. 142.

53 Ching, ‘Trade Without Flag’, p. 214.

54 PA-AA, Bestand 80, Band 353, Memorandum from Brautigam to all German representatives abroad, Anerkennung zur Volksrepulik China und ihre Beziehungen zu anderen Ländern, 30 December 1955.

55 Ibid., p. 212; RWWA, Abt. 175, 4-1, Letter from the President of the ‘Arbeitskreis China’, Heinrick Köhler, to the General Director of the ‘Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie’, Hans-Wilhelm Beutler, 3 May 1955.

56 PA-AA, Bestand 80, Band 353, Memorandum from the Foreign Ministry to all German representations abroad, Frage der Anerkennung der Volskrepublic China und ihre Beziehungen zu anderen Ländern, 30 December 1955.

57 See Romano's article in this special issue.

58 RWWA, Abt. 175, 4-1, Letter from Beutler to van Scherpenberg of the Foreign Ministry, 24 May 1956.

59 RWWA, Abt. 175, 4-1, Letter from Otto Wolff to Heinrick Köhler, 18 September 1956.

60 RWWA, Abt. 72, 389-1, Letter from Drossel to Otto Wolff von Amerongen, 23 December 1955.

61 PA-AA, Bestand 1, Band 66, Memorandum by van Scherpenberg of the Foreign Ministry, Die Verhandlungen im China-Komitee über eine Ermässigung der Embargo-Massnahmen gegenüber der VR China im Fruhjahr 1957, 25 May 1957.

62 Jüngerkes, Diplomaten der Wirtschaft, p. 144.

63 RWWA, Abt. 175, 4-1, Letter from Beutler to van Scherpenberg of the Foreign Ministry, 24 May 1956.

64 On Italy, see Zanier's and Meneguzzi Rostagni's articles in this special issue.

65 RWWA, Abt. 175, 4-1, Letter from Reuter to Köhler, 5 May 1955.

66 RWWA, Abt 72, 381-2, Speech by Otto Wolff von Amerongen to the Cologne Chamber of Commerce, 17 May 1956.

67 Ching, ‘Trade Without Flag’, p. 216.

68 RWWA, Abt. 175, 4-1, Record of the plenary session of the ‘Arbeitskreis China’ in Bremen, 12 October 1956.

69 RWWA, Abt. 175, 4-3, Letter from Berg to Adenauer, 12 March 1957.

70 PA-AA, Bestand 63, Band 139, Memorandum of van Scherpenberg of the Foreign Ministry, Ein- und Ausfuhrvereinbarung zwischen den Ostausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft und dem China-Committee for the Promotion of International Trade, 26 July 1957.

71 PA-AA, Bestand AV, Band 7555, Letter from Dittmann of the German Consulate in Hong Kong to Kessel in the Foreign Ministry, 14 March 1957.

72 PA-AA, Bestand 63, Band 136, Memorandum from Zahn-Stranik of the Foreign Office, Die Wirtschaftsbeziehungen der BRD zur VR China nach Aufhebung des China-Differentials, 4 July 1957.

73 RWWA, Abt. 72, 381-2, Letter from Otto Wolff to the Director of the ‘Ostasiatischer Verein’ Hans Stoltenberg-Lerche, 7 October 1957.

74 RWWA, Abt. 175, 5-1, Proceedings of the first negotiating session, 10 September 1957.

75 For the full text of the agreement, see Leutner (ed.), Bundesrepublik Deutschland und China, p. 73.

76 RWWA, Abt. 72, 381-2, Letter from Otto Wolff to Hans Stoltenberg-Lerche, 7 October 1957.

77 RWWA, Abt. 175, 5-1, Letter from Otto Wolff to the President of the CCPIT Nan Han-Cheng.

78 RWWA, Abt. 175, 5-1, Proceedings of the fifth plenary session, 18 September 1957.

79 PA-AA, Bestand 63, Band 139, Memorandum from the German Consulate in Hong Kong to the Foreign Ministry, Direktgeschäft mit der Volksrepublik China; Ergebnis der Verhandlungen der Delegation des Ostausschusses der Deutschen Wirtschaf in Peking, 17 October 1957.

80 RWWA, Abt. 175, 5-1, Record of the meeting between the German delegation to Beijing and Reinhard of the Foreign Ministry, 11 November 1957.

81 Ching, ‘Trade Without Flag’, p. 218.

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