China Boycotts Moscow Talks

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30688, 2 March 1965, Page 13

China Boycotts Moscow Talks

(N.Z. Press Association-Copyright)

MOSCOW, March 1.

Delegates from 18 nations assembled in Moscow today for the Russian-sponsored conference on Communist unity. China, her ideological allies and Rumania were absent.

Peking continued its ideological warfare with the Soviet Union by accusing the new Russian leaders of widening the split in world communism.

The New China News Agency accused Mr Khrushchev’s successors of being guilty of all his ideological faults.

The attack came in what was ostensibly a review of the book, “The International Revolutionary Movement of the Working Class,” by Boris N. Ponmarev, a high Soviet theoretician and member of the Central Committee of the Soviet

Communist Party. Mr Khrushchev originally called the meeting at the height of his quarrel with the Chinese to force them to accept his brand of communism or quit the international movement.

The news agency said Ponomarev's book was additional proof that the downfall of Mr Khrushchev was merely a change of signboard, and that what is on sale in the shop remained the old wares of “Khrushchev revisionism” of traditional Marxist doctrine. Ponomarev was one of the party of Soviet officials who met the Chinese Premier,

Chou En-lai on his abortive visit to Moscow late last year to try to patch up the quarrel after Mr Khrushchev’s removal. In a clear reference to Mr Khrushchev’s successors, the article said:—

“While talking about reinforcing solidarity, they actually intensify anti-China agitation, while talking about the need to conduct the debate in a comradely tone, in a correct and calm manner . . . they level crude and groundless attacks and sub stitute smear campaigns for theoretical debate.” The present meeting was originally called to prepare for a conference of the world’s 90 Communist parties. The bigger meeting was to have enunciated an agreed policy line which Peking would have had to accept or face isolation. The conference seems certain to be different from that originally planned. It is expected to avoid any controversial issues which might aggravate China-Soviet differences, and at least one delegation is reported to be in favour of no final communique being issued.