Chapter 2 Chapter 02 To celebrate Stalin's birthday, Mao Zedong did not forget to pay attention to Tibet

When Mao Zedong visited the Soviet Union, he took a special narrow-gauge train in China.The number of the train is 9002, and there are three carriages in total. The first section is the guard company, and the last section is the spare car. Mao Zedong and his entourage are in the middle carriage.The decision of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee on Mao Zedong's visit to the Soviet Union was: after Mao Zedong celebrated Stalin's birthday, he would rest and visit the Soviet Union; the treaty and agreement between the two parties and the two countries of China and the Soviet Union would be discussed by Premier and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai later.Therefore, Mao Zedong did not have many entourage, only Chen Boda, Ye Zilong, Wang Dongxing, and translator Shi Zhe and others.

On December 6, 1949, a heavy snowfall fell in Beijing, the capital of New China.At the Beijing Railway Station covered in silver, a special train is ready to go.Mao Zedong came. He was wearing a silver-gray Chinese tunic suit, a fedora hat and a coat.His kind face reveals a kind of self-confidence, glowing with a kind of brilliance as vigorous as that of New China.Mao Zedong's visit to the Soviet Union was the first overseas visit by the leaders of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China, and almost all the leaders of the party and the country came to see him off.

Pass Tianjin, pass Shanhaiguan. The night quietly covered the earth, and the special train shot out a bright light, tearing apart the night. It was late at night, but Mao Zedong didn't feel sleepy at all. He lit a cigarette.As a military strategist, Mao Zedong led the people's army to wipe out millions of well-equipped Kuomintang armed forces, but he never took specific weapons in his hands.He often has a cigarette in his hand.The smoke helped him think and help him make one big decision after another. The visit to the Soviet Union was Mao Zedong's first visit abroad.The debut on the international stage for the first time naturally attracted the attention of the whole world.His meeting with Stalin will announce the growth of the socialist camp, which is related to the entire world structure after World War II. Naturally, there are many details to consider.For some reason, the word "Tibet" kept popping up in his mind.

His eyes flew over thousands of mountains and valleys, and landed on the roof of the world. Things are changing in North Korea, and a civil war seems inevitable.Once the Korean Civil War breaks out, the flames of war will surely endanger China.Smoke billowed up, and Mao Zedong walked back and forth by the car window while analyzing the situation in the surrounding area.Lao Jiang has retreated to Taiwan, but the Americans regard Taiwan as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier."With the support of the Americans, Lao Jiang clamored to "counterattack the mainland", and the Kuomintang bandits left in the mainland were not completely wiped out.The collapse of the Kuomintang government made some pro-imperialist upper strata in Tibet see a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for "independence".

The United States and Britain want to strangle the new China in its cradle.They do not want to see the flames of communism growing. The Chinese nation has suffered a lot.Since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, imperialism has always wanted to dismember and carve up China.When ravaging the Chinese people, out of some kind of psychology, they threw out the "Yellow Peril Theory". Since the 20th century, the "Yellow Peril Theory" has evolved into the "China Threat Theory" and "China Containment Theory".Geopolitical theory was born from this, and derived various theories, which became the cornerstone of the strategic decision-making of Western countries.

According to their logic, China is a potential enemy of the West. It is precisely based on the above analysis that Western countries still focus on containing, dividing, and dismembering China in three directions: Taiwan, Tibet, and the Korean Peninsula.And especially in Taiwan and Tibet.Separating Taiwan and Tibet is definitely not to make them "independent". It is just the first knife stabbed by Britain and the United States to dismember the Chinese nation. Taiwan's geographical location is very important.According to this, it can drive straight into the Pacific Ocean, go south to Southeast Asia, the Australia and New Zealand Islands, and also hijack the maritime transportation lines of the Korean Peninsula and Japan.Taiwan, after Chiang Kai-shek took over, is like a wedge pointing directly at the soft underbelly of mainland China, biting itself back.Taiwan has become a giant lock blocking the mainland, and its breakup could slow China's rise to world power.

What about Tibet? Tibet's "independence" will immediately lose the barrier of southwest China. In addition to its huge barrier function, Tibet is the highest commanding height on earth.In the military, it is common sense to seize the commanding heights.Standing on the Tibetan Plateau, you can have a panoramic view of East Asia, West Asia and South Asia. The Tibetan Plateau is the main part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the highest plateau in the world, covering an area of ​​1.2 million square kilometers, accounting for one-eighth of China's territory.It consists of a series of huge mountains, plateaus and lake basins, and its natural environment is complex and sinister.

The most shocking thing is the mountain in Tibet.Hundreds of millions of years ago, Tibet was still a blue sea.Later, due to crustal movement, it was uplifted into a plateau.So far, conch fossils can still be found in many places in Tibet, and there are dharma names made of conch in temples.The mountains in Tibet are the sons of the sea. They are as unfathomable as the sea, with ups and downs, and there is always a mysterious force that oppresses people.Standing in the mountains of Tibet, the feeling is the same as standing among a group of Tibetan men. You will feel their muscles trembling and their breathing short.They flaunt the greatness of a natural force.

The rough mountains are flying like dragons and phoenixes. Let's shake hands with them one by one. The Himalayas should be the number one mountain range in the world.It is oriented east-west, located on the southern edge of Tibet, with a total length of 2,400 kilometers and an average altitude of more than 6,000 meters.Among them, Mount Everest is 884,813 meters above sea level, which is the highest peak in the world. Many people have dedicated their lives to stand at this extreme height for a while.Around it, there are 38 peaks above 7,000 meters above sea level, known as "the third pole of the earth".

Gangdise Mountain - Nyainqentanglha Mountain straddles central Tibet.This huge mountain system is the dividing line between northern Tibet, southern Tibet, and southeastern Tibet, and also the dividing line between the outer and inner rivers of Tibet.Mount Gangdise is worshiped by at least three religions at the same time, known as the "center of the universe" and "sacred mountain", with a length of 1,400 kilometers from east to west. Kunlun Mountain is the boundary mountain between Tibet and Xinjiang. It is like a giant python lying across the northern part of the Tibetan Plateau from west to east.It starts from the Pamir Plateau in the west and extends eastward to the Sichuan Basin, with a total length of 2,500 kilometers and an average altitude of 5,500 to 6,000 meters. It traverses central Asia due to its huge height and length, so it is called "the spine of Asia". 100 years ago, the European explorer Sven Hedin explored here, and he did not encounter humans for 55 days.After that, his soul walked out of his body and disappeared into the mountains.

Tanggula is the dividing line between Tibet and Qinghai, starting from Tanggula Mountain in the north and ending in Amdo in the south.Gela Dandong Snow Mountain is 6,620 meters above sea level and is the birthplace of the Yangtze River. The north-south mountains are located in the east of Tibet and west of Sichuan, and are collectively called the Hengduan Mountains.The altitude is mostly around 4000-5000 meters, and there are deep and turbulent valleys between the mountains.The height difference between the top of the mountain and the valley is as high as 1000-2000 meters.Therefore, the animal and plant resources here are very rich. The mountains divide Tibet into natural areas such as the grasslands in northern Tibet, the valleys in southern Tibet, the plateau in the west, and the Sanjiang River Basin in the east. These natural guardians who have stood here since ancient times make any foreign forces who want to invade China frightened and insurmountable. China's strategic rear is in the southwest. If Tibet is seized by imperialist forces, China's border defenses will retreat to the Jinsha River.It is only 1000 kilometers away from Chengdu.Then, the strategic rear has become the forefront of national defense. How can China be at peace? Today, the pure strategic significance of Tibet should have a deeper extension: First, Tibet is still the forefront of counterattacking Western differentiation, alienation, and containment of China. Tibet’s security is still related to the security of the whole of China, and the stability of Tibet is also It is related to the stability of the whole of China.Second, Tibet has a vast territory and few people, and the Tibetan folk customs are simple and honest.There are incomparably rich treasures and important strategic potential to support China's future development.The frontier in the minds of Western scholars is such a concept: rich in resources, but sparsely populated, relatively backward in economy and culture.The development of frontiers often becomes a powerful boost to regional economic development.Third, Tibet has integrated its unique culture into the spiritual system of the Chinese nation, contributing to the forging of a new national spirit.From the 1950s and 1960s when Tibetan songs and dances became popular all over the country to the present, "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" and "Qomolangma" have repeatedly ranked first in various rankings. Tibet is like our brothers and sisters, it must not be cut off! No wonder Mao Zedong, who was sitting on the train to Moscow, was so worried about it and had trouble sleeping and eating. Little stars.There was a flash of lightning in Mao Zedong's mind.He murmured to himself deeply: "There are so many dreams in the long night!" "Long nights and dreams?" The secretary standing aside asked puzzled. Mao Zedong threw down his cigarette butt and said decisively: "It is better to liberate Tibet sooner rather than later." Although Tibet has a small population, its strategic position is extremely important.We must liberate it and transform it into a people's democratic Tibet. On December 9, Mao Zedong's special train arrived at Manzhouli Station, and the telegram containing the above content was sent to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping of the Southwest Bureau. At a station on the Sino-Soviet border, Mao Zedong changed to a high-end special train prepared by the Soviet Union.The facilities inside are excellent, with meeting rooms, bedrooms, and lounges.The Soviet Union also sent special personnel to prepare meals for Mao Zedong. The train entered Siberia like an oolong swimming in the vast snowy sea. On the car window, frost flowers bloomed very lushly, and there were even icicles hanging outside the window, shining a cold light. Snow White, Snow White again.Harsh Siberia! A string deep in Mao Zedong's heart was inadvertently struck.Emotions roar.To march into Tibet, how many life-swallowing ice and snow will the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army have to go through?History has entered the 1950s, and in the snow-covered land of Tibet, there are still tortures such as skinning and gouging eyes. Can the Communists turn a blind eye? The train rocked gently and rhythmically.This rhythm can easily make people fall asleep.Mao Zedong didn't feel sleepy at all. He is well-read, and he is sorting out the context of Tibetan history. In the first half of the 7th century AD, King Songtsen Gampo of Tibet unified the Tibetan tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, established the Tubo Dynasty, and had frequent contacts with the royal family of the Tang Dynasty.Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng went to Tibet to get married, and Tang and Tibetans were called nephews and uncles.In front of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, there is still the "Princess Willow" planted by Princess Wencheng. Next to it, stands a stele of the alliance between Tang and Tibet.The stele is written in Chinese on one side and Tibetan on the other.It reads: "Emperor Wenwu Xiaode of the Tang Dynasty and Dafan Holy God Zanpu, uncle and nephew two lords, discussed the unity of the country and formed a peace treaty." The lord, the holy civil and military emperor, formed a peace alliance, and the old hatred disappeared, and the new good was renewed." After the unified Tubo Dynasty collapsed in the 9th century AD, various parts of the Tibetan people split into many independent local power groups.After the founding of the Song Dynasty, some of these local power groups belonged to the Song Dynasty. In the 13th century AD, when the Mongols overthrew the Song Dynasty and established the Yuan Dynasty, the local leaders of Tibet surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty.Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, gave the Tibetan Sakya regime the power to rule Tibet under the jurisdiction of the Yuan Dynasty, and began to establish many governance systems for Tibet.So far, Tibet has officially become an inalienable part of Chinese territory.The formation of the Mongolian-Tibetan cultural belt has become a powerful link to gradually introduce Tibet into the civilization circle of the Central Plains. In the 13th century, Marco Polo, an Italian who traveled to China, clearly wrote Tibet as "Tubo Province" in his travel notes.The "Historical Records of Tibetan and Han Dynasty", which was written more than 500 years ago, records a proclamation issued by Kublai Khan, declaring that: the Yuan Dynasty will establish 11 provinces, and the last province will be Tibet, which will be managed by the Sakya Dynasty. Strictly speaking, Tibet is not enough. Province, but here is a Buddhist holy place, where gods live, so it is specially designated as a province. The Ming Dynasty, which was founded in the late 14th century, basically inherited the various systems of the Yuan Dynasty in governing Tibet, and implemented "many establishments and many feudal titles". After the 17th century, the Manchus unified the whole country and established the Qing Dynasty. They successively conferred the titles of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Erdeni, appointed local government officials, and established a system of ministers stationed in Tibet in 1727 to govern Tibet together with the Dalai Lama. , and promulgated the "Imperial Statutes of Goodness" that stipulated the system and regulations of the local government in Tibet. Isn't this all a successful move to govern Tibet? But thinking of the relationship between Tibet and Han after the late Qing Dynasty, Mao Zedong couldn't help frowning. The corrupt and incompetent Qing government implemented a series of wrong policies both internally and externally, resulting in contradictions and barriers between the imperial court and the local government in Tibet.The British took the opportunity to intervene in Tibetan affairs and cultivated a pro-British force among the upper echelons of Tibet. Zhao Erfeng, the minister in charge of Tibet and the minister of frontier affairs in Sichuan and Yunnan, made some contributions to the consolidation of national defense. He promoted the "reform of land and return to local people" in the southeast gateway of Tibet and banned the chieftain system, which has his historical merits.But he also used force to kill and rob local forces who were slightly slow and did not understand, causing panic among the people.There is such a joke circulating in western Sichuan: Zhao Erfeng called the leaders of Ganzi and Batang to a meeting, and was so angry that he slapped the table and cursed "bastard". Soon, the leaders sent 1,000 fox skins.It turns out that the pronunciation of "bastard" is very similar to "one thousand pieces of fox skin" in Tibetan, and the leaders thought that Zhao Erfeng was asking for fox skin. Zhao Erfeng also recruited 2,000 people from Pao Ge and local ruffians in Chengdu and other places to form a new army, organized into 3 battalions, equipped with the most advanced rifles at that time, commanded by the prefect Zhong Ying, and sent troops to Tibet via Xikang.In panic, the thirteenth Dalai Lama, who was in power, fled to India for refuge. The Revolution of 1911 broke out, and civil strife broke out in the Tibetan and Sichuan Army.The thirteenth Dalai Lama sent people back to Tibet to instigate an uprising. The Qing army was defeated and surrendered. In 1912, when the Dalai Lama returned to Lhasa from India, he saw that all provinces in the interior became "independent", and Tibet also announced that it would sever relations with the Qing court. The Dalai Lama, who twice led the Tibetan people to fight against the British invaders, is now full of conflicts in his heart. He believes that the domestic warlords are divided, and the central government of the Republic of China is unable to handle Tibetan affairs. Using the British may help him maintain his rule. In his later years, the thirteenth Dalai Lama repented and looked for an opportunity to restore relations with the central government. In 1928, when the Nationalist Government was established in Nanjing, the Dalai Lama sent people to the central government many times to express that "the Dalai Lama is not pro-British, does not betray the central government, and is willing to welcome the Panchen Lama back to Tibet."When he met Liu Manqing, a female representative of the Nationalist Government in Lhasa, he said: Kham and Tibet "are all Chinese territory, how can we divide them between you and me." In 1930, he sent Gong Jue Zhongni as the general representative of Tibet to go to Nanjing to prepare for the establishment of the Tibet Office in Beijing. In 1931, the central government held a national meeting, and the Dalai Lama sent six Tibetan representatives to attend.After the death of the thirteenth Dalai Lama, the Nationalist Government posthumously awarded him the title of "Master of Protecting the Country, Honghua, Universal Compassion and Yuanjue". After the death of the thirteenth Dalai Lama, Rezhen Living Buddha served as regent for seven years. He insisted on anti-imperialism and patriotism, and improved the lives of Tibetan people. Lama Lingta.Rezhen's behavior was not tolerated by the pro-imperialist forces. The pro-British Dazha Living Buddha served as regent queen, killed Rezhen, and stepped up separatist activities... History is made up of many lines intertwined vertically and horizontally. In Tibet, two lines are most obvious: one is separatism and anti-separation; the other is aggression and anti-aggression.Sometimes these two lines merge into one. Whenever the many ethnic groups in China are clenched into one fist, China is the most powerful.But if the brothers are not harmonious, the foreign robbers will have an opportunity to take advantage of it. The first foreigner to enter Tibet and influence the outside world was the Italian Marco Polo. He entered Tibet in 1260 under the name "Youliu".After returning to China, he wrote the book "Marco Polo's Travels", which was translated into English and German and became popular in the world.Since then, the number of foreigners who came to Tibet began to increase. They entered Tibet one after another in the name of traveling, preaching, and exploring to collect information and intelligence.Among them, Britain and Russia are the most active.Since the 1760s, England, known as the empire "the sun never sets", took advantage of its rule over India to spy on Tibet, and continued to send personnel into Tibet for reconnaissance and surveying and mapping of terrain. In 1888, the British launched the first invasion of Tibet.The corrupt Qing government ignored the staunch opposition of the Tibetan people and disregarded the interests of the country and the nation. It ordered the Assistant Minister in Tibet Youtai to negotiate peace with the British. In March 1890, it signed a humiliating and humiliating agreement with the British and Indian Governor Langston in Calcutta, India. The Sino-British Tibet-India Treaty. In December 1893, He Changrong, a general of the Qing Dynasty, and the British signed the "Sino-British India-Tibet Renewal Agreement" in Darjeeling, India, and forced the opening of commercial ports such as Yadong. Tax.British forces began to infiltrate Tibet.But the British were not satisfied with this, and their purpose was to turn Tibet into a second India. In December 1903, Britain launched the second war of invasion of Tibet, and the Tibetan and Chinese soldiers and civilians fought bloody and desperately in Gyantse and other places.The British still invaded Lhasa, coerced them with bayonets and mountain artillery, and signed ten articles of the Anglo-Tibetan Treaty. In addition to ceding land for compensation, opening up commercial ports, stationing troops, and setting up postal services, they also put Tibet under its protection and forced "China to also agree Do not allow other countries to interfere in Tibet and all its politics.” China’s sovereignty has been seriously weakened. The Englishman's desires are hard to fill. The train was speeding across the land of the Soviet Union at a certain speed.Mao Zedong observed the current situation more clearly.There seemed to be a huge map of the world hanging in front of his eyes. After the Second World War, the world structure was greatly adjusted. The United States wanted to become the "new hegemon" of the world, and the declining British Empire was not to be outdone.And the socialist camp represented by the Soviet Union and China is on the rise.The two are incompatible.Fundamental differences in social systems will lead to fundamental conflicts of strategic interests.The United States and Britain want to open the first gap to eliminate New China from Tibet, Taiwan, and the Korean Peninsula. The hateful eyes of the East and the West confronted each other in Tibet. What are you afraid of? Didn't Tibet become the largest plateau in the world because of the big collision of the earth's crust? At this moment, Mao Zedong's heart was filled with the passion and pride of a romantic poet.The increasingly frequent separatist activities of the imperialists can only strengthen his determination to liberate Tibet as soon as possible and unify the mainland of the motherland. Under the instigation of the British, the pro-British forces in Tibet sent people to fly the "Snow Mountain Lion Banner" to attend the "Pan-Asian Conference" held in New Delhi, India in 1947, and appeared in front of many Asian countries as an "independent country".Under the protest of the Chinese government representative, the Tibetan representative immediately took back the "Snow Mountain Lion Flag". Sangpo Tenzin Thondup, a member of this delegation, later recalled that on the second day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar in 1947, the Kashag government gave the delegates a face-to-face opportunity to publicize the independence of Tibet and the necessity of implementing the system of integration of government and education in Tibet. .The delegation also brought photos of the Dalai Lama and Regent Daza, letters and precious gifts such as gold, carpets and pulu, which they planned to send to Indian Prime Minister Nehru and the British Governor-General in India.After all, they were guilty of being a thief. In order not to leak the news, the delegation prepared more than 20 mules and horses, and sent more than 20 attendants, as if they were doing business, and set off from Lhasa.After they set off, Li Kasun, the commercial representative of Britain and India in Lhasa, suggested to Dazha through the Kashag "Foreign Affairs Bureau": As a country attending this meeting, the Tibetan delegation should carry a national flag as a backup.How can there be any "national flag" in Tibet?In a hurry, Dazha asked someone to make a "Snow Mountain Lion Flag" usually used by the Tibetan local military as the "national flag" and sent it to the Yadong delegation.The flag is very rough, and the shape is not beautiful, but its metaphor is very obvious.Below the big red rice characters, there is a small white triangle, which symbolizes that the British flag is planted on the snow-capped mountains of Tibet.There is a lion in Xiaoxue Mountain. The organizers of the meeting actually hung the "Snow Mountain Lion Flag" with the national flags of other countries to show that Tibet is an "independent country."It was only taken down after the Chinese representatives protested.By the end of the 1980s, separatist forces were still carrying the "Snow Mountain Lion Banner" to cause riots in Lhasa.The national flag of the British Empire is planted on the snow-capped mountains of Tibet. Does that mean "Tibetan independence"?It is just a bloody mouth opened by the British to devour Tibet. What's more, on the rostrum of the "Pan-Asian Conference", there was actually a huge map of Asia that placed Tibet outside of Chinese territory.Under the strong protest of the whole Chinese people and representatives of the Kuomintang, Nehru ordered the map to be changed. There are frequent activities in England, and the United States is just around the corner.Especially after World War II, the United States has always stubbornly regarded China as a huge potential adversary, causing troubles for China from various aspects. Just in August 1948, the Americans planned behind the scenes that the Kashag government organized a so-called "business delegation" to "investigate" countries such as Britain, the United States, France, and Switzerland.Lobby Europe in the name of business to achieve an independent international status.In the U.S. and the U.K., they were supported by anti-communist forces and received by the U.S. Secretary of State and the British Prime Minister.The United States promised to sell gold worth 2 million U.S. dollars to support Tibet's foreign exchange circulation and support Tibet's independence in a disguised economic and trade way. Since then, the U.S. State Department has launched a major discussion on the U.S. policy on Tibet. At the beginning of January 1949, while the domestic situation in China was undergoing drastic changes, the U.S. ambassador to India suggested to the State Department that it should reflect on and re-examine the U.S. policy toward Tibet.If the Communist Party succeeds in taking over China, the US should treat Tibet as an "independent state". To this end, the U.S. State Department’s Far East Bureau put forward five so-called propositions: 1 Should the Communists take over China proper, Tibet would be one of the few remaining non-communist strongholds in Eurasia.The Communist Party has a great influence in Burma and is penetrating into Xikang and Inner Mongolia.Therefore, Tibet will play an important role both in terms of ideology and strategy. 2 If Tibet has the staying power to withstand Communist infiltration - which the New Delhi embassy thinks seems likely - our concern is with Tibet as an independent part of China. 3 The Tibetan government is quite stable, and the people there are conservative and religious by nature, and they tend to oppose communism, which contradicts Buddhist teachings.The authority of the Dalai Lama goes far beyond Tibet, and has appeal to people in Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Mongolia, who believe in and practice Tibetan Buddhism. 4 The Chinese government cannot yet assert—and it will be difficult to assert in the future—that it has effectively exercised de facto sovereignty over Tibet. 5 Tibetans are increasingly showing concern and importance for establishing its trade and other relations with the outside world.Our concern is to do everything possible to adapt Tibetan behavior and tendencies to the "West", not the East. The attitude of the US State Department is also very clear. They made several conclusions in the Memorandum of the Department of Far Eastern Affairs to the Department of Chinese Affairs on U.S. Policy on Tibet drafted on April 12, 1949: First, it can be believed that under any circumstances we should try to treat Tibet as a friend, which is obviously beneficial to us.Therefore, we should maintain a friendly posture towards Tibet, and not provide China with an opportunity to act disrespectfully, and we should push Tibet to favor the West rather than the East. Second, at present, we should refrain from expressing any opinions that change our attitude and position on China's sovereignty.For example, any steps that make it clear that we view Tibet as an independent state should be avoided. The memorandum also emphasized that once China fell into the hands of the Communist Party, it would be more beneficial to the United States to recognize Tibet's independence than to regard it as part of Communist China. How exactly does the United States support Tibet? Memorandum Recommendations: Formally raise the Tibet issue at the UN General Assembly and secure Tibet's alliance with the West. The United States is delusional about building Tibet into a bridgehead against Communist China. Thinking of the "expelling Han incident" that happened in Lhasa not long ago, as well as the uproar and arrogance of Western public opinion, Mao Zedong became anxious.He thought of Peng Dehuai. On the morning of December 16, a special train carrying Mao Zedong and his thoughts entered the Moscow North Railway Station.Cheers erupted on the platform.Those who greeted Mao Zedong at the station included Molotov, Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, Marshal Bulganin, Minister of Foreign Trade Menshikov, and Deputy Foreign Minister Gromyko. Mao Zedong temporarily stepped out of Tibet's thoughts.He inspected the guard of honor and delivered a short but brilliant speech.