Esmond reveals JR’s offer of foreign ministry to Mrs. B

Bombshell disclosure to Madam Chou in China

Excerpted from volume two of Sarath Amunugama’s autobiography

I had always followed developments in Communist China with great interest. I recalled the helpless and feeble Christian missionaries who had been expelled after Mao’s victory, who spoke to us during Trinity College assemblies. Though they had left China on the orders of the new Government these missionaries spoke kindly of the Communists whose dedication to improving the lives of the humble Chinese peasant was admired.

The missionaries told us that the Communist cadres were honest and were improving the living conditions of the poverty stricken villagers. Later as Director of Information I had moved closely with the Chinese and Vietnamese Ambassadors whose low key efforts to counter the “black propaganda” of the West that had demonized them were highly effective.

When I studied in Canada my radical professors were admirers of China, having being disillusioned by the growing entente between the USA and the geriatric leaders of the then USSR. Many of them with their ultra radicalism were unabashed supporters of the hardliners of the ‘Cultural Revolution’. The Monthly Review published in New York was the mouth piece of these radicals and was circulated widely during that time.

My own Professor and friend Dallas Walker Smythe, who was a young economist in the US Board of Trade promoting Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’, had been sacked after the McCarthy hearings. He became an admirer of the Chinese path to communism. Naturally therefore I looked forward to this visit (to China on China’s invitation of a press delegation from here) and became a close confidant of Esmond (Wickremesinghe who led the delegation) who had leftist antecedents and could empathize with the new developments taking place in China after the fall of the ‘Gang of Four’.

The other members of our delegation, though they were important media leaders were not very interested in the gigantic political upheavals that were going on behind the scenes. A key signal which was lost on them, but not Esmond and me, was that Madame Deng Ying Chao, the revered wife of Chou En Lai, was to be the high level dignitary who was to supervise our visit and dine and wine us at the Great Hall of the People. This was a great honour indeed and showed the keenness of the Chinese administration in normalizing relations with the JRJ regime which had swept their favourite Sri Lankan personality, Mrs, Bandaranaike, out of power. I shall describe our interactions With Madame Deng later.

Looking back, I find that the Chinese had several objectives in planning this visit. The first was obviously to send the message that the lunacy of the Cultural Revolution was now over and they were willing to do normal business through international procedures with the new government. Secondly they were keen to show us that the new path advocated by leaders Hua Gua Feng and Deng Mao Ping was to promote industries and agriculture by the gradual introduction of private enterprise.

Our schedule of visits Included travel to reformed communes and new factories producing consumer goods. The trip to a ‘show commune’ helped us to understand the new policy of freeing the peasants from control of rural cooperatives. Whereas earlier the total produce of the communal farms were taken over by the state in order to achieve the targets set out for their region by the planning commission, the Deng reforms gave small plots of land to the peasants to be farmed on an individual basis.

What we saw was that while the state farms were undeveloped and barely reached the targets set for them, the private lots were farmed round the clock by the peasants as they could now retain the surplus. This led to a massive increase in production which had earlier declined under the ideological mayhem created by the Cultural Revolution. This so called revolution had led to massive starvation and famines which were unprecedented in modern times.

Now due to the increase in production small markets were emerging where the more enterprising farmers could sell or barter their surplus. We saw farmers bringing pingo loads of piglets to be sold in those markets which were emblematic of the beginning of private enterprise. As a result of this opening to private incentives the more enterprising workers were getting richer while the party functionaries who had earlier siphoned off a part of the produce in exchange for monitoring production quotas, were becoming redundant. Consequent to the increase in domestic agricultural production farmers were eating better and the famine caused by the ‘Cultural Revolution’ was overcome.

Gang of Four

Because of the practical benefits of liberalization there was a wave of revulsion against the ideologically inflexible ‘Gang of Four’ who were close to Mao. They were convicted after a trial and were in custody when we were in China. Their conduct was condemned by Madame Chou En Lai in her discussions with us. She began the discussion by mentioning the affection that Premier Chou had for Sri Lanka which he had visited twice.

He had been accompanied by Foreign Minister Chen Yi who had been a close friend of the Chou family from the days of struggle against Chiang Kai Shek. However, the Premier, and Chen Yi in particular, had been badly treated by the Gang of Four. She was thankful to Sri Lanka for the concern shown about the Premier in his last days .He had enjoyed the mango fruits that had been sent to him in hospital by Mrs. Bandaranaike.

Then she broached a subject which was presented with great tact. While complimenting the new government she wished to say that they were concerned to see that no personal harm should come to Mrs. Bandaranaike. Esmond with his diplomatic training, immediately put Madame Chou at ease by dropping a bombshell which surprised even us. He said that far from harming Mrs. B, the new President JRJ had offered to make her the Foreign Minister in his Cabinet.

Esmond himself had carried the message from the President to Mrs. B, but she had declined and said that another senior from her party, perhaps Maithripala Senanayake, could be nominated instead. All this was news to the media moguls themselves who were shocked while Esmond went on to discuss JRJ’s political secrets with great aplomb.

Our hostess then replied that she was greatly relieved by Esmond’s assurances and wanted to thank the President for it. Then she guided us to a banquet hall in the Great Hall complex where a 10-course Chinese lunch awaited us. The lunch proceeded with Madame and senior Chinese officials going round the table exchanging toasts with all of us. It was an exquisitely choreographed event. After lunch, like her legendary husband, our hostess dispensed with protocol and personally walked us down the many steps to the waiting cars and wished each one goodbye.

It was a memorable occasion which was recreated several times later when I was part of the official delegation of our President or Prime Minister visiting China on a high level tour. With President Mahinda Rajapaksa I met Hu Jin Tao and with Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe I met Me Jin Ping. On both those latter occasions we were treated with the same courtesy. Since they were the highest state banquets, a navy band played Chinese and Sri Lankan songs while we ate and drank.

Special mention must be made of the fiery Maotai thimblefuls which after many toasts had our heads reeling. This inebriation vanished when we stepped out to the bitterly cold Beijing air to get to our cars.Our Ambassador in China at that time was a senior Foreign Service officer ‘Charlie’ Mahendran. He entertained us right royally in his residence.

I felt quite at home because Charlie had read history at Peradeniya and his charming wife Mohana Coomaraswamy was my contemporary at the University. They were the parents of Arjuna Mahendran of the celebrated Bond scam which spelt the end of the political career of Ranil, Esmond’s son, when he crashed to a humiliating defeat in 2019. It also marked the end of the UNP as a credible party in the country.

My Notes

While going through my old papers recently I came across the notes I had made during my China tour. These notes were written up on the same day of the events described. They may be useful to the students of Chinese history of the immediate period following the Cultural Revolution since such eyewitness accounts are rare and now hard to come by. Our visit was undertaken when the `Gang’ had been defeated by the government of Hua Gua Feng.

Deng Xiaoping was still not in full control. It was only a short time later that he would effect a sea change in the CCP’s policies. But this was a period of transition when the liberalization policies were being introduced for the first time. The old ‘long march’ leaders were preparing a new economic agenda.

Madame Deng [Wife of Chou En Lai]

“We were asked to remain in the hotel lobby within reach of a telephone and to expect a call from the Great Hall of the People [GHP]. Exactly at 10.30 a call comes through and we are bundled into our cars to drive straight to the GHR Officials accompanying us are all very excited and full of anticipation as it was a rare privilege for them to go to a ceremony like this and interact with a national leader. As we enter, Madame Deng is at the entrance to the large lobby. She is very gracious and has a word with every member of the delegation. She is full of smiles and witticisms which are immediately translated for us. Laughter brightens her eyes. The face is very wrinkled showing her age. A group photograph is to be taken in the lobby.

Arrangements are going like clockwork with senior officials now assembling In the lobby. Deng briskly moves over to a stage and poses for photos with the delegation. After picture taking we are led into a spacious room for a discussion. Deng shuffles up to the main chair sits and motions for all of us to sit in the designated seats.

She looks elegant and a cut above the officials. Wears fashionable ankle length suede boots and a well cut serge trouser suit. Looks like a friendly grandmother. She asks whether we are comfortable and well looked after. Wants us to be careful not to catch a cold in the Beijing air. Refers to her visit to Sri Lanka. It is a beautiful country with gracious people who are friends of China.

Then she talks about the conditions in China and criticizes the ‘Gang of Four’. She asks for our itinerary from the officials and studies it. Says it is good to visit Shanghai and the other cities. She jokes with our Ambassador Mahendran saying that he knows China very well and recalls that she attended our national day party at his invitation earlier that year.

We asked about Premier Chou and she referred to the Non-aligned conference in Bandung. [Perhaps a subtle dig at Esmond who was active in Bandung as an advisor to (Sir John) Kotelawala who followed a pro-American line there]. She also referred to the Rice—Rubber deal which was so important for China at that time. It came at a very difficult time for China and that gesture would therefore never be forgotten by the Chinese people.

She then went on to explain what had happened in China recently after the Cultural Revolution. Recalling the role of her husband Chou she said that he played a role in the Nanking uprising. Today the Peoples Liberation Army flag and the army cap have the inscription I\8 on them denoting the date of the uprising.

Mao called it the first revolutionary military attack on the KMT of Chiang kai-Shek. The Gang of Four and Lin Piao wanted that inscription removed. But Mao would not allow it. Chairman Mao’s theoretical positions were always better than theirs [Chou and hers] when they were young. Mao changed the strategy of the Chinese Revolution. He depended on the countryside and finally captured the cities. She wanted us to visit Changshan. There is a saying that, “As long as the red flag flies in Changshan’s mountain, the Chinese revolution will go on from generation to generation”. That was the first base area of the Communists.

Then she referred to the ‘Gang of Four’ who had not only hounded her husband to death but also hindered the growth of the country in the name of ideological purity. Hers was an important statement about the activities of the group which was then shrouded in secrecy. She said that, “The Gang tried to distort the history of the Chinese revolution and disrupt the working of the country. Since their fall 18 months ago there have been many great achievements in China and many of the misdeeds of the Gang of Four had been exposed. The fifth National Congress and the 11th party meeting had decreed that the exposure of their misdeeds is still a major task. There is a Chinese saying that “it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times”.