Wang Yi recalls Austrian communists who joined the Chinese revolution on European visit

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Austria, Slovenia and Poland from September 12-16 at the invitation of Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon, and Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.

Meeting with Wang in Warsaw on September 15, Polish President Karol Nawrocki said that Poland was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with China, and the two countries have maintained a good friendship. He said that as a historian, he is particularly aware of China’s tremendous sacrifices and contributions to secure victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Poland values its traditional friendship with China and is willing to enhance exchanges and deepen cooperation with China, draw lessons from history, promote the sustained development of bilateral relations, and jointly safeguard world peace and security.

Wang Yi said that Poland was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. For more than half a century, friendship has always been the main theme and cooperation the dominant trend in China-Poland relations, despite changes in the international landscape. China values Poland’s position and influence in Europe and the world and is ready to continue to deepen strategic mutual trust, enhance strategic cooperation, and jointly advance the sustained development of the China-Poland comprehensive strategic partnership. He expressed the hope that Poland will play an active role in encouraging the European Union to develop an objective and rational understanding of China.

Wang Yi added that as the main battlefield in Asia during World War II, China was the first to resist Japanese militarism, fought the longest, and made the greatest national sacrifices, making a tremendous historic contribution to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. Not long ago, China held a commemoration, aiming to remember history, honour fallen heroes, cherish peace, and create a better future. Both China and Poland are independent countries that firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The separatist activities of “Taiwan independence” forces, which attempt to split the country and challenge the outcomes of the victory of World War II, run counter to the tide of history and are doomed to fail. Wang Yi expressed his confidence that Poland will continue to uphold the one-China policy and support China’s great cause of national reunification. Karol Nawrocki said that since 1949, the Polish government has recognised the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the whole of China and will continue to firmly abide by the one-China principle.

On September 14, Wang Yi met with President of the National Council of Slovenia Marko Lotrič in Ljubljana.

Wang Yi briefed Marko Lotrič on China’s development path and philosophy, saying that history has shown that the most important thing for a country’s development is to find a path that suits its own national conditions. China has found a path of socialism with Chinese characteristics that integrates the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and fine traditional Chinese culture. The path is deeply rooted in the people while keeping pace with the trends of the times, receiving firm support and endorsement from the Chinese people. This is a successful path of peace, development, openness, and win-win cooperation and China will continue to unswervingly move forward along this path. China is committed to expanding high-standard opening up, promoting green, low-carbon and sustainable development and realising Chinese modernisation. In international relations, China advocates mutual respect, mutual accommodation, and win-win cooperation, striving to build a community with a shared future for humanity. China’s sustained development will offer opportunities to countries around the world, including Slovenia.

The tradition of China’s diplomacy, he added, has been that all countries, regardless of size, are equal. China regards Slovenia as a partner and friend and is willing to work with Slovenia to continuously expand practical cooperation, strengthen multilateral collaboration, safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core, and play a constructive role in the political settlement of international disputes. None of the problems currently faced by Europe are caused by China. China and Europe should see each other as partners rather than rivals, and the bilateral relationship should move forward, not backward.

Marko Lotrič said that he is looking forward to leading a delegation to attend the upcoming China International Import Expo. Slovenia welcomes and supports the Global Governance Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping and stands ready to join hands with China to make efforts in promoting world peace and development.

Wang Yi met with Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen in Vienna on September 12.

Alexander Van der Bellen asked Wang Yi to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping and recalled his state visit to China in 2018 with pleasure. He stated that China is an important cooperation partner for Austria in Asia and that bilateral relations have gained sustained and sound development. Austria firmly adheres to the one-China policy, which will not waver under any circumstances. Next year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Austria and China, and Austria is willing to celebrate this occasion with China and deepen exchanges and cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, investment, green development, tourism, and culture. Austria appreciates China’s commitment and remarkable achievements in climate response and green development and is willing to work with China to jointly uphold multilateralism and advance world peace and development.

Wang Yi said that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II (WWII) and the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, and that human development is at an important historical juncture. To remember history, honour fallen heroes, cherish peace, and create a better future, China held a solemn commemoration. First, it is essential to promote a correct historical perspective on WWII. As the main Eastern battlefield during WWII, China made great national sacrifices and significant historical contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. Second, it is important to safeguard the outcomes of the victory of WWII. Taiwan’s restoration to China constitutes an integral part of the victorious outcomes of WWII, and any attempt to split the country will never succeed. Third, it is necessary to join hands with other countries to build a community with a shared future for humanity and jointly work for world peace and development. China is ready to strengthen multilateral cooperation with Austria and make new contributions to this end.

On the same day, Wang Yi also held talks with Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Beate Meinl-Reisinger.

Wang Yi stressed that the long-term stability of China-Austria relations serves the interests of both sides and accords with the trend of history. Last week, China solemnly commemorated the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. During the difficult years in World War II, China took in Jews from Austria and opened for them a precious “door of life”. Austrian friends such as Jakob Rosenfeld, Richard Frey, and Ruth F. Weiss also extended valuable support to China’s just cause of resisting aggression, which the Chinese people will never forget.

He added that that currently, unilateralism and hegemonic practices are running rampant and global governance cannot keep pace with the changing realities, making continuous reform and improvement imperative. The Global Governance Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping systematically outlines five concepts regarding sovereign equality, international rule of law, multilateralism, the people-centred approach and taking real actions. These concepts meet the urgent needs of the international community, build broad consensus in the international community, and align with the purposes of the United Nations Charter.

China is ready to work with all countries, including Austria, to jointly safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core and an international order underpinned by international law, and promote the building of a more just and equitable global governance system. Maintaining sound and stable China-EU relations serves the interests of both sides and meets the aspirations of the people. The current problems facing Europe do not come from China. China supports Europe in seeking true strategic autonomy but opposes the mistaken idea of harming China’s interests in exchange for deals. Wang Yi expressed the hope that Austria will play a constructive role in encouraging Europe to pursue a rational and pragmatic policy toward China.

Beate Meinl-Reisinger said that next year will mark the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Austria and China. She expressed gratitude for China’s help to Austrian Jews during World War II and said that both sides should remember this valuable history. The Austria-China panda cooperation project has become the latest symbol of friendship between the two countries, and Austria welcomes more Chinese tourists to visit the country. Austria welcomes the Global Governance Initiative proposed by China, supports free trade that is open, law-based and equal, opposes the dominance of the “law of the jungle”, firmly upholds a rules-based international trading system with the World Trade Organisation at its core, maintains the authority of the United Nations, and safeguards multilateralism. Austria is willing to actively promote constructive dialogue between the EU and China to foster the sound development of bilateral relations. 

As both foreign ministers mentioned, during World War II, Shanghai became one of the world’s very few safe havens for Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. Chinese diplomat in Austria Ho Feng Shan saved thousands of refugees fleeing Nazi terror during WWII by issuing visas for life.

In a recent article for China Daily, his daughter Ho Manli writes: “In less than two years, some 18,000 Jews would seek refuge in Shanghai. During that period, the very use of its name as a destination provided thousands with a means of escape from certain death at the hands of the Nazis.”

She adds: “My father was posted to the Chinese legation in Vienna in 1937. He watched in horror as Adolf Hitler marched triumphantly into Vienna in March 1938, to a delirious welcome by the Austrians.

“‘Since the Anschluss, the persecution of the Jews by Hitler’s ‘devils’ became increasingly fierce. The fate of Austrian Jews was tragic, persecution a daily occurrence,’ my father wrote in his memoir ‘Forty Years of My Diplomatic Life’.

“At this time, foreign diplomats like my father could play a crucial role in helping Jews, but none did so. Many of their countries, and nearly all of the 32 Western nations participating in the Evian Conference in July 1938, had anti-immigration policies and were unwilling to open their doors to Jewish refugees.

“My father came from a generation of Chinese who keenly felt the 100 years of humiliation that China had suffered under foreign imperialism, so he could not stand idly by.”

Ho Manli notes that, “the Shanghai visas were instrumental in securing the release of those deported to concentration camps, especially after Kristallnacht. Austrian physician Jakob Rosenfeld was among those deported to Dachau and then to Buchenwald. He was released in 1939 and went to China, where he joined the Chinese New Fourth Army as a medical officer and participated in the revolution.”

Her father also faced difficulties from the Chinese government of the time. “The Nationalist government had had long-standing economic and diplomatic relations with Germany. But by 1938, Hitler had begun to turn to Germany’s soon-to-be ally, Japan. Desperate to salvage deteriorating diplomatic relations with Germany, Chen Chieh, the new Chinese ambassador to Berlin, ordered my father to desist from issuing visas to Jews. My father disobeyed.”

As cited above, Wang Yi recalled three Austrian Jewish communists who devoted their lives to the Chinese revolution.

Born into a strictly religious Jewish family, Jakob Rosenfeld qualified as a urologist and was arrested as a member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria in 1934. After the Anschluss in 1938, he was deported to Dachau concentration camp. He was there for a year and later sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. While in Buchenwald, he suffered severe injuries from beatings.

In a 2021 article, coinciding with the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China Daily wrote:

“In 1939, Jakob Rosenfeld, an Austrian Jew, fled to Shanghai from Nazi persecution. After witnessing the atrocities of the invading Japanese army, he volunteered to join the New Fourth Army in 1941 and assisted the Chinese people in resisting Japanese aggression and fought for national liberation, using his outstanding professional medical and surgical expertise.”

The Selected Poems of Chen Yi contains “A Letter to Comrade Rosenfeld.” In the letter, Marshal Chen Yi, later New China’s Vice Premier and Foreign Minister, shared at length his revolutionary experience. He wrote, “My dear comrade Rosenfeld, when you asked what experiences or thoughts I might have, I thought I would sum it up this way: when a Communist Party member forms a close bond with the people under the Party’s leadership, he gains enormous courage and strength, making it possible for him to fight the enemies at home and abroad to the end and fulfil his mission for the revolution.”

“Rosenfeld read the letter again and again after receiving it and believed that this was what he needed most from the CPC and his Chinese comrades. It instilled a strong sense in him that China was where he belonged. In the spring of 1942, Rosenfeld applied to the CPC for Party membership. When Chen Yi learned about his application, he happily offered to recommend Rosenfeld and helped Rosenfeld as he sought self-improvement to become fully qualified for CPC membership. In the spring of 1943, with the recommendation of Chen Yi and Qian Junrui, the Party organisation at the next level up approved the admission of Rosenfeld as a special CPC member.”

More details of Rosenfeld’s heroic life can be read here.

Richard Frey was born on 11 February 1920 as Richard Stein, the only child in a middle-class Jewish family in Vienna. He joined the Communist Youth of Austria (KJV) as a teenager and subsequently the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ).

He abandoned his medical studies in 1938 and managed to reach Shanghai in 1939. Joining the Eighth Route Army, in 1942 he applied to become a member of the CPC and was accepted in 1944. He became a Chinese citizen after liberation and remained in China until his death in 2004.

Ruth Weiss was born in a Jewish family in Vienna in 1908 and reached Shanghai in 1933. She became a Chinese citizen in 1955 and in 1983, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

In his article, ‘The Red Legend of an Austrian Jew — Ruth Weiss in Shanghai’,  Zheng Xian wrote in 2002 that on her way to Shanghai in 1933, aboard ship:

“Ruth Weiss had a chance encounter with Steve Nelson, one of the leaders of the Communist Party of the United States at the time. Nelson’s mission was to go to China to ‘assist the Red Army.’ Throughout the voyage, she listened attentively as Nelson explained Marxist theory. Though much of it was confusing to her, she came to understand at least one key concept – ‘what value is.’”

In her memoir, ‘Wandering on the Margins of History: My Years in China’, written at the age of 90, Ruth wrote of the time after her arrival in Shanghai:

“I was very fortunate to be introduced by chance to a circle of foreigners who were not obsessed with making money or exploitation.”

Zheng Xian takes up the story: “Their regular meeting place was the quiet apartment of the New Zealander Rewi Alley on Yuyuan Road. Rewi Alley, George Hatem (Ma Haide) … and later Agnes Smedley – what kind of people were they? They were foreigners who called themselves ‘Friends of China.’ In the 1930s, they sympathised with the Chinese revolution, cared deeply about the suffering of the Chinese people, and possessed a strong sense of justice. In Shanghai, they organised a Marxist political theory study group. In addition to studying theory, they conducted social investigations together.”

Ruth Weiss found it somewhat astonishing: “It was in faraway China, Shanghai, not in German-speaking Marx’s homeland, that I truly came to understand Marxist thought.”

It was Agnes Smedley who led Ruth Weiss onto the path of living a ‘double life.’

“One day, Smedley asked her to serve as an interpreter. Upon receiving the task, Weiss immediately called her superior at work with a hoarse voice, asking for leave – claiming she had a sore throat, fever, and would need to rest in bed for a week. Then, carrying bags that gave the appearance of official work, she went to Smedley’s apartment on Avenue Joffre (today’s Huaihai Road).

“Smedley had warned her: when entering or leaving the building, she must be cautious – never use the same entrance and exit. Once inside the apartment, Weiss was shocked to discover a Red Army cadre from the Soviet area in Jiangxi hiding there. At the time, the Red Army had just begun its famous withdrawal from base areas – what would become known to the world as the Long March.

“The Red Army soldier told gripping, dramatic stories. Weiss interpreted; Smedley took notes. The content of that intense session later became part of Smedley’s epic book, ‘China’s Red Army Marches’.

“Afterward, they helped the Red Army officer leave the apartment. That night, Weiss saw Smedley briefly take on the role of bodyguard – silently gripping a revolver.

“Ruth Weiss once mentioned the ‘quiet apartment,’ which referred to No. 4, Lane 1315, Yuyuan Road, where Rewi Alley lived between 1932 and 1938. It was a three-story Western-style building made of brick, wood, and concrete. An exterior staircase led directly to the second floor living quarters. The ground floor housed a parlour and dining room. A garage was located along the lane entrance, and a small garden sat in front of the house. This location also served as a secret operational site for the Chinese Communist Party at the time, and underground Party members frequently met there. In a small room on the third floor, Soong Qingling [widow of Dr. Sun Yat Sen and later Honorary President of the People’s Republic of China] had even installed a clandestine radio transmitter.

“One late night in November 1935, Soong Qingling and this group of ‘foreign friends’ gathered at Rewi Alley’s residence. In the quiet room on the third floor, the secret radio delivered electrifying news from the Communist Party Central Committee:

“After enduring countless hardships, the Red Army had finally arrived in northern Shaanxi! [following the victorious conclusion of the Long March].”

An unofficial translation of the full article, containing much fascinating material, may be read here. The following articles were originally published by China Daily and on the website of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum.