Postscript of Revised Edition

The book’s amendment has finally completed at the end of January 2008, under the care of my friends.
First of all, I would like to thank Professor Chen Fengjun of Institute of International Relations of Peking University for his encouragement and support. He encouraged me to disclose more information on Sinuiju SAR and more details on Yang Bin’s case. “You can be bolder, as long as you seek the facts”, he said.
I have participated in the seminars on the Korea Peninsula issues many times in Beijing. The participants were professors and scholars on the international issues or North Korea issues. These doctoral tutors are senior experts and scholars on North Korea issue. Although on a particular issue, they may have different views or arguments. But one thing is in common. Even though the relationship between China and North Korea is very complicated, it should move toward a better direction. This is our needs in peaceful development. We have to look forward, putting behind us the grudges and resentment in history and in current reality. Of course, this effort has to be made mutually and jointly by both parties. I believe that the proper settlement on Yang Bin event will surely help improve the relationship between China and North Korea.
Fortunately or unfortunately, I became Yang Bin’s biographer 5 years ago. I witnessed the whole process of drafting and negotiation of the Basic Laws of Sinuiju Special Administrative Region. I set my feet on the land of North Korea, visited a lot of cities, factories, schools or even barracks on the modern agricultural bases in Pyongyang that were still under construction. I contacted many officials from the central and regional governments of North Korea. They all eagerly wished to find a way out of their current poverty, just like on the eve of the reform and opening-up in China, when some older people did not understand it, but the younger generation was longing for it eagerly. I understood them very well. It’s not so easy to understand them well.
I was born in Beiping. I experienced the colonial government of Japan, the Kuomintang’s government, the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong period, Deng Xiaoping period, the period under the third-generation leaders Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji, all the way to the fourth-generation leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. The historic lessons seemed to happen just yesterday. But many young people did not understand the history of their own country or even the current history. Certainly they did not understand the history of North Korea and the historic relations between China and North Korea.
In July 2004, I was invited to visit Seoul. My wife and I visited Changdokkung under the company of South Korean professors. We met some tourist groups from mainland China and from Taiwan there. South Korean interpreter was talking about the history that Koryo Dynasty exported porcelains to China. One tourist said the interpreter made a mistake because in Song Dynasty, Chinese porcelains were well-known worldwide. Song porcelains were such popular commodities that countries all over the world strived to import these products. So our porcelains should have been exported to Korea, rather than the other way around. The lady interpreter did not know how to answer it. She looked very confused.
Seeing this, I helped her explain instead. I said, the porcelains industry in China was very advanced in Tang Dynasty. We started to export these products and technologies to Shilla of Korea. As a result, the porcelains industry in Shilla developed rapidly. During Koryo Dynasty, Koreans could not only copy Chinese celadon wares and white ceramic wares, but also invent the technologies of besetting and whitening, making breakthroughs in tempering and glaze mixing as well. Just now what the interpreter said was true. They exported the porcelains to China in Song Dynasty. The lady interpreter thanked me very much and said that she knew only this little. She hoped that I could tell more about the commercial trades between these two countries. Since the tourists were all Chinese, and everyone applauded to welcome my illustration, I had to “teach grandmothers how to cook eggs”.
I said further, the Ming Dynasty of China coincided with the Lee Dynasty in Korea. Ming Dynasty prohibited the export of saltpeter and gunpowder to all foreign countries except to Korea. In Qing Dynasty, China granted only Korea among all the neighboring countries the most preferential trade partner treatment. At that time, Qing Dynasty prohibited the export of rice except to Korea. In Kangxi 36rd year (1697 A.D.), Korea suffered from disasters so it sent missions to China for requesting trade on rice. Qing government assigned Bei Henuo, an official of the Ministry of Revenue in feudal China to Fengtian (Shenyang) for the supervision on this matter. We made an urgent delivery of twenty thousand “Dan” of rice to Korea and allowed the Korean mission to purchase more and deliver by themselves. In the following year, Tao Dai, an official of the Ministry of Revenue in feudal China, was assigned to deliver thirty thousand “Dan” to Korea, of which twenty thousand “Dan” for trade and ten thousand “Dan” for free. In Yongzheng 6th year (1728 A.D.) of Qing Dynasty, the government cancelled the account receivable of sixty thousand “Liang” of silver owed by Korea to China. ① All the past feudal dynasties of China knew that China and Korean Peninsula were in very close relations. Japanese militarism started to invade China after it merged Korean Peninsula. We must remember this historical lesson that Chinese and Korean people should make friends with each other from generation to generation. Everyone applauded for consent.
This reminded me of the words from some young people or even from some cadres that, now North Korea was a very poor and arbitrary country where a lot of people were starved to death. I told them, we and North Korea were socialist countries which were influenced deeply by the Soviet Union in terms of political systems, economies, cultures and militaries, especially the impact from ideologies. We also experienced time of proletarian dictatorship. In Mao Zedong’s time, especially during the period of Cultural Revolution, dictatorship was extremely awful. In 1960s, due to natural and man-made disasters, tens of millions of people were starved to death. We are sincerely grateful to Deng Xiaoping, who learned a lot from all kinds of historical lessons and carried out the policy of reform and opening up, which eventually led us to a better life with enough food and clothes, and led us to the road to democracy. If North Korea wants to get rid of poverty and move forward on the road to prosperity, just as what China has experienced, it has no choice but to embrace reform and opening up, same as China. The neighboring countries of North Korean and the international community should all make efforts to help it accomplish this goal.
If this book can provide some clues and information to improve the friendship and relations between China and North Korea and to improve the peace in Northeast Asia, it would be my utmost pleasure.
Here, I would also like to thank Zhang Liangui, the well-known Professor of the Institute of International Strategic Studies of the Central Party School on North Korea issues, for his concern and advice.
My thanks also go to my Japanese friend Akahosi Yosiharu and the South Korea Professor Kim Jeong-hoon, as well as Mr. Hong De, for their support and concern for the publication of this book in Korea. Thanks for all of them.
In order to help readers learn more about the information and views in China and abroad on the The relations between China and North Korea, the Sinuiju SAR, and Yang Bin event, I have attached three articles in the appendix of this book. The first article is the report made by a U.S. expert on North Korea issue in the hearing of U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The second article is a public text posted on the internet by a Dandong resident in China. It should be noted that these two articles do not represent my viewpoints. These two articles were attached herewith just for readers’ reference.
This ends my postscript of this revised edition.