Knowing How to Leave Gracefully. In Memory of the USSR Ambassador to the PRC (1970–1978) Vasily Sergeyevich Tolstikov

Moiseyev, L. P

doi:10.31857/S0131281225020095

PII

S0131281225020095-1

DOI

10.31857/S0131281225020095

Publication type

Article

Status

Published

Authors

L. P Moiseyev

Occupation: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (retired)
Affiliation:

Volume/ Edition

Volume / Issue number 2

Pages

131-139

Abstract

In this article, the author describes events that took place in the mid-1970s of the last century. At that time, he worked as a translator of Chinese and English and accompanied the USSR Ambassador to China, V.S. Tolstikov, to official receptions held during visits to Beijing by highranking foreign delegations. Following the XX Congress of the CPSU in 1956, relations between the two socialist states had significantly deteriorated, which also impacted the work of diplomatic missions. At the height of the Cultural Revolution, amid rampant anti-Soviet propaganda, these events were often used by the Chinese side to launch crude attacks on Moscow's foreign and domestic policies. In such cases, the ambassador faced difficult decisions: either to ignore Chinese aggressive attacks against your country, maintaining composure in the face of its absurdity, or to demonstratively leave the event, thereby placing the Chinese hosts in an uncomfortable position in front of the arriving guests. V.S. Tolstikov performed such demarches artistically, gaining sincere respect in the diplomatic corps. Several decades later, at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as part of the Russian official delegation, the author finds himself back in the same hall of the National People's Congress, where he witnessed the courageous behavior of the Soviet ambassador. But this is a completely different era, an era of unprecedented level of Russian—Chinese cooperation, to which Soviet Ambassador Vasily Sergeyevich Tolstikov had meaningfully contributed.

Keywords

Пекин «культурная революция» посол СССР непрекращающаяся враждебность официальные приемы грубые выпады демонстративный уход мужество и выдержка

Date of publication

01.11.2025

Year of publication

2025

Number of purchasers

Views

References

GOST	Moiseyev L. Knowing How to Leave Gracefully. In Memory of the USSR Ambassador to the PRC (1970–1978) Vasily Sergeyevich Tolstikov // Problemy dalnego vostoka. – 2025. – Issue number 2 C. 131-139 . URL: https://pdvras.ru/s0131281225020095-1/?version_id=108040. DOI: 10.31857/S0131281225020095
MLA	Moiseyev, L. P "Knowing How to Leave Gracefully. In Memory of the USSR Ambassador to the PRC (1970–1978) Vasily Sergeyevich Tolstikov." Problemy dalnego vostoka. 2 (2025).:131-139. DOI: 10.31857/S0131281225020095
APA	Moiseyev L. (2025). Knowing How to Leave Gracefully. In Memory of the USSR Ambassador to the PRC (1970–1978) Vasily Sergeyevich Tolstikov. Problemy dalnego vostoka. no. 2, pp.131-139 DOI: 10.31857/S0131281225020095

RAS Global AffairsПроблемы Дальнего Востока Problemy dalnego vostoka

Knowing How to Leave Gracefully. In Memory of the USSR Ambassador to the PRC (1970–1978) Vasily Sergeyevich Tolstikov

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RAS Global AffairsПроблемы Дальнего Востока Problemy dalnego vostoka

Knowing How to Leave Gracefully. In Memory of the USSR Ambassador to the PRC (1970–1978) Vasily Sergeyevich Tolstikov

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References

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