The Man On Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard To Tiananmen Square, My Lifeinside China's Foreign Ministry

摘要

Memoirs from officials in China's diplomatic corps are rare, and even more so when coming from someone of Ji Chaozhu's unique perspective. Ji had career-long proximity to the most important leaders and decision makers in Chinese foreign policy (including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, Deng Xiaoping, Hua Guofeng, Jiang Zemin, Zhao Ziyang and Qiao Guanhua). No Chinese diplomat had closer proximity to the inner sanctum than Ji, and as such was also witness to many of the political machinations of the Mao and post-Mao eras. No other Chinese diplomat interacted with as many world leaders over a longer period of time as Ji, and thus took part in many of the most sensitive conversations and tough negotiations in PRC diplomatic history. As Ji notes in an uncharacteristically immodest observation in the memoir's preface: "I was eyewitness to an astonishing number of historic events, rubbing shoulders and sometimes becoming casual with a long list of world leaders, including six presidents of the United States."