Konferenz Leipzig

The conference explores the relations between the People’s Republic of China and the non-Soviet socialist states of Poland, Czechoslovakia, GDR, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albanian during the Cold War with a focus on the social and everyday dimension – from the exchange of students and the sending of advisers to large-scale cooperation projects in industry and infrastructure. It brings together researchers from East-Central Europe, other parts of Europe and the US with leading experts in the field from China.

Programm:

TUESDAY, 30 JUNE

17.30–17.45 Opening Remarks
Stefan Troebst (Leipzig), Jan Zofka (Leipzig)

17.45–19.00 Keynote Speech
Shen Zhihua (Shanghai): Structural Problems of Socialist International Relations
19.15 Dinner

WEDNESDAY, 1 JULY

PART I Transfers and Entanglements between China and Eastern Europe

9.00–10.40 Panel 1: Trade and Economic Cooperation during the Sino-Soviet Alliance
Ge Jun (Shanghai): The GDR as Gate to the West? Early Trade Agreements between PRC and GDR
Daniela Kolenovská (Prague): Sino-Czechoslovak Cooperation on Agricultural Cooperatives
Comments: Uwe Müller (Leipzig)

10.40–11.00 Coffee Break

11.00–12.30 Panel 2: Cultural Exchange during the
Sino-Soviet Alliance Austin Jersild (Norfolk, VA): From ‘Originality’ (samobytnost’) to Beethoven: Socialist Bloc Ideas about Culture in Revolutionary China, 1950–1964
József Böröcz (New Brunswick, NJ): Performing Socialist Hungary. The Ensemble of the Hungarian People‘s Army Visits to China in the Fall of 1956
Comments: Beáta Hock (Leipzig)

12.30–14.00 Lunch

14.00–15.40 Panel 3: Deviations in the Soviet Bloc in the Context of Changing Sino-Soviet Relations
Jan Zofk a (Leipzig): Repercussions of the Chinese Great Leap Forward in Bulgaria
Margaret K. Gnoinska (Troy, AL): China’s Differentiation Policy toward Poland: the Case of Kazimierz Mijal (1960–1976)
Comments: Stefan Troebst (Leipzig)

15.40–16.00 Coffee Break

16.00–17.40 Panel 4: Changing Representations of the “Other” in the Chinese and Eastern European Press
Sören Urbansky/Max Trecker (Munich): Népszabadság, Neues Deutschland, TrybunaLudu. The Nuances of Reporting on China in Eastern Bloc Press
Li Rui (Beijing): The Changing Image of Eastern Europe in the Chinese Press during the early 1980s
Comments: Dennis Deletant (Washington, DC)

17.40–18.15 Intermediate Resumée and Discussion /
Practical Issues Concerning Publication

THURSDAY, 2 JULY

9.00–11.00 Panel 5: Transfers of Development Models, Policies and Technologies
Ana Lalaj (Tirana): The Influence of the Chinese Cultural Revoluti on and the Reproduction of Some of its Features in Albania
Jovan Čavoški (Belgrade): The Yugoslav Dimension of the Chinese Reforms and Opening up Policy in the late 1970s and early 1980s
Péter Vámos (Budapest): A Hungarian Model for China? Economic Reforms in China and Sino-Hungarian Relations, 1979–1989
Comments: Jordan Baev (Sofia)

11.00–11.15 Coffee Break

PART II China and Eastern Europe during the Cold War:
Mapping Sources

11.15–12.30 Roundtable: Mapping Sources I:
China and East-Central Europe
Chair: Yu Weimin (Shanghai)
GDR: Ge Jun
Poland: Li Rui (Beijing), Wu Wei (Beijing) – Margaret K. Gnoinska
Czechoslovakia: Gao Xiaochuan (Shanghai) – Daniela Kolenovská
Hungary: Tai Yuri (Shanghai) – Péter Vámos

12.30–14.00 Lunch

14.00–16.00 Roundtable: Mapping Sources II:
China and Southeastern Europe
Chair: Shen Zhihua
Yugoslavia: Kong Fanjun (Beijing) – Jovan Čavoški
Romania: Liu Yong (Beijing) – Dennis Deletant
Bulgaria: Xiang Zuotao (Beijing) – Jordan Baev
Albania: Ana Lalaj

16.00–16.15 Coffee Break

16.15–17.30 Final Discussion