Seventy years ago, the People’s Republic of China was one of the leading protagonists in the event that marked the history of the struggles of Asian and African peoples for their national sovereignty. Although not officially responsible for convening and organizing the historic Bandung Conference in April 1955, Beijing played a central role in creating the political and diplomatic conditions for the realization of the “first intercontinental conference of people of color in the history of mankind,” as described by the Indonesian president and host, Sukarno[1]. In the previous year, under the leadership of Premier and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai, China had led two complex diplomatic negotiations: one with India and another at the Geneva Conference with the four major powers of that time – the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France.
In the first negotiation, faced with an impasse at the border between the world’s most populous nations – in the region of Tibet – Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai not only reached a bilateral trade and border agreement but also formulated the “Panchsheel Agreement,” also known as the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence,” which would later become the basis for the ten principles agreed upon in Bandung. In the second, even more complex, China played a central role in the negotiations over the conflicts in Korea and, then, French Indochina. While the desired reunification of Korea failed (resulting in the establishment of the “38th parallel” and the division between South and North Korea), the deadlock between France and the Viet Minh (Vietnamese forces led by Ho Chi Minh) was resolved, leading to the end of the war and the withdrawal of French colonial troops, at the cost of dividing Vietnam into north and south.
These two historic agreements not only helped to temporarily stabilize the Asian continent (Vietnam would later be invaded by the USA), thereby improving the political conditions for the Bandung meeting, but also reinforced Nehru’s regional leadership – he was one of Bandung’s key architects – and, above all, revealed to the world the diplomatic sophistication of the communist Zhou Enlai. So much so that Zhou’s success even raised concerns in Washington. The United States feared that the charisma and eloquence of the Chinese diplomat might help propagate communist positions and convince other Asian leaders to support motions contrary to American interests in the region. Coincidentally – or perhaps not – seven days before the conference in Indonesia, the Kashmir Princess airplane carrying the Chinese delegation from Hong Kong to Jakarta crashed, killing 11 passengers (only three crew members survived). Fortunately, Zhou Enlai was not on the plane and thus escaped an assassination attempt by the Kuomintang – a US-allied force – targeting his life.
For Beijing, Bandung marked a crucial step in breaking out of the relative isolation in which it had found itself following the 1949 revolution led by the CPC, its participation in the Korean War, and the embargo imposed by Western powers. In Indonesia, it became possible to begin establishing direct relations with numerous countries in Asia and Africa, many of which still regarded China as a major “red threat.” Some heads of state were instructed by Washington at the conference to attack the Chinese and the Soviets. In his opening speech, which was reformulated after criticisms from other countries, Zhou made it clear that China had come to Bandung “to seek unity and not quarrel…to seek common ground and not to create divergence.”[2]
With eloquence, China condemned the colonialism of the European powers that, through plunder and oppression, had relegated “brilliant ancient civilizations” of Asia and Africa – civilizations that “made tremendous contributions to humanity” – to a “state of poverty and backwardness”.[3]
Echoing the call of the so-called “non-aligned” countries – India, Indonesia, Egypt, Burma – the Chinese speech denounced the threats of new wars and recalled that the peace movements in various countries demanded an end to the arms race and the prohibition of nuclear weapons. According to Zhou, countries on both continents had an “urgent need for an international environment of peace for the development of our independent and sovereign economy” in order to overcome the backwardness imposed by colonialism. To achieve this, economic cooperation among them should be based on “equality and mutual benefit,” so that no country would become merely “a producer of raw materials and a market for consumer goods.”
Finally, he reinforced support for the ongoing national liberation struggles (as in Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria), for the resolution of the issue of “Arab refugees in Palestine,” for Egyptian sovereignty over the Suez Canal, for India in Goa, and for Indonesia in Western Irian, as well as, of course, for the defense of the liberation of its own territory, Taiwan.
Beyond the eloquent opening speech, what truly made Zhou Enlai one of the stars of the conference was his humble and moderate tone and his impressive ability to handle divergent positions, helping to build unlikely consensus. For example, in the controversy regarding the participation of countries from both continents in military alliances with the US (SEATO and CENTO) – involving Turkey, the Philippines, Thailand, Iran, and Iraq – or in the debate on the concept of “peaceful coexistence.” Both issues, which were indeed interconnected, were accommodated in the ten points of the final declaration after intense debates and active moderation by the Chinese. The premier and the Chinese delegation received numerous public accolades. The London Broadcasting Station stated, “a man with political foresight may see clearly that the achievement scored by the Communist Party of China in the Bandung Conference is immeasurable,”[4] while some delegates in Bandung remarked that Zhou was “reasonable, conciliatory, and sincerely anxious to establish the genuineness of China’s peaceful inclination.” Roeslan Abdulgani, the Indonesian conference’s secretary-general, recalled that Zhou was “moderate and engaging” and had impressed other delegates who had previously been suspicious of him. According to Abdulgani, “The People’s Republic of China no longer appeared in their eyes as a dangerous ‘Giant Dragon’.”[5]
The success of China’s participation in Bandung enabled Beijing to expand its diplomatic relations with numerous countries – which would be decisive after the break with the USSR in 1961 – stimulated Beijing’s support for the national liberation struggles of both African and Asian countries, and helped establish the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence” as the pillars of Chinese diplomacy to this day, as reflected in initiatives such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Belt and Road Initiative.
However, seventy years after the historic conference in Indonesia, it is concerning to note that most of the urgent challenges pointed out by the 29 countries of the then “Third World” remain unresolved in what is now called the “Global South” or “Global Majority”: the economic backwardness resulting from the exploitative mechanisms of imperialism and neocolonialism, the destruction and suffering caused by wars instigated by the USA and its military alliances, the nuclear threat, the profound injustices committed against the Palestinian people by Zionism, and the unresolved issue of Taiwan. All of this reminds us of the emotional speech given by the Syrian delegate, Khaled al-Azam, in April 1955: “We declare to the world that we will continue to meet . . . until we see every degree of colonialism and imperialism washed away and destroyed forever and ever.”[6] The insistence on continuing to meet is the greatest legacy of the “Bandung Spirit.”
Marco Fernandes is a Brazilian Beijing-based geopolitical analyst with Brasil de Fato and an editor of Wenhua Zongheng International.
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[1] UTAMA, Wildan Usema. Vision for the Future: an intellectual history of the 1955 Bandung Conference. Leftword, 2025, p. 22.
[2] Idem, p. 142.
[3] “Main speech by Premier Zhou Enlai, Head of the Delegation of People’s Republic of China, distributed at the plenary session of the Asian-African Conference”, IN: Wilson Center Digital Archive (https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/main-speech-premier-zhou-enlai-head-delegation-peoples-republic-china-distributed-plenary). Consulted at 14.03.2025.
[4] “Chinese Foreign Ministry Reference Document No.1, 28.04.1955”, IN: Wilson Center Digital Archive (https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/chinese-foreign-ministry-reference-document-no1). Consulted at 14.03.2025.
[5] UTAMA, p. 144.
[6] UTAMA, p. 163.
First published as part of a debate at Valdai Club.
