The First Document of Türkiye–People’s Republic of China Relations

Yiğit Çınar
21 May 2025

Translated by Onurcan Balcı

Relations between Türkiye and China—or between the Ottoman Empire and the Qing Dynasty—date back to the second half of the 19th century. During a period when Asian countries were striving to modernize through revolutions, the Qing Dynasty launched the “Self-Strengthening Movement” following the Opium Wars (1839–1860) fought against Britain. This process, which lasted from 1860 to 1890, aimed to both recover from the damage inflicted by the Opium Wars and reach a level capable of competing with other nations.

Through the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Qing Dynasty began dispatching envoys to European countries and first encountered Turkish envoys in England. In 1877, Turkish diplomats sincerely offered assistance to China through Liu Xihong, the Chinese deputy envoy in Britain. However, this offer was not accepted. The Chinese response to this unofficial contact was simply: “One day, surely.” Subsequently, the Chinese began to closely follow the reform movements taking place within the Ottoman Empire.

A new era began in China with the revolution of 1912, led by Sun Yat-sen. Although stability could not be achieved until the 1930s, the Republic of China managed to survive. During the same period, the two young republics—Türkiye and China—officially recognized each other.

Finally, in 1934, formal diplomatic relations were established. Chinese delegations made several visits to Türkiye to study the Turkish revolution. Although the chaos of the Second World War occasionally disrupted these relations, they were nevertheless maintained.

In fact, the first contact between the two republics had occurred earlier, in 1925, by the order of Mustafa Kemal. Through Türkiye’s chargé d’affaires in Belgium, attempts were made to establish trade agreements; however, due to mutually unacceptable provisions, the agreement could not be concluded. In the early years of the new nationalist government established under Chiang Kai-shek, relations were suspended.

This suspension did not last long, and the nationalist government’s interest in Türkiye continued to grow. To such an extent that books were even written about the Turkish Revolution and Atatürk.

In the 1930s, bilateral relations improved consistently, resulting in the establishment of mutual embassies and trade agreements. However, with the foundation and rise of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), criticisms of Mustafa Kemal and the Kemalist Revolution began to emerge. The CCP increased its criticisms by citing Türkiye’s limited deepening of relations with the Soviet Union and its repression of domestic communists.

With the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War and the CCP’s rise to power, relations between Türkiye and China were once again interrupted. This situation would not be resolved for many years.

The following document is the official decision by the Turkish state to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. The document, found in the Prime Ministry Republican Archives, was enacted with the signature of President Cevdet Sunay and all members of the Council of Ministers. The document states:

“Regarding the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, authorization is granted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pursuant to the letter of the aforementioned ministry dated 12 July 1971 and numbered DOĞU/3/71-667, 008/923-672. Based on Article 1 of Law No. 1173 dated 5 May 1969, the Council of Ministers resolved on 13 July 1971 to proceed accordingly.”

This article is retrieved from the Teori Journal.