Ｆｏｕｎｄｅｒ ｏｆ Ｓｉｎｏ－Ｃａｎａｄｉａｎ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ—Ｃｈｅｓｔｅｒ Ｒｏｎｎｉｎｇ

For years I have been engaged in foreign affairs， and thus， have a lot of foreign friends. Chester Ronning， the well-known Canadian ambassador， is one of these most unforgettable old friends.

Since 1945 when Ronning entered the diplomatic circles， he had been appointed first secretary， chargé d’affaires ad interim， minister， ambassador， high commissioner and special envoy， and retired from the Canadian Foreign Ministry in 1965. All through the 20 years， he worked hard for the establishment of diplomatic ties between Canada and China， appealed to the U.N. for the restoration of the legitimate seat of China and enhanced the western countries’ understanding about China. He had published many articles and delivered several speeches on these issues. In June 1968， he published an article in Vancouver Sun explaining how to understand Chinese people and their aspirations. In October of the same year， when he received the honorary doctor’s degree from the University of Calgary， he said in his speech that it was crucial to the maintenance of peace in the Far East to establish diplomatic relations with China. In March 1969， at the Symposium on U.S.-China Relations he appealed to the U.S. government to correct errors in its policies towards China. In October of the same year， at the celebration of the 20th National Day of the People’s Republic of China held in Montreal， Ronning pointed out that it was wrong of the U.N. to exclude China which had a population of 700，000，000.

In 1972， the governor general of Canada， on behalf of the government， issued Ronning the Companion of the Order of Canada for his contributions to Canadian diplomacy， especially his efforts to develop friendly relations between Canada and China.

In 1974， Ronning’s book， A Memoir of China in Revolution， was published in the U.S.. In the book， he tells how the Chinese people suffered from aggression and oppression by western powers， exposes how Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution in the 1920s， describes the process of the Chinese Revolution and makes a comparison between the new and the old China.

The publication of the book evoked great repercussions in the U.S. and Canada. Former Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Paul J. J. Martin commented， “Chester Ronning’s A Memoir of China in Revolution is interesting and absorbing， which vividly records the pursuit of national liberation by the Chinese people， and written by a wise and insightful Canadian. The book， between the lines， expresses his sympathy. Of all the counterparts， Ronning is always the most excellent narrator who tells about the attracting progress made by the Chinese Communist Party.”

Born in1894， Ronning spent his childhood in Xiangfan of Hubei Province， China， where his father served as a missionary. Ronning’s mother died young and was buried in Xiangfan. It was until 1908 when the father finally took the family to settle down in Alberta of Canada.

After he attained his degrees in the universities in Canada and America， Ronning returned to Xiangfan in 1922. He taught at the Hongwen Middle School for 5 years， during which under the influence of progressive students and his fellow colleagues of the school he became very sympathetic with China’s national democratic movement. He went back to Canada in 1927 and joined the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) which advocated democratic socialism. In 1932， Ronning ran for Alberta provincial legislative assemblyman as a UFA candidate. During the election campaign， one of his rivals mocked at him， saying that Ronning was born in China and breast-fed by a Chinese， he had got Chinese characteristics. Immediately Ronnning fought back， saying that truly he was breast-fed by a Chinese nurse for his mother did not have enough milk to nurse him， and he would feel grateful to the nurse forever. If one who is breast-fed by a Chinese got Chinese characteristics， what characteristics the person who believes so and is fed on cow milk will have? Finally， Ronning won the election and became the youngest member of the provincial legislative assembly.

In 1942， Ronning was recruited by the army. After the Japanese surrendered in 1945， he was sent to Chongqing by the Canadian Department of External Affairs and worked as first secretary of the Canadian Embassy in China. There， he got to know many leaders of the Chinese Communist Party including Zhou Enlai， Dong Biwu， Wang Bingnan， Zhang Hanfu， Qiao Guanhua， Gong Peng， etc..

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949， Ronning， then the chargé d’affaires ad interim of the Canadian Embassy， was told to stay in Nanjing and assigned to discuss with Huang Hua， chief of the Foreign Affairs Division of Nanjing Military Control Committee， about establishing diplomatic relations. He proposed to the Canadian Department of External Affairs to immediately give diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China and invalidate its recognition of the Kuomintang government. In his telegraph to the department， Ronning stated， since the CPC was in power， facts showed that China had got a clean government. Corruption was diminishing in Chinese officialdom. The new regime received active support from the majority of the population， and as the general situation was getting better， there would be more supporters. … The restoration of political， economic and trade relations with Western countries was important to China to solve its economic problems. The earlier the restoration of such relations the better， which would help our efforts to contain Soviet Union’s influence.

The Canadian secretary of state for external affairs replied that， the Cabinet agreed to recognize the People’s Republic of China， but it considered that it was better to do so after Great Britain’s recognition.

In 1950， the Korean War broke out. Since Canada supported the U.N.’s resolution on Korea， the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Canada was shelved. It was not until October 1979 that the two countries finally established diplomatic ties. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once said， “We were all very glad to see the establishment of diplomatic ties between Canada and China and the happiest Canadian should be Chester Ronning， the retired diplomat who for years had been tirelessly advocating the recognition of China by the Canadian government.”

In May 1961， I met Ronning for the first time when the International Conference on Laos was held in Geneva. China sent a delegation of over a hundred people headed by Chen Yi， vice premier and foreign minister. Some delegates were old friends of Ronning， including Wang Bingnan， Qiao Guanhua， Zhang Hanfu， Gong Peng and Gong Pusheng. As a staff member， I was also involved in the delegation’s work while Ronning attended the conference as the head of the Canadian delegation. The Geneva Conference opened on May 16. A week later， Chen Yi entertained Ronning at Huashan Villa where the Chinese delegation stayed and Ronning’s old friends including Zhang Hanfu， Qiao Guanhua， Wang Bingnan and Gong Pusheng were present.

The Geneva Conference lasted several months but no agreement was reached. During those days， Ronning paid many visits to the Chinese delegation to exchange views with his friends. I was impressed by the tall and slim scholarly Canadian’s sense of humour and his fluent Chinese with a strong Hubei accent. He was proud of being born in Hubei， China， and often cited to the people he met Hubei people’s common saying， “In the sky is the nine-headed bird. On the earth are its equals the Hubei guys.”

From 1972 to 1978， I worked for the Chinese Embassy in Canada and had many opportunities to meet with Ronning. Though he had retired for many years， he always tried to attend and spoke on occasions related to China such as celebration of China’s National Day， celebration of anniversaries of diplomatic ties between China and Canada， the annual conference of the Canada-China Friendship Association， etc..

In August 1975， I accompanied Ambassador Zhang Wenjing to Ronning’s hometown for a visit. He lived in the city of Camrose of the province of Alberta which was the main agricultural area of Canada. In my view， it was actually a small town with a population of less than 20，000. Ronning lived alone in a simple two-storey house with small rooms. On entering the living room of only a dozen square metres， one first noticed that Chinese antiques and handicrafts were found on tables， walls and hanging from the ceilings. A stranger might mistake it for a Chinese antique shop when he came in.

Ronning was 81 years old at the time and enjoyed good health. He could look after himself and cook some Chinese dishes. Sylvia， his oldest daughter who lived nearby often came to see him. As the town had a small population， people knew each other well. His neighbours always came to have a chat and listen to his stories about China， and the old man was not lonely at all.

Before we left， Ronning showed us round the city of Camrose. Small as it was， the city had all kinds of public facilities including hospitals， schools， the old-aged homes and especially several huge granaries， impressively showing the characteristics of the Canadian agricultural area. It was a quiet city without noises of cars or machines. Ronning greeted everyone he came across which showed he was really popular in this place. He told us that he gave Camrose a beautiful Chinese name—Meilong Town. It was originally the title of a Peking Opera telling the story about Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty meeting the beautiful young woman Li Fengjie. This shows Ronning’s rich knowledge of Chinese culture.

Ronning came to China four times after he retired. At the first two of his visits， Premier Zhou Enlai met with him. The last time was in 1983 when he was 89. As his health was not as good as before， he missed China even more and often dreamed that he was back in China. Before he made the visit， he summoned his six sons and daughters telling them that he had three last wishes—first， to visit his mother’s tomb in Xiangfan of Hubei Province; second， to visit the Dunhuang Caves for which he had longed to see for many years; third， to see the Jiayu Pass， the west end of the Great Wall. At first， there were different opinions. Some worried that their father was too old to take such a long and hazardous journey; others held that they should let him fulfill his dreams. In the end， it was decided that except the youngest son who could not leave his work， six of the family members (including four daughters and the oldest son with his wife) would accompany Ronning to China and celebrate his 90th birthday at his birthplace. Hearing that Ronning decided to visit China again， Wang Bingnan， president of the CPAFFC at the time， sent him an invitation and asked me to look after them and make all necessary preparations.

In mid-October 1983， on a fine day of autumn， Ronning arrived at the Beijing Airport and his two daughters helped him walk down the plane. I welcomed him there. The old man was very excited and hugged me immediately when we met， shouting out in Chinese with his Hubei accent: “Here’s back the old Hubei guy!”

I took them to the Friendship Hotel of the CPAFFC and told Ronning that the house had been used by Chiang Kai-shek before 1949. He was so surprised that without taking a rest he had a look at every room. The next day， President Wang Bingnan entertained Ronning and his party at the Great Hall of the People. The last time they met was in 1961 at the Geneva Conference， and after 20 odd years， the reunion was surely very delightful for the two old friends. In his toast， Wang Bingnan said to Ronning， “It is our honour that you revisit China at such an advanced age of 89.” Smiling， he replied， “I am not sure if it is an honour that you put me up in the house which used to be the residence of Chiang Kai-shek， your old opponent.” Wang burst into laughter saying， “We make such arrangement because you are an old friend of the new as well as the old China.” His witty reply aroused laughter among all present.

Ronning numbered his children from one to six and made a roll call before they set off every morning to see to it that no one was absent. Then he would shout in Chinese， “March!”

He stayed in Beijing for 3 days mainly to meet his old friends. After that， I accompanied them to visit other cities. As Ronning had wished， we went to Xi’an， Dunhuang， Jiayu Pass， Lanzhou and Bingling Temple. He was very healthy and vigorous all through the trip and he told us many Chinese stories and puzzles.

While visiting the Dunhuang Caves， the old man looked at the ancient sculptures and mural paintings carefully. He told his children the history of the caves and the stories depicted in the murals like a tour guide. The local staff specially carried a seat for the old man in case he needed to take a rest after climbing up and down. But he preferred to see more and only used it for a few minutes.

The journey ended at Ronning’s birthplace in Xiangfan of Hubei Province. In 1971 and 1975， he came here to pay respect to his mother at her tomb. This time， he was aware that it could be his last visit， so unlike the days before when he was quite lighthearted he became rather silent. On the day of their arrival in Xiangfan， Ronning led his children to the tomb to pay respect， and thus， he realized all his last wishes.

In that evening， the mayor of Xiangfan hosted a grand banquet to celebrate his 90th birthday (his nominal age according to the Chinese traditional way of counting). There were birthday peaches and longevity noodles specially prepared for the celebration and some of his local acquaintances came to express their congratulations. There were also fireworks making his last visit to China end in a warm and happy atmosphere.

After he went back to Camrose， the state of his physical and mental health declined. He could no longer look after himself and soon was sent to a nursing home. On December 31， the last day of 1984， the old man eventually completed his life’s journey of 90 years and peacefully left the world.

Chinese chargé d’affaires ad interim to Canada attended Ronning’s funeral and in his memorial speech， praised him as a “great friend of the Chinese people”. Fred Bild， former Canadian ambassador to China， regarded him as “the man who actually devotes all his life to the cause of the Chinese people”， while former Canadian prime minister acclaimed him as the “founder of Sino-Canadian friendship”.

Written in Beijing in February 2006