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Has Zhou Enlia (周恩來, 1898-1976), the Chinese leader who served as Premier of the People's Republic of China for 27 years after the country's foundation in October 1949 (also as Foreign Minister from 1949 to 1958), ever been to the Korean Peninsula? In his Travelogue to Japan (旅日日記), there is an account of his travel in July 1918, during the time of his study in Japan, from Shimonoseki to Busan by steamship and then to Dandong by train via Seoul and Pyeongyang.

Born in Huai'an (淮安) City in the Jiangu Province (江蘇省) of China, Zhou Enlai spent his boyhood in Northeast China with his uncle and attended school in Nankai (南開), Tianjin. During the time of his study in Japan, he was so deeply impressed by the March 1st Movement of 1919 that he contributed an essay expressing support for the movement to Newsletter of Students' Association of Tianjin in July of the same year, which read: "The March 1st Movement of Korea was influenced by the world's new trend of thought, as was the May 4th Movement of China, and there has been no stronger awakening to the peoples of East Asia in history," and particularly praising Ahn Jung-geun for his patriotic act, "It is the Korean patriot Ahn Jung-geun's assassination of Ito Hirubumi at Harbin Station that marks the beginning of the joint struggles of Korea and China against Imperial Japan's aggression." Zhou Enlai staged the play Ahn Jung-geun at Nankai University in Tianjin in 1919, and again in other cities of China, such as Wuhan and Changsha, many years later after the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937.

Young Zhou Enlai Expressing Support for the March 1st Movement and Ahn Jung-geun's Assassination of Ito Hirobumi

In 1920, Zhou Enlai studied in France as the European correspondent of Yi Shi Bao (益世報), a newspaper based in Tianjin. In 1924, he was appointed as the director of the Whampoa (黃浦) Military Academy's Political Department and taught as a drill instructor. It is worth noting that he was a great influence on the young Koreans who were instructors or students of the Whampoa Military Academy at the time, including the technical supervisor and instructor Yang Lim (楊林). There are many Korean military commanders trained by Zhou Enlai. Some of them would join the Korean Volunteers Army after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. In the following year, 1938, Zhou Enlai supported the foundation of the Korean Volunteers Army. At the launching ceremony of the Korean Liberation Army's General Headquarters held in Chongqing (重慶) in September 1940, he and his wife Deng Yingchao attended and celebrated the event in person as representatives of the Communist Party of China.

When the provisional government of the Republic of Korea organized the Korea-China Cultural Association in October 1942, Zhou Enlai took the position of Honorary Director, and strove for Korea-China cooperation to struggle against Japan. In November 1942, Zhou Enlai gave a speech on 'the matter of Korea's independence' at the Korea-China Cultural Association, in which he said "Korean comrades have shed blood for China. I hope that they will return to Korea and achieve independence and freedom in the near future." When the provisional government returned to Korea in November 1945, Zhou Enlai threw a farewell party, organized by the Eighth Route Army in Chongqing. At this party, Kim Gu and Kim Yaksan among other figures of the provisional government were in attendance, leaving a beautiful story that will go down in the history of friendly relations between Korea and China.

When the Korean War had broken out in 1950, China decided to enter the war and called it the 'War of Resisting the U.S. Aggression to Aid Korea.' To the eyes of Zhou Enlai, who had lived in Northeast China and travelled as a student through the Korean Peninsula under Imperial Japan's aggression starting from Busan, the U.S. Army that had moved up across the 38th parallel and reached as north as the Abrok River must have appeared as a threat to Northeast China as a new partner of the Japanese Army. He must have also thought that this war was in line with China's traditional strategy of intervention in the affairs of the Korean Peninsula, which is to China what lips are to teeth, (meaning they are so intimately interdependent that one cannot be secure without the other), in order to prevent a situation that would jeopardize China.

As Premier and Foreign Minister, Zhou Enlai took charge of conducting the war. Emphasizing cooperation with North Korea, he instructed the Chinese People's Volunteer Army to seek North Korea's opinion first before making important decisions. However, since he also considered the outcome of war as important, he saw to it that the Chinese Army would have not only military command but control over the railways. The conclusion of an armistice was delayed by over two years. Meanwhile, Zhou Enlai tried to gain an upper hand in the truce talks under the strategy of 'proceeding with the negotiations while letting the battles go on.'

The armistice, finally signed in July 1953, was a strictly military cease-fire. Zhou Enlai found it significant that the Statement on the Matter Regarding Korea's Political Meetings (August 24, 1953) paved the way for resolving problems in an amicable manner by convening political meetings after the signing of the armistice. In 1954, a conference to resolve the matter of the Korean Peninsula was held in Geneva, only to end without reaching any agreement. Afterwards, Zhou Enlai strove for 'peace diplomacy,' which claimed to advocate the Third World Non-Alignment of many emerging nations in Asia and Africa.

Lessons from the Spirit of 'Putting Aside Differences and Seeking Common Ground (求同存異)'

The Five Principles of Peace written by Zhou Enlai (1) Mutual respect for each nation's territorial integrity and sovereignty; 2) Mutual non-aggression; 3) Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs; 4) Equality and mutual benefit; and 5) Peaceful coexistence) have become the fundamental principles by which China forges a friendly relationship and establishes diplomatic relations with any country in the world. In particular, his spirit of 'seeking common ground under the Principles of Peace while putting aside differences (求同存異)' has paved the way for the international community to achieve peaceful coexistence.

From 1958 to 1964, during which North Korea and China were in talks to demarcate the borders, Premier Zhou Enlai met with important North Korean figures and noted, "The Korean people have inhabited Northeast China since ancient times, and it has been clearly proved by evidence, such as excavated relics, that Balhae is part of Korean history." At a meeting with the North Korean delegation in June 1963, he stated, "the traces of the Korean people are remaining in the basins of both the Liao River and the Songhua River. It is ludicrous to claim that Korea has been a vassal state of China since ancient times." In other words, Premier Zhou Enlai would have found it 'ludicrous' that China, starting from the 2000s, has claimed that Koguryo was a local regime of ancient China, and attempted to include the histories of Koguryo and Balahe as part of ancient Chinese history.

In 1972, at a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Kakuei Tanaka, Zhou Enlai said that it was urgent for the two countries to restore their diplomatic relations, and insisted on putting off debating Diaoyudao among other issues. His policy of putting debate on hold contributed toward the reconciliation between China and the U.S., and China's accession to the U.N. in 1971 and the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1972.

As described so far, Zhou Enlai had a reputation as a flexible political leader, highly regarded and trusted by the Chinese people for his prowess demonstrated in military and foreign affairs as well. The city of Tianjin has built the Zhou Enlai & Deng Yingchao Museum (周恩来鄧颖超紀念館). In 2015, at a time to overcome the 70-year history of postwar East Asia, it is necessary for China, Japan, and Korea to learn from, and make use of, Zhou Enlai's flexible diplomatic policy for peaceful coexistence.