◀ Bohai Economic Region Comprehensive index starts in volume 5, page 2667.

BORODIN, Mikhail Bào Luótíng ​鲍罗廷 1884–1951 Professional Russian revolutionary

In the early 1920s the ­Russian-­born Mikhail driving force behind the decisions leading to the North- Borodin, a Bolshevik Party member, became ern Expedition and ­so-­called Great Revolution, aimed at one of Moscow’s most influential foreign op- defeating various warlords and achieving China’s unifi- eratives in China. As chief advisor to Sun cation. Many scholars thus believed that Borodin was an agent of the Comintern (the Communist International es- ­Yat-­sen he led the Nationalist Party (Guomin- tablished in 1919 and dissolved in 1943) and that the main dang) to adopt Leninist ideals, and went on to goal of his China mission was to “make revolution.” play a key role in Soviet secret diplomacy. New Russian and Chinese documentation reveals that the Bolshevik Party Politburo, rather than the Comintern, sent Borodin to China. Borodin’s assignments in China ikhail Markovich Gruzenberg, alias Borodin, went far beyond “making revolution.” A principal agent was born in Yanovichi of Vitebsk Province of Soviet policy toward China, he followed Moscow’s in- in Russia. He joined the Bolshevik Party in structions to coordinate his activities with Lev Karakhan, 1903. After the 1905 revolution he emigrated to the United the top Soviet diplomat in China. His monthly reports to States and set up a school for immigrant children and Moscow also went through Karakhan in Beijing. In addi- propagated socialism in Chicago. In the wake of the Oc- tion to working with Sun, Borodin was involved in almost tober Revolution of 1917 Borodin hurried home to place every important aspect of Soviet operations in China, himself at the service of Communist leader Vladimir including secret diplomacy with the northeast warlord Lenin. He undertook a series of secret assignments for Zhang Zuolin and the warlord government in Beijing. In the Bolshevik Party in Scandinavia, Spain, Turkey, Brit- May 1924 Borodin and Karakhan cooperated to make the ain, and Germany, earning the reputation of being a man Beijing government sign the ­Sino-­Soviet agreement on capable of handling all kinds of complexities. terms satisfactory to Moscow. Consequently, the China In the early 1920s Moscow adopted a dual policy to- Eastern Railway was continuously managed by the Sovi- ward China, nurturing revolutionary goals and pursuing ets, and the Red Army remained in Mongolia. Soviet national interests. In 1923 Borodin became one of After Sun’s death in March 1925, Chiang­Kai- ­shek be- Moscow’s foreign operatives in China. After arriving in came the Nationalist Party leader. In March 1926 Chiang China Borodin served as the chief advisor of Sun ­Yat-­sen, acted to restrict the CCP’s influence within the Nation- leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Guomindang). alist Party. Because Moscow’s main strategic goal was to He guided the transformation of the Nationalist Party check Zhang Zuolin and the expanding Japanese influ- into a Leninist party, playing a crucial role in creating ence in Manchuria, Borodin urged the CCP to compro- the “united front” between the Nationalist Party and the mise with Chiang. After Zhang expelled Karakhan from Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In 1926–27 he was a China in October 1926, Moscow appointed Borodin to be 192 M © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC BORODIN, Mikhail n Bào Luótíng n 鲍罗廷 193

Hiding their extreme political rivalries, leaders of the revolutionary Right and Left pose be- fore a train at the start of the Northern Expedition. From far left, the Russian agent Mikhail Borodin, a Chinese secretary, Borodin’s wife, Fanya, Madame Lioa ­Chung-​­k’ai, the sec- ond Madame Chiang ­Kai-​­shek (apparently pregnant at the time), Moscow’s General Galen, Chiang ­Kai-​­shek himself, his son, ­Wei-​­kuo, and Rightist Tai ­Ch’i-​­tao. Seated is Chiang’s “evil genius,” the crippled millionaire Chang ­Ching-​­chang. Photo courtesy Asia Magazine. the top Soviet representative in China. Borodin assumed achieved nationwide victory in 1949, he was arrested. He the overall responsibilities in dealing with the National- died in a labor camp in Siberia in October 1951. ist Party, the CCP, and the various ­warlords—­including the ­warlord-­controlled Beijing government. Following CHEN Zhihong Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s strict instructions, Boro- din emphasized the importance of relying on the Na- Further Reading tionalist ­Party–­CCP united front. Even after Chiang’s ­anti-­Communist coup in April 1927, Borodin obeyed Sta- Chen Zhihong. (2000). Die ­China-­Mission Michail Boro- lin and continuously made efforts to work with the Na- dins bis zum Tod Sun ­Yatsens—­Ein Beitrag zur sow- jetischen Chinapolitik in den Jahren 1923–25 [Mikhail tionalist Party left wing, represented by Wang Jingwei in Borodin’s China mission up to the death of Sun Wuhan, until Wang announced a split with the CCP and Yatsen: A study of Soviet policy toward China, 1923– Moscow in July 1927. Borodin’s China mission failed. 1925]. Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag. In the same month Borodin left China. After return- Holubnychy, L. (1979). Michael Borodin and the Chinese ing to Moscow he was assigned a few insignificant posi- revolution, 1923–1925. New York: Columbia University tions, among them an editorship of an ­English-­language Press. newspaper in Moscow. He survived the Great Purge of the Jacobs, D. N. (1981). ­Borodin—­Stalin’s man in China. Cam- 1930s. However, when the Chinese Communist revolution bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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