Geneva Conference

After the Korean armistice, to settle the Korean question and restore peace in Indochina by peaceful means, the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain and France decided in early 1954 to hold an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland, and invited the People's Republic of China to take part. From April to July 1954 the People's Republic attended the Geneva Conference for the first time as one of the five great powers, with Zhou Enlai leading the Chinese delegation. It was New China's first international conference to discuss major international questions. The conference took up the Korean question first, but because of US obstruction no agreement was reached. It then discussed Indochina, where Zhou Enlai worked actively through diplomacy to bring about an agreement. In July the conference reached the Geneva Accords on restoring peace in Indochina, providing for ceasefires in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and the withdrawal of French forces from Indochina, which briefly quieted the fighting there. During the conference Zhou also carried out wide diplomatic activity outside the sessions, meeting representatives of Britain and other Western countries; China and Britain agreed to exchange chargés d'affaires, establishing semi-diplomatic relations. Zhou also held a reception for journalists from many countries at which he screened the Chinese color opera film Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, introducing it as "China's Romeo and Juliet," and it was warmly received. The conference widened China's international influence, raised New China's standing, and showed the world its determination and ability to safeguard world peace. During it, Chinese and US representatives also began contacts, and ambassador-level talks started in 1955.