To all Chinese diplomatic missions in Europe, Red China's suave Foreign Minister Chou En-lai had sent a circular urging them to switch their allegiance from the Nationalist to the Communist government before it was "too late." In the huge, yellowing embassy on the dignified Avenue George V in Paris, there was warm discussion over the teacups: Ambassador Tsien Tai favored accepting the Communist invitation.
Echoes of the discussion reached the Nationalist government in China, which promptly dispatched an icy notice of dismissal to Ambassador Tsien. That brought his followers out into the open: nine of the ten embassy staff members...
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