“I am. Today I had an interesting but very long meeting with some experts and my local team have prepared about 30 pages of internet search results for me. I assume our boss will want to have my report on his desk this evening.”
“I bet he will. Well, then I won’t keep you.”
“Tom, I forgot to ask you one thing. My local contact suggested engaging a Belgian living in Beijing. He is a sort of freelance cameraman or journalist and seems to know a lot. Do you think it is a feasible approach?”
“Hmm, could you provide me with his name? Just in case he’s somebody with whom we have had issues with in the past. I think I may even have heard about him but I can’t remember his name. Drop me a mail and I’ll let you know as soon as possible.”
“Great, how long are you staying in the office tonight?”
“Well today I won’t get out of here before seven.”
Nick had finished his report by 5 p.m. and mailed it to the ambassador. Then he called Popescu and asked for the name of the Belgian. He was Thomas van de Waal. He had an impressive record of filming Karen refugees in Thailand, had done several reports about the Silk Road and the rain forests of Sulavesi, and the National Geographic project in the Gobi desert.
Nick rang Tom with the name.
“Oh, yes - now I remember. Generally don't have any objections to him but be careful with these exotic birds. They might be difficult to control. Please make it clear to him that any expenses and payments must be agreed upfront. And one more thing: we have been asked to figure out whatever we possibly can concerning the history of these objects. This means tracking them up to the point where they were kept in China till they could not be tracked. Any step beyond is a no-go. It’s not our task to hunt the art and antiques Mafia in China. Others should do that. After all we don't want to have fatalities, don't we?”
“Sure, don't worry. I’ll try to meet him tomorrow and will keep in mind what you’ve said.”
Nick noticed that Tom did not offer him to join the meeting with the journalist but this did not surprise him. He obviously didn’t want to get his fingers burnt. The theory about the smuggling Mafia didn’t really sound plausible. Antique objects or other objects of art smuggled out of the country were not normally offered at auctions. But it would be interesting to work out what could be considered smuggling in terms of the statute of limitation. Nick didn't know when the corresponding laws of the People’s Republic of China has been passed but it would be interesting to know whether the Kuomintang or even Qing government had such a law and whether it would apply if the objects were brought out of the country before 1949.
He called Popescu. The same evening he had Thomas van de Waal on the phone. Thomas suggested meeting that same evening in San Li Tun Bar Street. After the tough day he’d had Nick was not very keen to meet him then, but in view of the time pressure he agreed.
San Li Tun Street was in the area where a lot of embassies were located. Over the years it had became the main meeting point for the local expats and for Chinese artists. Every 15 meters or so there was a bar or café, usually offering Western food. Thomas suggested meeting in the Moon Café owned by eccentric painter Lan Lan, a woman in her late forties. Lan Lan often mixed with the visitors and was an invaluable source of information on the modern culture of the capital. The only disadvantage was that she could talk one to death.
The Café was relatively full but Nick found a table where a man was sitting, looking as he had described himself on the phone.
Thomas came immediately to the point since Popescu had already informed him about the matter.
“Nick, hi – nice to meet you. I suggest we meet Utkirbek. He is actually from Uzbekistan but has lived here for many years. Apparently he had some conflict with Karimov's government being in charge for the national archive in Tashkent. Now he is running the import-export business here.”
Nick's knowledge of Uzbekistan was limited to that of a scandal 10 years ago. Craig Murray, the British ambassador to Tashkent at the time, actively supported dissidents and openly criticized the despotic methods of the government. The Foreign Office was quite annoyed. During that time the controversial War on Terror was ongoing and the coalition was happy to have any ally on board. And Uzbekistan was an ally. Eventually Craig Murray was recalled in 2004.
“Thomas, I’m happy to rely on your recommendations but could we first discuss the terms of your involvement? This issue is quite sensitive as you know and we need to ensure that nothing will go wrong. We need to talk about the expenses too.”
“I have already thought about it. Whatever actions are needed in Beijing won’t incur any costs. Should more travel become necessary, I will let you know. If we will manage to find the site where the treasure has been hidden, I will make a documentary about it. And of course claim the copyright. Therefore I can’t sign any confidentiality agreement with you.”
“That's fine. Provided we can agree that your search will not go beyond the Dzungarian site. If you plan to investigate beyond this point, that would be on your own and not in cooperation with British authorities.”
“Deal! I will try to arrange a meeting with Utkirbek asap and will let you know.”
2
On Friday the ambassador invited everyone for a follow-up meeting. This time the Scotland Yard liaison and the head of the visa and consular section were also present. Nick briefly summarized what he was able to find out. Thurley thought for a moment and said.
“I have been informed from London that this issue has caught the attention of the higher levels of Chinese government. We must clearly divide between the legal side of the story and the political elements. The authorities at home have managed to track the seller through the auction house and persuaded the seller to cooperate. In the meantime we know the name – Paul Vornov. The objects belonged to his father Nicolay Voronov, apparently of Russian descent, who is dead since 25 years. He was able to present insurance certificates from 1968 where the objects are listed. Thus we do definitely know that they have not been smuggled out of China recently.”
“What we also were able to figure out,” he looked at the liaison officer briefly, “is that one of the script rolls of the treasure was located in Seoul in 1986. So, either the objects were not stored in one place or the site has been looted already long ago and the objects were taken out or sold over a long period of time. Anyway, in view of the upcoming visits from UK and the visit of the Chinese PM to London in November, there is a strong wish that we provide as much information as possible. Please keep in mind that we shall not go beyond collecting information. Tom, you wanted to ask something?”
“Yes sir. I know the press attaché of the Korean embassy quite well. Perhaps I could approach him concerning this story from 1986?”
“Absolutely, good idea. Whatever we can get from legitimate sources is welcome.”
After the meeting Nick felt a bit unsure. What was the definition of legitimate sources? Were Thomas and his Uzbek contact legitimate sources? He hadn’t been working that long for the government, about 7 years, but he knew that the superiors there were very skilled at distancing themselves from problems if something went wrong. But in the meantime he had become so intrigued by the story that he decided to continue the research. After all he could always stop a bit further down the line.
Thomas called him on Saturday and told that Utkirbek was currently in Shenzhen but he would reach out to some of his friends in Tashkent.
This meant a free weekend which was more than welcome. Some folks from the consular section suggested having a trip to the Miyun Lake. The lake was about 1.5 hours’ drive from Beijing, including the inevitable waiting in traffic jams. Originally constructed as an artificial water reservoir, it had become a popular picnic spot. Unfortunately within few years a lot of its natural beauty has been spoiled by mushrooming restaurants, karaoke bars and other entertainment facilities. Furthermore the beautiful walk through the gorge had been walled in by several ticket offices. You had to pay just to en
ter the gorge, then additionally to see a lateral gorge and then yet another ticket to see a waterfall. But it was still a good opportunity to breathe a bit of fresh air and see nature.
3
Nick had just arrived in the office on Monday when he received a call from Tom.
“How was your weekend?”
“Thank you, I could relax a bit. I was with some consular folks out at Miyun.”
“Great! I was less lucky. This guy from the Korean press section wanted to meet yesterday. We went to Paulaner pub. I think I had a pint or two too many. But what he told me is just awesome! That case from 1986, there was an article in some newspaper in Pusan about that. He has offered to get a copy for me by tomorrow. I have asked him to send the copy straight to James, our press attaché in Seoul. He will then forward me the translation. This will cost us an extra day but save us about 150 pounds on getting it translated here in Beijing.”
“Wow! Who says our job at the embassy is boring and dull?”
“Do you have any news from your journalist?”
“Not yet, his contact is out of the city but he has already started to work on it.”
“Another contact?”
“Yes, a guy from Uzbekistan. He lives here a couple of years and knows western China well. I don't know how his connections in Tashkent can help but let's see what he can offer.”
“Nick, I suggest you tell Tony about this contact. Political section should be aware. You know Xinjiang is a sensitive issue and somebody who informs a foreign diplomat about something concerning Xinjiang might be under surveillance. I am not going to say that it is dangerous but you never know. So, please let Tony know.”
Tuesday was uneventful with routine daily tasks. On Wednesday morning Nick received another call from Tom.
“Hi Nick, I have received really exciting stuff from Utkirbek. Can we meet today?”
“How about at 14:00 at Ritan Park? Stone Boat Café for instance?”
“Let's go for 14:30. I have another appointment at 12:30 and the traffic is really bad today.”
When they met Tom told Nick what he was able to figure out. Utkirbek had called his contacts in Tashkent who referred him on to a representative of a Kazakh public organization in Almaty. They were publishing material on political repression in Kazakhstan from 1937-1939 Apparently the case of the Galdan treasure had been mentioned in the files of the Soviet Secret Police - the NKVD.
“Nick, they’ve sent me a file with nearly thirty pages, all in Russian. Could you arrange for translation? Or should I do it?”
Nick knew that translating thirty pages would be prohibitively expensive and might take a long time.
“Can you mail me the file to me?”
“I can, but you understand that the contents are quite sensitive.”
“Is any information there still confidential?”
“No, all these documents are published by the Almaty Memorial Society. Nothing illegal but still, we should err on the safe side.”
In the evening Nick received the file and forwarded it to the Russian section of the foreign office with a note from the ambassador kindly asking to expedite the translation. The time difference of seven hours was working to Nick's advantage. This meant that his mail arrived in London by early noon and he could expect the translation the next day or latest the day after.
The translated documents arrived on Friday evening. Also on Friday, the translation of Korean article was ready. Nick and Tom were sitting together in Tom's office and read the freshly arrived files. It was becoming late but they could not stop reading. What they were reading was so exciting that leaving it for later was out of the question.
Almaty, 1937
1
On Monday the 9th of August 1937 in the early morning Sergey Gromov the captain of the railway department of Peoples' Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) was on his way to the office. On Sunday he and his wife Masha celebrated her birthday. He had drunk a bit too much and was suffering from a hangover. The slight feeling of nausea and headache were not that bad. What did annoy him much more were the smells. Usually he liked the smells of Almaty streets. Early mornings Koreans opened their street kitchens and offered various sorts of dumplings, pickled vegetables and other delicious food. Dungans (Muslims of Chinese descent) cooked their famous noodles with vegetables. Passing by their stalls Gromov always enjoyed the exotic aromas and from time to time even tried one or another dish. Today however he perceived all these smells as one unbearable and disgusting stench.
Intermediately after entering the building the sentry stopped him.
“Comrade captain, apparently Comrade Zalin has asked you to report to him at ten, in the main office.”
“Apparently or did he ask?”
“He did.”
“Why apparently then?” said Gromov brusquely.
This was not what he needed today while he wasn’t feeling well. Lev Zalin was the chief of NKVD in Kazakhstan and has started his job just in January. His appointment breached the previous tradition of reserving such position for local Kazakh cadres. There were some concerns about that but nobody less than the Peoples' Commissar of the Soviet Union Nicolay Ezhov had personally recommended him. Who would dare to object?
“What does he want?” thought Gromov. Probably nothing good. And, after all why had the head of Kazakh NKVD summoned him directly? Gromov's direct supervisor was the head of Almaty's NKVD. He was travelling to Tashkent but his deputy was there. Gromov had been in charge of the railways security department since last year. The newly constructed railway line connecting Middle Asia with Siberia, TURKSIB, was a strategically important object. His department was covering the Almaty-Aktogay stretch and was also in charge of the railway station Almaty 2 whose construction had recently been started. Since Gromov started this job nothing really meaningful had been observed. There were some cases of theft: either spare parts of the railway equipment or cargo. Nothing of big value had been stolen but the embezzlement of socialist property (as it was called) was a grave offence and the penalties were quite severe – up to 10 years of imprisonment irrespective the value of the damage. One meaningful incident had occurred six months earlier. The rails-maintenance crew had forgotten to clean the rails when sand had dropped from the train carrying the construction materials. When the following tanker train braked, the friction with sand particles caused the emerging sparks to ignite the fuel in the tanks. The train was burning for two days and about sixty tons of fuel were lost. The maintenance crew and engineer who were on duty that day were tried for gross negligence and sentenced to several years imprisonment. The deputy chief engineer was expelled from the Communist Party and demoted.
Zalin was sitting silently at the head of a massive table. To his left sat the deputy head of Almaty's NKVD Zalessky and the second secretary of the city party committee Nikolaev. Gromov went to greet them but Zalin waved impatiently and asked him to sit down.
“Comrade Gromov, we need to talk about the work of your department. The directive 00447 is known to you, right?”
Now Gromov understood. Zalin was referring to the Directive issued on 30 of July by the NKVD chief Ezhov “Operative measures for the repression of former kulaks, criminals and other anti-soviet elements.”
There he “enemies of the Soviet state” had been divided into two categories:
To the first category belonged all criminals with actively hostile attitude towards the Soviet power. They were to face the expedited trial by the tribunals (so called troikas) and sentenced to death penalty.
To the second category belonged the same persons but with less hostile attitudes. The penalty was 8 – 10 years of labour camps and - in especially grave cases - solitary imprisonment.
The NKVD chief even had an idea how many enemies of the state were lurking around. Therefore the directive included the quotas. For instance in the Southern Kazakhstan District it was expected that 350 1st category and 600 2nd category persons would be arrested.
The repre
ssions had started already before the release of the directive but they were targeting so-called Trotskyites. There had been some arrests in Almaty. Trotzky spent some time living there, exiled from Moscow and was closely watched. Many of those who met him, even by chance, were later accused of being Trotskyites.
This may seem appalling today. We are prone to think that the infamous thugs of secret police, be it NKVD, GESTAPO or SAVAC, are like dinosaurs - extinct long ago and not coming back. After all we have learned from history. Another trend is to posthumously diagnose these people with psychiatric ailments or sadistic elements. Although this might be true in a few cases, in general this does not hold up.
The desire to keep departmental headcount up is a vice which is damaging many companies even today. Some managers, usually mediocrities in terms of their leadership capabilities and technical expertise, can be very skilled at showing the importance of their department (which in fact should be dissolved or at least downsized) and unscrupulously request new job approvals even if the current employees have not enough work to do. Although they argue they care for the jobs they look after, it’s usually bluff; the thing they care about most is maintaining their own position.
The treasure of Galdan Page 3