Renowned sinologist Ivan Zuenko has published an unusual photo of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, as reported by Tengrinews.kz.
The black-and-white image featuring the President of Kazakhstan was taken in Jiangsu (one of China's most significant provinces) and shared by Ivan Zuenko on his Telegram channel.
"I found a photograph of two interns from the very first group of 1983/1984, which was quite small in size (10 people). Compared to the subsequent larger groups filled with well-known sinologists in the academic environment, it might seem that the 1983/1984 group left no historical traces. However, at least two interns from that wave are very well known," the expert noted.
"Firstly, this is Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (at that time, his name was spelled this way) - he is on the right in the photo. A graduate of MGIMO, he was already a 30-year-old employee of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time. Now he is the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Secondly, this is Igor Morgulov, a 22-year-old graduate of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University, currently the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to China. Tokayev is on the right in the photo. So far, no joint photos from that time with Morgulov have been found. However, next to them is also a well-known sinologist - Andrey Tsarenko, then a student at MGIMO, who later also worked at the Soviet embassy in the USSR. The photo was taken during a trip to Wuxi, Jiangsu Province," Ivan Zuenko explained.
Previously, the famous sinologist had also published several other photos featuring Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in China.
0
In the photo: 24-year-old Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on May 1, 1976, in Singapore.
1
In the photo: in 1987, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visits veteran of the CPC, one of the "Eight Immortals" (a term for eight influential leaders of the older generation of the Communist Party of China who held significant power in the 1980s and early 1990s) Chen Yun in the hospital, alongside Oleg Troyanovsky.
2
In the photo: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Beijing with Sergey Razov. 1988.
As Ivan Zuenko writes, in 1983-1984, 30-year-old Tokayev, already a Ministry of Foreign Affairs employee, led the first group of Soviet interns at the Beijing Institute of Language and Culture. In other words, he literally was responsible for some of the first sinologists of the USSR (in the role of group leader).
From 1984 to 1985, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev worked in the central apparatus of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was considered very prestigious at that time.
It should be noted that Kassym-Jomart Tokayev interned at the USSR embassy in China and studied at the Beijing Linguistic Institute from 1983 to 1984. In 1975, he was assigned to work at the Soviet embassy in Singapore. From 1984 to 1985, he worked in the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was later assigned to the Soviet embassy in the People's Republic of China, where he worked until 1991 in positions as second secretary, first secretary, and adviser.
Ivan Zuenko is a senior researcher at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO, an associate professor in the Department of Oriental Studies, and a candidate of historical sciences.
Click here to receive the most important news in your WhatsApp