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Applications are time consuming and making copies is discouraged

Declassified Chinese diplomatic files are  available to the public in digital form. But trying to access them  is time consuming and duplication of the documents is severely restricted.

The  Foreign Ministry archive takes applications from Chinese and foreign nationals with proper identification and a clearly stated purpose of use.  On the first trip, a researcher accesses the catalogue by key word, period, region or country.

Zhang Sulin,  division director of the archives, said  the files covered China's relations with countries with which it had no formal diplomatic ties such as pre-normalisation exchanges with the US  through the Geneva Conference and the United Nations.

A researcher can choose 10 documents,  submit an  application but   must wait 20 working days before  being able to view the documents.

Ms Zhang said  that due to space constraints, the archive could accommodate only nine users at a time.

Researchers are allowed to  take notes, but  duplication of unpublished documents, especially those with the handwriting of high officials or records of conversation, is another matter - they will need special permission to do so, but it is clear that they are discouraged from even asking for it.

The rule was imposed out of 'solemn respect for the officials', Ms Zhang said.

Shen Jiru,  an  Institute of World Economic and Politics researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said   ideally, the Korean file should be declassified comprehensively with minimum filtering.

The disclosure of American and Russian files on North Korea has  shed light on  the events that led to the Korean war.

Without the missing piece from China, the picture would not be complete and the heavy price China paid for the alliance would not be fully understood, he said.

But given the sensitivity of many international issues,  the process of greater transparency would take time, he said.

'Opening the file is a positive step. Let's hope the process speeds up,' he said.



Strict restrictions on access to digital files