Tanker "Tuapse" Incident in the Cold War History

Date(s)： 2025/09/16

Time： 14:00~16:00

Venue： Archives 3rd Conference Hall

Host： Prof. 余敏玲（中央研究院近代史研究所兼任研究員）

Speaker：Prof. Sergey Vradiy（俄羅斯科學院遠東分院歷史、考古與民族誌研究所首席研究員）

Organizer： Chiang Kai-shek Research Group

Abstract:
On June 23, 1954, the seizure of the Soviet oil tanker Tuapse by the Republic of China (ROC) Navy became one of the most dramatic and consequential episodes of the early Cold War. En route from Odessa to Shanghai and carrying a cargo of lighting kerosene, the vessel was intercepted in international waters in the Luzon Strait. Under the pretext of enforcing a United Nations embargo against Communist China, the ROC Navy shelled and detained the tanker, escorting it to the port of Kaohsiung. Forty-nine Soviet crew members were arrested.
This incident reverberated far beyond the immediate Taiwan–Soviet confrontation, entangling the broader geopolitical dynamics of U.S.–China–Soviet relations. While the USSR protested the seizure, the United States—then a key backer of Taiwan—offered a markedly different interpretation of events.
My research investigates the Tuapse affair as a pivotal Cold War case study, analyzing declassified archives, diplomatic correspondence, and contemporary media from all sides involved. By examining the incident through multiple lenses, this paper aims to uncover the historical truth and reassess its significance in the context of early Cold War alignments and tensions in East Asia.
 
Speaker’s Profile: Dr. Sergey Y. Vradiy is a Leading Research Fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences's Far Eastern Branch in Vladivostok. He specializes in modern Chinese history, Sino-Russian relations, and the history of Russian sinology. He has authored and translated works on Qing-era scholar-official Lin Zexu, and 19th century Korean geographical source about Russia Far-East.