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NYMISHA YADATI

CHINA – USSR RELATIONS UNDER MAO.

Post world war an entire new dynamics of foreign or international relations

emerged. So did happen with China under Mao Ze Dong. In October 1949, the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) replaced the Republic of China (ROC) after the
Chinese Communists won a nationwide victory in the civil war and drove the
Nationalist government to Taiwan. China extended the Cold War to East Asia.

In June 1949 Mao Zedong announced that New China would support the Soviet
Union in international affairs. As a result the then Truman government decided to
follow the policy of non recognition. USA in the China Taiwan civil war had taken
the Nationalist party side in Taiwan. It still continued and this was seen as a threat
to the communist party in China. Hence to balance the power China strengthened
its association with USSR. Chinese and Soviet leaders signed the Sino-Soviet
Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance on February 14, 1950.

The alliance provided military agreement which stated that in case of attack from
USA or Japan on either country they would collectively fight the threat. Despite
the collaboration there were signs of strain between Moscow and Beijing. Mao’s in
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visit to Russia felt that Stalin treated him as an underling rather than an important
partner.

However, China was dissatisfied with the Sino-Soviet security relationship. It

thought that Moscow showed less interest in recovery of Taiwan. China was also
upset with Soviet neutrality during the 1959 tension on the Sino Indian border. In
an attempt to break away from the Soviet model of economic development, China
launched he Great Leap Forward. This led Moscow to withdraw all Soviet advisers
from China in 1960.

June 1950 Korean War further destabilized the US China relations. China entered
the Korean War in October 1950. US saw this as a major threat. In this situation
USSR provided air support, military supplies and economic aid. US reacted by
strengthening its economic embargo on China. It also blocked China’s membership
in the UN. This hostility continued in cold war as well.

When Stalin died in 1953, Mao began to see himself as the world’s senior
communist leader. Leadership of the Soviet Union passed to Nikita Khrushchev.
Mao considered Khrushchev as betrayal to Stalin’s legacy. The CCP responded by
developing its own interpretation of Stalin and his leadership, which was
articulated in the People’s Daily on April 5th 1956.

In the 1950s, the Sino-Soviet relations were peaceful. China also considered it as
its top priority. The contacts were regular and negotiations between the top leaders
were frequent. But in the second half of the 1950s, the Chinese Communist Party
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disagreed with the Soviets. The Chinese pointed the issue of de-Stalinization under
Khrushchev. By the 1960s, the Sino-Soviet dispute spread to ideological
differences. Hence the Sino-Soviet alliance collapsed.

The Sino–Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the China
and USSR during the Cold War (1945–91). Since 1956, the countries had
(secretly) been diverging ideologically. By 1961, the Chinese Communists blamed
the USSR as “The Revisionist Traitor Group of Soviet Leadership.” In the 1960s,
this divergence became acute and it continued till late 1980s. Mao Zedong, at this
point had to build alliance with US to balance the power. China wanted to create a
channel to channel to Washington. Although no official diplomatic relations
existed between the two countries at that time, the Warsaw talks proved useful in
building the relations between China and the U.S.

At this point China also tried to build its relation with the third world countries.
This increased competition between China and Russia to influence in the Third
World countries. Also China accused the Soviet Union of supporting with
imperialism, for example by signing the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the
United States in 1963.

The threat from the Soviet Union pushed Mao Zedong to improve relations with
the United States in early 1970s. Nixon’s met the Chinese leaders in February
1972. The major idea behind this diplomacy was to balance the common threat
from the US. The motive was to balance power as both feared USSR threat.

To conclude it can be said that Sino-Soviet relations began with the Russian
Revolution of 1917, the formation of the Soviet Union and the Moscow
Comintern, which provided support and direction for the fledgling CCP. In late
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1949 Mao visited Stalin in Moscow. While Mao felt undervalued and disregarded
by Stalin, the two leaders signed an important treaty and military alliance. In public
Mao and CCP propaganda hailed Stalin as a visionary leader of world socialism,
however Mao felt betrayed by Stalin’s lack of support and involvement during the
Korean War. In 1956 Nikita Khrushchev denounced the brutality that occurred
under Stalin’s leadership. This condemnation of Stalin placed Mao in an awkward
position and forced the CCP to reevaluate its position on Stalin. Sino-Soviet
relations continued to worsen from 1957, driven by ideological divisions, different
attitudes to the West, provocative and hostile remarks, failed talks between Mao
and Khrushchev, and border disputes that led to a brief conflict in 1969.

In the Cuban Missile Crisis, Mao accused Khrushchev of cowardice; in return

Khrushchev accused Mao of pushing for nuclear war. The two communist “allies”
didn’t stop at words. In 1969, the two sides fought an unofficial seven-month war
over their border. They vied for the favor of budding communist parties and
regimes throughout the world, sending aid and trying to outdo each other. And
then, amid all the commotion, China reached out to the greatest enemy of all: the
United States.

With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the ideological rivalry was suddenly
moot. Russia and China were no longer ideological enemies masquerading as allies
– they became just two big countries who happened to butt up against each other.
In July 2001, the old Treaty of Freindship (expired 1979) was finally replaced by
the similarly-named Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendship.

Postscript: Now China and Russia are part of BRIC, a group of countries with
rapidly growing economies that may challenge the supremacy of the current richest
countries (such as the US). With the recent tension between the US and Russia
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over Ukraine and oil prices, Russia and China have gone so far as to collaborate on
currency, potentially undermining the importance of the dollar. Communist rivalry
has turned into capitalist collusion!