Sino-Soviet Relations Research Articles

Assignment Russia: Becoming a Foreign Correspondent in the Crucible of the Cold War

Assignment Russia: Becoming a Foreign Correspondent in the Crucible of the Cold War

How Chinese Sovietologists Perceived and Interpreted Soviet Foreign Policy in the Early 1980s

This article will examine the analyses of Chinese Soviet-watchers on Soviet foreign policy against the larger context of China’s political setting in the early 1980s, before the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, and investigate how those Chinese scholars placed post- Mao Chinese official agendas centrally in their research. In the early 1980s, when the Sino-Soviet relations were in estrangement and the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had exacerbated the bilateral relations, the CCP regime called for the state-wide denunciation of the so-called Soviet hegemonism (baquan zhuyi). After that, Chinese Soviet-watchers became preoccupied with criticizing Soviet hegemonism in their writings. This article will show that both the real Soviet military threat along the PRC border after Moscow’s incursion into Afghanistan, and the historical memory of the past Russian invasion of China played key roles in intensifying the hostility of Chinese scholars toward the USSR in the early 1980s. The criticisms gradually receded after Mikhail Gorbachev took power in 1985, and the label of Soviet hegemonism finally disappeared from Chinese Sovietology writings in the late 1980s, when the bilateral relations had normalized. Moscow’s relations with Albania, Yugoslavia and the Third World also became popular topics in the early 1980s Chinese writings. In the case of Albania, although post-Mao China deeply disliked Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha’s Maoist isolation policy, Chinese scholars highly appreciated Albania’s resistance to Moscow’s domination in the early 1980s. Their stand served quite well to China’s anti-Soviet position then. In the early days of the decade, the CCP regime was attracted by Yugoslavia’s intransigence toward the Kremlin and, most importantly, Belgrade’s trajectory of reform that deviated from the orthodox Soviet model. Many Chinese Soviet-watchers supported wholeheartedly Yugoslavia’s stand in its conflicts with Moscow since the end of the Second World War. The trend reflects China’s ambition of challenging the Soviet domination of the socialist camp, and its aspiration to embrace Yugoslavia’s trajectory of reform, which mixed central planning and market mechanism, and is exactly the path the PRC has taken since 1978. Chinese perceptions of Soviet-Third World relations should also be viewed in the context of China’s Third World policy direction in the early 1980s, when the CCP regime was determined to end Maoist isolation and become a partner of the underdeveloped nations. Chinese scholars always had strong sympathy for the Third World and stood by the side of those countries through their criticisms of Soviet aggression in the region. Many of these scholars argued that Soviet behaviours were contradictory to Lenin’s internationalism. In the Chinese mind, Moscow’s unequal treatment of some Third World states evoked memories of China in the past, when the country had also been bullied and weakened by Tsars and the Kremlin after 1949. Chinese scholars strongly promoted and defended the case of the Third World in their articles. The writings demonstrate China’s determination to challenge Moscow’s authority, appeal for redress for past historical wrongdoings, and promote the moral superiority of Chinese socialism over that of the USSR. As such, seen from the early 1980s Chinese criticisms of Soviet foreign policy, Chinese research of Soviet hegemonism, Soviet-Albanian and Soviet-Yugoslavian conflicts, and Soviet-Third World relations all reflected Beijing’s ambitions of challenging the orthodox Soviet model of economic development in the socialist world, competing with the Kremlin for leadership in the developing countries, and projecting a fair and benevolent image of Chinese socialism vis-à-vis Moscow. As has been demonstrated, Chinese Soviet-watchers did not present many vicissitudes of Soviet international manoeuvres in their writings; instead, through research on the formation and evolution of Soviet foreign policy, they attempted to adjust their analyses to align with China’s vision of itself and the world. Their writings function to highlight lessons learned from Moscow, legitimize the CCP rule and the Chinese way of practicing socialism, and to envision the future direction of China in the reform era. In short, Chinese research of Soviet foreign policy in the early 1980s had primarily been to trace problems of Chinese socialism as experienced by scholars at the time of their research; this was done in order to legitimise state agendas, rather than to seek truth about the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Translation of Japanese Movie Scenarios During the Cultural Revolution of China

In the latter part of the Cultural Revolution, Japanese movie scenarios were translated.The 15 translated films about the reality of Japanese society were newly produced at the time. Many of them were produced by social directors closely related to China and recommended by the Kinema Junpo editorial department.The intensive translation of the Japanese movie scenarios was due to the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations, the political situation in China, and the diversification of Japanese movies.The translation inherited the attention paid to social directors before the Cultural Revolution and promoted the Japanese Movie Boom in the latter part of the period.

Chinese Scientists in Dubna (1956–1965)

The work of Chinese scientists conducted at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) (1956–1965) was inextricably linked to the Sino-Soviet relations in the 1950s–1960s. During the early stage of the JINR, with the aid of advanced equipment and the international cooperation mechanism, Chinese scientists yielded significant results, such as the discovery of the antisigma-minus hyperon and the proof of the law of partial conservation of axial current (PCAC). After the Sino-Soviet split, Chinese scientists’ activities at the institute were hampered by political tensions, eventually resulting in China’s withdrawal from the JINR in 1965. But through the involvement at the JINR, Chinese scientists were trained in scientific practices and participated in international exchange and cooperation which turned them into a new force in China’s nuclear industry, boosting its nuclear weapons, particle physics theory, and accelerator technology. In the meantime, the scientists’ activities extended the international influence of the JINR. The withdrawal of China from the institute impacted both the JINR and the development of science in China.

The sino-soviet border conflict in the middle of the XX century

The article is devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of relations between the USSR and the PRC in the middle of the XX century. The authors analyze the circumstances of the deterioration of relations between the two countries since Nikita Khrushchev assumed leadership of the USSR and the condemnation of the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin. The nature of "cartographic aggression" and "great power chauvinism" is revealed. Besides, typological rhetoric, common and specific features in mutual accusations of the Soviet and Chinese sides are shown. The illegality of the territorial claims of the PRC, the betrayal of socialist ideals by its leadership, attempts to discredit the Soviet Union in the international arena, and the desire to undermine the world communist movement used to be the main theses in the research of the Soviet historians of the 1960s-1980s. It is concluded that the interpretation of Sino-Soviet relations in Soviet historiography was primarily propagandistic and closely related to the state interests of the Soviet Union.

The Sino-Soviet Border Conflict in the Middle of the XX Century

The article is devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of relations between the USSR and the PRC in the middle of the XX century. In a short historical period, two countries with a similar ideology and political system shifted from relations of friendship and mutual assistance to military-political confrontation, which culminated in the armed conflict on Zhenbao (Damansky) Island in March 1969. A special interest of the Chinese side in good-neighbourly relations with the Soviet Union at the initial stage of the existence of the PRC (1949-1955) is described. The authors analyze the circumstances of the deterioration of relations between the two countries since Nikita Khrushchev assumed leadership of the USSR and the condemnation of the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin. Special attention is paid to the border issue in the relationship between the two countries. It presents the different views of the PRC and the Soviet Union on the tsarist treaties with China concluded in the second half of the XIX century. Moreover, the problem of ideological confrontation between the Soviet and Chinese leadership is considered; the publications of Soviet historians which assess the actions of the PRC leadership against the Soviet Union are analyzed. The nature of "cartographic aggression" and "great power chauvinism" is revealed. Besides, typological rhetoric, common and specific features in mutual accusations of the Soviet and Chinese sides are shown. The illegality of the territorial claims of the PRC, the betrayal of socialist ideals by its leadership, attempts to discredit the Soviet Union in the international arena, and the desire to undermine the world communist movement used to be the main theses in the research of the Soviet historians of the 1960s-1980s. It is concluded that the interpretation of Sino-Soviet relations in Soviet historiography was primarily propagandistic and closely related to the state interests of the Soviet Union.

A short history of Sino-Soviet relations, 1917–1991

A short history of Sino-Soviet relations, 1917–1991

Revolutionary Appropriation of Disability in Socialist Chinese Literature and Film

Literature and film in socialist China represented disabled people primarily in two ways: either as courageously contributing to socialist development in spite of physical impairments, or as recovering miraculously due to the medical practices supported by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This article seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of these two narrative paradigms. In the first case, it examines a mutually constitutive structure of love and disability, and then demonstrates how writers maintained a certain agency under socialist censorship by deviating from this structure. In addition, this article traces the formation of miraculous recovery stories and argues that this process was a complex interaction among disability, Soviet or Chinese medical practices, Sino-Soviet relations, and the Mao cult. I will further explore why the second paradigm became more influential than the first one during the Cultural Revolution.

Россия – Китай: непростой путь к стратегическому партнерству (к 70-летию установления дипломатических отношений)

Introduction. The article is devoted to the features and historical evolution of the SovietChinese (later Russian-Chinese) relations from the moment of the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to the present. The analysis of the complex of factors that determined the complex dynamics of the relations between the two countries was carried out by the author of the article. It is shown that the SovietChinese (later – Russian-Chinese) relations developed from close alliance to alienation and confrontation – with reaching a level of strategic partnership in the second decade of the 21st century. Methods and materials. The authors seek a combination of general theoretical and special methods, focusing on the historical, sociocultural and political analysis. They are based on the analysis of periodicals, as well as using books, articles and materials of researchers on the problems of the political development of China and the USSR (Russia) and on the transformation of the nature of their bilateral relations. The author analyzes the current situation in the relations between the two countries, according to which the nature of the development of the general situation in international relations and the objective foreign policy interests of China and Russia encourage them to build and deepen bilateral partnership. Results. According to the author, many of the reasons that gave rise to a conflict of interests and confrontation between the two countries in previous years are exhausted today. At the same time, the joint participation of China and Russia in the formation and adoption of a new, more equitable and sustainable world order, in the settlement of conflicts and crises, in the arrangement of the Greater Eurasia space seems to the author justified and promising. Among the factors defining the nature of the Sino-Soviet relations the author identifies the relationship between the leaders of the two countries, the difference of geopolitical concepts and approaches, ideological disputes and differences in the views on strategy and prospects of the communist movement, the logic of the socio-political and socio-economic development in the context of modernization. The changing and contradictory correlation of these factors determined the development of the Soviet-Chinese (later Russian-Chinese) relations from a close alliance to mutual distancing and confrontation – with the subsequent entry into strategic partnership.

The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact of April 13, 1941: China's response

The subject of this research is response of the government, political parties, and society of the Republic of China to signing the Neutrality Pact between the USSR and Japan on April 13, 1941 – one of the crucial bilateral agreements of the World War II, which entailed fundamental changes to the Far Eastern international system. The Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact negatively affected the relations between the Soviet Union and the Republic of China. The goal of this work is to objectively assess the impact of the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact of April 13, 1941 upon the domestic and foreign policy of the Chinese government, as well as further development of the Sino-Soviet relations. The novelty of this work consists in the fact that based on the poorly studied Russian and foreign documentary materials, the author examines the questions that have been rarely touched upon within the Russian historiography, such as: China’s response to conclusion of the Neutrality Pact between the USSR and Japan; its effect upon Sino-Soviet relations. The conclusion is made that the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact of April 13, 1941, which marked the most difficult moment of the Sino-Japanese War, was a psychological blow to China. The position of the Kuomintang government was ambivalent: on the one hand, it refrained from the public anti-Soviet propaganda; while on the other hand, used dissatisfaction of China’s population to enhance pressure on its major political opponent – China’s Communist Party. Therefore, the Sino-Soviet relations in general did not experience severe problems; however, the internal split in the Chinese society has worsened, which substantially undermined the formation of Second United Front.

M. Gorbachev’s Contribution to the Normalization of Sino-Soviet Relations and Further Development of Sino-Russian Relations

When Gorbachev came to power in March 1985, there still remained high-degree hostility as in the past two decades between the Soviet Union and China. In order to get rid of the abnormal state of Sino-Soviet relations as soon as possible, Gorbachev completely abandoned the old China policy of the Brezhnev era, made concessions and gradually fulfilled all of China’s demands in political consultations. Based on this, the Sino-Soviet summit held in May 1989 in Beijing officially marked the normalization of Sino-Soviet relations. The joint Sino-Soviet communiqué, released after the summit, indicated that after the normalization, the development of Sino-Soviet relations would be based on the “five principles of peaceful coexistence” and would not be directed against any third country. Meanwhile, during his visit to China, Gorbachev reached agreements with Chinese leaders to thoroughly resolve the territorial issue and create a mechanism for high-level political dialogue. The end of the enmity between the USSR and the PRC and the elimination of territorial disputes laid the foundation for a smooth transition of Sino-Soviet relationship to Sino-Russian one. In the spirit of the Sino-Soviet summit and the joint Sino-Soviet communiqué of 1989, the Russian Federation and the PRC began to establish a new type relationship, which is non-allied, non-confrontational and not directed against any third country on the legal basis of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation in 2001. This is a significant diplomatic legacy and lasting vitality left by Gorbachev for Russia.

Reliability of the Plot Related to the Conversation with Deng Xiaoping on the Sino-Soviet Territorial Issues in the Memoirs of E. Shevardnadze

In 2009, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and President of Georgia E.A. Shevardnadze published his memoirs in Russian, which contain an “explosive” plot: while visiting China in February 1989, during his meeting with Deng Xiaoping, a lengthy dispute over border and territorial issues occurred. At that time, Deng allegedly expressed his point of view that vast lands of the Soviet Union, from three to four million square kilometers, belonged to China. Chinese can wait patiently until someday the lands return to China. This content is cited in scientific works by many historians from different countries as an argument. However, there is no other evidence which can prove this recollection. Many details in it contradict the well known historical facts or are completely illogical. There is a good reason to believe that the plot in the memoirs of Shevardnadze is an incorrect recollection. It could even be considered as a made-up story. Moreover, it is possible that it was fabricated for some reasons. Hence, the plot is not worthy of being quoted as a reliable source. At the Sino-Soviet summit Deng Xiaoping did have expressed the point of view that in the past Russia and then the Soviet Union cut off millions of square kilometers of land from China, but at the same time he promised the leader of the Soviet Union that China would not make territorial claims. Since the mid-1980s Deng Xiaoping actively promoted the settlement of the Sino-Soviet border issues through negotiations, which led to the result that 99% of the border between Russia and China was delimited on a legal basis in the last years of his life. At present, the problems of the Sino-Russian border have been finally resolved long ago. There is no doubt that the scientific research and discussions on issues related to territory and borders in the history of Sino-Soviet relations can be made. However, such research and discussions should be based on reliable sources.

Historical Past of Sino-Soviet Relations and the Future of Sino-Russian Relations

A few words before the publication by Shen Zhihua et al. “A Brief History of Sino-Soviet Relations. New Research and Reflections on the History of Sino-Soviet Relations 1917–1991”. In an article written in connection with the publication in China of a new book on the history of Soviet-Chinese relations, the author, who has worked for many years in the diplomatic field in Moscow, formulates some general approaches to the history and current state of bilateral relations, including what lessons must be drawn from the very dramatic trajectory of the development of relations between the PRC and the USSR.

Antirevizionistskaya bor'ba pod imenem antiimperializma: demonstraciya pered posol'stvom SShA v Moskve v 1965 g.

With the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations in the 1960s the ideological struggle between the PRC and the USSR inevitably influenced Chinese students who were studying at that time in Soviet universities. Chinese students, who had a strong sense of political responsibility, actively responded to the domestic propaganda of anti-revisionism. The article deals with the demonstration of foreign students in front of the US embassy in Moscow in March 1965 and its violent suppression by the Soviet police - an episode of the conflict between the PRC and the USSR over leadership in Vietnam issue. On the base of archival materials the author reconstructs the course of events, analyzes the reasons and the consequences of the incident, which became a crucial moment in Sino-Soviet relations.

‘Gems Unwrought Can Form Nothing Useful’: Socialist China’s Pedagogical Erasure of Individuality, 1949–1958

ABSTRACT This article investigates socialist China’s pedagogic treatment of individuality between 1949 and 1958, with a focus on the debates concerning ‘all-round development’ and ‘teaching in accordance with aptitude’, two principles that clashed regarding students’ individuality. It reconstructs how educational bureaucrat and theorist Zhang Lingguang spearheaded the debates in People’s Education, China’s leading educational journal. Building on the existing idealistic, critical and cultural perspectives on the debates, this article offers an analysis of power dynamics on three levels. Interpersonally, bureaucrats and ideologues were in conflict with ordinary teachers from local schools. Institutionally, People’s Education mediated between the Ministry of Education and teachers nationwide, while managing its accountability. (Inter)nationally, the debates were conditioned by the changing Sino–Soviet relationship, and by the Hundred Flowers Campaign.

The Role of North Korea in China’s Civil War: The Soviet-led North Korean Assistance to the CPC in the Northeast Theater, 1946-1948

Abstract Previous studies of China’s civil war have concentrated on different aspects and causes leading to the Communist victory and focused on political, economic, and military explanations. Few studies, however, have examined the features of foreign intervention and assistance to the Communist Party of China and their contribution to the latter’s success. Sino-Soviet relations and cooperation during the war have received the attention of several studies, but the role of North Korea in the war has remained obscure. As information regarding North Korea’s actions during China’s civil war remains largely inaccessible, few studies have debated the question of whether North Korea had ever deployed its forces in China’s Northeast in order to assist their Chinese comrades. Relying on military and intelligence documents from the Republic of China, this article shows how by the time of the Soviet withdrawal from China’s Northeast, the USSR had become resolute about turning North Korea into a militarized state in order to protect its own interests in the region and assist the Chinese Communists.

Familiar Strangers: Images and Voices of Soviet Allies in Dubbed Films in 1950s China

After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), dubbed Soviet films became an important tool to promote the Sino-Soviet alliance among the Chinese people. This essay explores the representation of the Soviet allies through the dubbing of Soviet films in 1950s China, with a focus on not only the content of these voices, but also the techniques and aesthetics of voicing. It shows that although designed by the PRC to produce an image of the Soviets as relatable and familiar, these films also produced an image of strangers, which allowed alternative imaginations of the Soviet characters and the Sino-Soviet relationship. This paper argues for the ambiguity of the image of the “Soviet big brothers” in dubbed films in the 1950s, which disrupted the official imagination of the relationship between the Chinese and the world.

Introduction to “A Conversation between Chinese Artists and Mexican Painter David Alfaro Siqueiros”

Abstract In October 1956, the Mexican muralist David Siqueiros traveled Beijing and engaged in two dialogues with artists from the Chinese Artists’ Association. His visit came at an inflection point in China’s foreign and cultural policy. As Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, China used cultural diplomacy to cultivate relationships with unaligned countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. China’s cultural policy mirrored this shift by relaxing its adherence to Soviet-style Socialist Realism and promoting new stylistic practices, including a revival of ink painting techniques. This policy shift re-animated a debate among Chinese artists over the best mode of representation for socialist art, with one side arguing that Soviet-style Socialist Realism was the only acceptable style, and the other advocating for the reform of Chinese ink painting techniques. Within this context, Siqueiros’s criticism of Soviet artists and his advice to follow Chinese stylistic traditions set off a rich discussion on new approaches to Socialist Realism within China.

A Conversation between Chinese Artists and Mexican Painter David Alfaro Siqueiros

Abstract In October 1956, the Mexican muralist David Siqueiros traveled Beijing and engaged in two dialogues with artists from the Chinese Artists’ Association. His visit came at an inflection point in China’s foreign and cultural policy. As Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, China used cultural diplomacy to cultivate relationships with unaligned countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. China’s cultural policy mirrored this shift by relaxing its adherence to Soviet-style Socialist Realism and promoting new stylistic practices, including a revival of ink painting techniques. This policy shift re-animated a debate among Chinese artists over the best mode of representation for socialist art, with one side arguing that Soviet-style Socialist Realism was the only acceptable style, and the other advocating for the reform of Chinese ink painting techniques. Within this context, Siqueiros’s criticism of Soviet artists and his advice to follow Chinese stylistic traditions set off a rich discussion on new approaches to Socialist Realism within China.

Was Maoist China a Clone of the Soviet Union?

Was Maoist China a Clone of the Soviet Union? Felix Wemheuer Lucien Bianco, Stalin and Mao: A Comparison of the Russian and Chinese Revolutions, translated by Krystyna Horko. 448 pp. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-9882370654. $65.00. Elizabeth McGuire, Red at Heart: How Chinese Communists Fell in Love with the Russian Revolution. 462 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0190640552. $34.95. It has become fashionable in Western China studies to write about transnational entanglements between the People's Republic (PRC) and the Soviet Union or to compare the development of both countries. The similarities of Stalin's Soviet Union and Mao's China are obviously many, making it impossible to cover them all in a single text. Two new books approach this comparison from different angles. Lucian Bianco looks at the great leaders and macropolitics in Stalin and Mao: A Comparison of the Russian and Chinese Revolutions, while Elizabeth McGuire uses a focus on personal relations and microhistory in Red at Heart: How Chinese Communists Fell in Love with the Russian Revolution. This review discusses the two monographs within the larger context of Western China studies and with attention to paradigm shifts in Sino-Soviet relations. Paradigm Shifts in Western China Studies Since the mid-1930s, Western scholarship regarding the impact of the Soviet Union on the Chinese Revolution and later the PRC underwent several paradigm shifts. During World War II and under the alliance of the United States and China against the Japanese Empire, Chinese Communists were often considered anti-imperialists and nationalists. The bestseller Red Star over China, written by the American journalist Edgar Snow, contributed to [End Page 442] the view of Mao Zedong as a grassroots revolutionary. The lives of communist leaders in the revolutionary base area in Yan'an were presented by Snow as simple and egalitarian. Therefore, Snow saw Chinese communism as an alternative to bureaucratic state socialism in the Soviet Union.1 When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in 1949, the Cold War had already started. Anticommunist hardliners in the McCarthy era blamed "liberals" of the former Roosevelt administration and scholars in China studies for underestimating the communist threat and causing the "loss of China." In the 1950s, the newly founded PRC was often seen in the West as a "Soviet satellite state" and "totalitarian dictatorship." Western perception started to change significantly due to the rise of the Anti–Vietnam War movement and the New Left around 1968. Activists and many scholars then saw Maoist China through the lenses of anti-imperialism and Third World liberation movements.2 The New Left considered the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) an experiment in mass participation and rural based-development strategies. Western media reports about the horrors of the Cultural Revolution were often ignored as "anticommunist propaganda"; violence was rationalized, because "revolution is not a dinner party," as Chairman Mao had said. The guerilla fighter and the "barefoot doctor" became poster children for an alternative development model to Western and Soviet modernity. CCP criticism of "Soviet revisionism," and in part Western scholarship, emphasized the "Chinese way" of building socialism.3 From the 1930s until the early 1990s, the history of the CCP was often written as step-by-step emancipation from domination by the Comintern and the Soviet Union. The departure from revolutionary Maoism in China after "Reform and Opening" in 1978 destroyed many dreams and illusions. However, it was only after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the opening of the archives of the Comintern and CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union), that the history of the Chinese Revolution was rewritten again. The new findings from archives deconstructed the myths that the CCP had taken an independent path from the Soviet Union. Stalin's guidance and Soviet support had played [End Page 443] a crucial role in creating the second United Front with the Nationalists (GMD) against Japan in 1937 and in bringing the CCP into power in 1949.4 Archival documents show that Soviet advisers influenced the development of the political and economic system in China in the early 1950s based on the Stalinist model. In the fields of culture, education, agriculture, and policies...