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Abstract
This paper uses new archival and other documents in analysing the interactions between Chinese domestic politics and international politics and the impacts on Sino-Soviet relations from early 1962 to July 1963. The article proposes a more coherent theoretical approach to the study of the Sino-Soviet split and in particular the role of ideology during the split. This paper concludes that the dynamics of an ideological dilemma were in full play during this period. Mao, the paramount leader in the Chinese political system, intentionally linked his foreign and internal political ideological struggles and, to a large extent, manipulated and escalated Sino-Soviet ideological disputes for his domestic political purposes, namely pushing for his domestic radical programs, asserting his own ideological supremacy, and perhaps most importantly, checking the power and influence of his political rivals.
Notes
Dr. Mingjiang is an assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.
[1] CitationChen, Mao's China and the Cold War, 49.
[2] See for instance the two new books on Sino-Soviet rupture. CitationLüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World; CitationRadchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens.
[3] CitationRobinson, ‘A National Interest Analysis of Sino-Soviet Relations’; CitationClemens, The Arms Race and Sino-Soviet Relations; CitationJones and Kevill, China and the Soviet Union, ix.
[4] CitationYang, Amity and Enmity between Mao and Moscow. Yang describes how Mao contended with his internal and external political foes to search for a pragmatic approach to the communist revolution.
[5] CitationGriffith, ‘Sino-Soviet Relations, 1964–1965’; CitationZagoria, The Sino-Soviet Conflict, 1956–1961; CitationLo, Axis of Convenience, 25; Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens.
[6] CitationHinton, The Sino-Soviet Confrontation, 3; CitationPu, Origins of the Sino-Soviet Polemics, 256.
[7] CitationShen, ‘The Origins and Consequences of the Split of the Sino-Soviet Alliance’; CitationJowitt, New World Disorder, 193
[8] Chen, Mao's China and the Cold War; CitationChen and Yang, ‘Chinese Politics and the Collapse of the Sino-Soviet Alliance’; CitationNiu, ‘1962: The Eve of the Left Turn in China's Foreign Policy’; CitationLi, ‘Emerging Split: From Implicit Struggles to Open Polemics’; Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split.
[9] Niu, ‘1962: The Eve of the Left Turn in China's Foreign Policy’; Li, ‘Emerging Split: From Implicit Struggles to Open Polemics’.
[10] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute and Chinese Foreign Ministry, eds., Selections of Zhou Enlai's Diplomatic Documents, 289–91.
[11] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute, ed., Yearly Chronology of Zhou Enlai, vol. 2, 385.
[12] CitationWu, A Decade of Polemics, 452.
[13] CitationCFMDD, no. 109-02242-10: ‘Guanyu wo fang qing sulian fangmian zhuan yun zhanpin he liang guo haijun jiandui tongxun wenti’ [Our request for Soviet help in transporting exhibition goods and the communications of the naval fleets of the two countries].
[14] CFMDD, no. 109-02242-05: ‘Luo zongzhang jiejian sulian zhu hua wuguan de tanhua jilu’ [Conversation record of Chief of General Staff Luo meeting Soviet military attaché to China].
[15] CFMDD, no. 109-03008-01; ‘Sulian baokan dui wo guo qingkuang de baodao’ [Soviet media reports about China's conditions].
[16] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute, ed., Yearly Chronology of Zhou Enlai, vol. 2, 340–1.
[17] CFMDD, no. 117-01530-02; ‘Zhongyang guanyu zhong su youhao tiaoyue shi yi zhou nian qingzhu banfa zhishi’ [Central instructions on how to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Sino-Soviet friendship treaty].
[18] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute, ed., Yearly Chronology of Zhou Enlai, vol. 2, 389–400.
[19] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute, ed., Yearly Chronology of Zhou Enlai, vol. 2, 385.
[20] CFMDD, no. 109-02264-04; ‘1961 nian fu su zhengfu maoyi daibiao tuan gongzuo zongjie baogao’ [Report of the governmental trade delegation to the Soviet Union in 1961].
[21] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 489.
[22] For more detailed account of the Albanian issue in Sino-Soviet contention, see Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 201–5.
[23] CFMDD, no. 109-03008-01; ‘Sulian baokan dui wo guo qingkuang de baodao’ [Soviet media reports about China's conditions].
[24] CFMDD, no. 109-03813-01; ‘Su qingzhu zhong su youhao tongmeng huzhu tiaoyue 12 zhounian de qingkuang’ [Soviet celebration of the 12th anniversary of the Sino-Soviet alliance treaty].
[25] CitationLiu, ‘Speech at the Expanded Central Work Conference’.
[26] CitationLiu, Eight years of Diplomatic Mission in the Soviet Union, 139
[27] CFMDD, no. 109-03190-02: ‘Guanyu zhong su keji hezuo di shi er jie huiyi shi’ [Matters relating to Sino-Soviet 12th meeting in science and technological cooperation].
[28] Liu, Eight Years of Diplomatic Mission in the Soviet Union, 162.
[29] CFMDD, no. 109-03801-01; ‘Chen Yi fu zhongli zai waijiaobu dangweihui dui zhu sulian dashi Liu Xiao guanyu zhu su shiguan gongzuo huibao suo zuo de zhishi’ [Instructions by Vice Premier Chen Yi at the Foreign Ministry party committee meeting in response to Chinese ambassador to the Soviet Union Liu Xiao's report on the work of Chinese embassy in the Soviet Union].
[30] CFMDD, no. 109-03795-01; ‘Zhongyang youguan fandui xiandai xiuzhengzhuyi he chuli tong sulian deng guo guanxi fangmian de jig e wenti de zhishi’ [Central instructions on several issues in opposing modern revisionism and handling relations with Soviet Union and other countries].
[31] CitationWang, History Recorded on the Spot: Reminiscence of the Cultural Revolution, 73.
[32] CitationZhu, Grasses in Gusty Wind: Mao Zedong and Wang Jiaxiang, 297
[33] The case of Wang Jiaxiang has been discussed extensively by other scholars. See for example Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 212–3; Niu, ‘1962: The Eve of the Left Turn in China's Foreign Policy’.
[34] CitationEditorial team for selected works of Wang Jiaxiang, ed., Remembering Wang Jiaxiang.
[35] CitationWang, History Recorded on the Spot: Reminiscence of the Cultural Revolution, 72–3.
[36] Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 212.
[37] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute, ed., Yearly Chronology of Liu Shaoqi, vol. 3, 489.
[38] CitationJin, Biography of Zhou Enlai, 675.
[39] CitationTang et al., Liu Shaoqi and Mao Zedong, 357.
[40] Mao made this comment in a meeting with a military delegation from Albania on 3 February 1967. Mao told the Albanian visitors that he had discerned the problem as early as January 1962 at the 7000-cadre conference. Mao also mentioned the rightist tendency of 1962 in his big character poster ‘Bombard the Headquarter’ in early August 1966.
[41] CitationWang and Liu, Liu Shaoqi Unknown to You, 90.
[42] CitationBo, Retrospection on Major Decision-making and Events, 1108–10.
[43] CitationLin, ‘Origins of the Four-Clean Movement’.
[44] CitationSchram, Chairman Mao Talks to the People, 189
[45] Tang et al., Liu Shaoqi and Mao Zedong, 376.
[46] CitationMacFarquhar, The Origins of the Cultural Revolution, vol. 3, 277.
[47] Schram, Chairman Mao Talks to the People, 190–1
[48] Schram, Chairman Mao Talks to the People, 192.
[49] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute, Selected Important Documents since the Founding of PRC, vol. 15, 652–3.
[50] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute, Mao Zedong Manuscripts since the Founding of the PRC, vol. 10, 188–9.
[51] CFMDD, no. 109-02423-01: ‘Shang ban nian sulian xingshi de jiben zongjie’ [A summary of Soviet situations in the first half of the year].
[52] CFMDD, no. 109-03811-01; ‘Jiu wo liu xuesheng zuijin biaoxian su waijiaobu zuo de koutou zhengming’ [Soviet foreign ministry's oral statement concerning recent behaviours of Chinese students in the Soviet Union].
[53] CFMDD, no. 109-02423-01: ‘Zhu su shiguan “dui 1962 nian xia ban nian sulian xingshi de chubu kanfa”’ [Preliminary views of Chinese embassy in the Soviet Union on Soviet situations in the second half of 1962].
[54] Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 213–7.
[55] Niu, ‘1962: The Eve of the Left Turn in China's Foreign Policy’; CitationWang, ed., The Diplomatic History of the People's Republic of China, 247–8.
[56] CitationLi, ‘A Historical Investigation of the Yili and Tacheng Incidents in Xinjiang in 1962: Archival Materials from Xinjiang’, 480–509; On the Soviet role in the Xinjiang incident, Lüthi mentions that in early 1962, the Soviet consulate in Yiling and Urumqi distributed Soviet passports without informing the Chinese; see Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 214; Radchenko largely puts blame on the Chinese, see Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 110–1.
[57] CFMDD, no. 118-01771-04: ‘Zhongyang guanyu chuzhi xinjiang wai tao he wai tao huilai renyuan wenti de zhishi’ [Party centre's instructions regarding how to handle those who fled out and those who came back gain].
[58] CFMDD, no. 118-01123-01: ‘Guanyu zai zhong su bianjing zhankai fan xiuzheng zhuyi dianfu pohuai douzheng de qingkuang he cuoshi’ [Situation and measures in the struggles of opposing revisionism on Sino-Soviet borders].
[59] CFMDD, no. 118-01099-04: ‘Xinjiang zizhiqu dangwei guanyu Xiang ganbu he qunzhong shenru jinxing fan xiuzhengzhuyi jiaoyu de qingshi baogao’ [Xinjiang autonomous region party committee's report regarding carrying out in-depth counter-revisionism education among cadres and masses].
[60] CFMDD, no. 109-02423-01: ‘Zui jin su dui wo de yixie zuofa’ [Soviet recent approach to us].
[61] CFMDD, no. 109-02423-01: ‘Dui su xingshi he fan xiu douzheng de yixie kanfa yu tihui’ [Some views on the Soviet situation and counter-revisionism].
[62] CFMDD, no. 109-03182-01: ‘Dui wai wen wei waijiaobu guanyu shi yue geming 45 zhounian qingzhu banfa de qingshi baogao’ [Permission request by Commission for Foreign Cultural Communications and Foreign Ministry regarding celebration of the 45th anniversary of the October Revolution].
[63] CFMDD, no. 109-03213-02: ‘Su fang dui wo guoqing de qingzhu qingkuang’ [Soviet celebration of China's national day].
[64] Liu, Eight Years of Diplomatic Mission in the Soviet Union, 146–8.
[65] CFMDD, no. 109-03809-06: ‘Zhu su dashi Liu Xiao xiang He cixing baihui tanhua neirong’ [Conversation record of ambassador Liu Xiao's farewell meeting with Khrushchev].
[66] CitationHe and Luo, A Factual Account of Major Events in Sino-Soviet Relations, p. 355; Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 227–8; Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 28–33.
[67] CitationTalbott, Khrushchev Remembers, 275–8.
[68] Liu, Eight Years of Diplomatic Mission in the Soviet Union, 154; Wang, The Diplomatic History of the People's Republic of China, 248–9.
[69] CFMDD, no. 109-03809-06: [Conversation record of ambassador Liu Xiao's farewell meeting with Khrushchev].
[70] CitationWang Dong, ‘The Quarrelling Brothers’, 63–4.
[71] CitationXiao et al., Exploring China: Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 936.
[72] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute and Chinese Foreign Ministry, eds., Selected Documents of Mao Zedong on Foreign Affairs, 507–8.
[73] Xiao et al., Exploring China: The Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 996.
[74] Xiao et al., Exploring China: The Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 997.
[75] Xiao et al., Exploring China: The Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 1000.
[76] Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 48–9.
[77] CitationBo, Retrospection on Major Decision-making and Events, 1142–70.
[78] Xiao et al., Exploring China: The Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 1004.
[79] CitationCCP CC Documents Research Institute, Selected Important Documents since the Founding of PRC, vol. 16, 315–6.
[80] MacFarquhar, The Origins of the Cultural Revolution, vol. 3, 342.
[81] Bo, Retrospection on Major Decision-making and Events, 1116.
[82] CitationCao, Special Villa: The Red Wall outside the Red Wall, 268–70.
[83] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 533.
[84] For detailed discussions of these events, see Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 228–36.
[85] Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 33–45.
[86] Xiao et al., Exploring China: The Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 974.
[87] Xiao et al., Exploring China: The Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 977.
[88] CitationThe CCP CC Documents Research Institute, Mao Zedong Manuscripts since the Founding of the PRC, vol. 10, 246–54.
[89] CFMDD, no. 109-02553-01: ‘Zhu sulian shiguan he qita yixie zhu wai shiguan sanfa fan xiu xiao cezi de qingkuang’ [Chinese embassies in the Soviet Union and other countries disseminating counter-revisionism brochures].
[90] CFMDD, no. 109-02553-01: ‘Zhu sulian shiguan he qita yixie zhu wai shiguan sanfa fan xiu xiao cezi de qingkuang’ [Chinese embassies in the Soviet Union and other countries disseminating counter-revisionism brochures].
[91] Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 58–9.
[92] CFMDD, no. 109-03196-01: ‘Dui wai wen wei guanyu zhong su wenhua guanxi de qingkuang he yijian de baogao’ [Report by the Foreign Cultural Liaison Commission on the situation and issues in Sino-Soviet cultural relations].
[93] CFMDD, no. 109-03343-09: ‘Tong sulian 1963 nian maoyi tanpan qingkuang tongbao’ [A brief note on the 1963 trade negotiations with the Soviet Union].
[94] CFMDD, no. 109-02544-05: ‘He yu wo zhu su dashi Pan Zili tanhua jilu’ [Conversation record between Khrushchev and Chinese ambassador to the Soviet Union Pan Zili].
[95] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 539–41.
[96] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 545–6; for the Russian archive of this conversation, see Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 50–1.
[97] Xiao et al., Exploring China: The Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 979.
[98] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, p. 531; English cited in MacFarquhar, The Origins of the Cultural Revolution, vol. 3.
[99] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 552–4.
[100] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 555.
[101] Xiao et al., Exploring China: The Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 981.
[102] CitationWu, Reflections and Remembrance, 369.
[103] CFMDD, no. 109-02560-04: ‘Sulian zai zhong su liang dang huitan qianhou de fan hua qingkuang’ [Soviet anti-China actions around the talks between the two parties].
[104] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 595–8.
[105] Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 59–60.
[106] Radchenko, Two Suns in the Heavens, 60.
[107] Wu, Reflections and Remembrance, 371.
[108] CitationArbatov, The System, 98–9.
[109] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 618–21.
[110] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 621.
[111] CFMDD, no. 109-03839-09: ‘Su gong zhongyang zhuxi tuan yan qing zhonggong daibiaotuan shi de tanhua jilu’ [Conversation record at the banquet hosted by the Soviet party central committee presidium for the CCP delegation].
[112] Xiao et al., Exploring China: The Ten-Year History Prior to the Cultural Revolution, 987.
[113] Wu, A Decade of Polemics, 623.
[114] CFMDD, no. 109-02560-04: ‘Sulian zai zhong su liang dang huitan qianhou de fan hua qingkuang’ [Soviet anti-China actions around the talks between the two parties].
[115] CFMDD, no. 109-02562-04: ‘Waijiaobu guanyu zhong su guojia guanxi fangmian zhankai gongshi de jianyi de chugao’ [Draft suggestions of the Foreign Ministry on launching an offensive in Sino-Soviet relations].
[116] CFMDD, no. 109-02561-01: ‘Waijiaobu, duiwai wen wei guanyu shi yue geming si shi liu zhounian qingzhu banfa de qingshi baogao’ [Foreign Ministry and Commission on Foreign Cultural Exchanges joint proposal on celebration of the 46th anniversary of the October Revolution].
[117] CFMDD, no. 10902716-03: ‘Zhu sulian shiguan 1963 nian duiwai xuanchuan gongzuo zongjie’ [A summary of the Chinese embassy in the Soviet Union on foreign propaganda work in 1963].