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"China's relations with the USSR and the US were largely shaped…
"China's relations with the USSR and the US were largely shaped by increasing mistrust and suspicion." Discuss with reference to the period between 1947 and 1979
Relations with the USSR
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Stalin and Mao signed a bilateral treaty called the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance
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Signs of strain
Privately, Mao felt that Stalin treated him as an underling rather than an important partner
Mao committed forces to the Korean War on the assumption that Stalin would involve forces and provide men, machinery and weapons
Stalin, did not wish to be drawn into open conflict with the US
He confined USSR involvement in Korea to air support and the sale of aircraft, weapons and munitions
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Relations with the USA
US supports Nationalist Government of Chiang Kai-Shek when they become exiled following the establishment of the People's Republic of China, setting the stage for several decades of limited US relations with China
USA felt like they couldn't trust China based on their relations with the USSR and their new communist Government
Fought/ were involved with opposite sides of the Korean War, heightening tensions
Washington believed that China was an aggressive, expansionist power that threatened the security of its noncommunist neighbours
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At the end of the Vietnam War, President Nixon visited China and marked a breakthrough to reapproachment
US-China unofficial relations began to develop, with trade, educational and cultural exchanges
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Similarities
Both nations went through stages of a strained relationship with China, the USA when China's relations were tied to the USSR and hence, the USA was highly suspicious and mistrusting of China and subsequently, when the USA and China began to improve their relations and hence the USSR was suspicious
Differences
USA formed strong alliances and treaties with other nations as a result of their suspicions of China, hence the relations between the two countries were more intensely strained
USSR = strains came from not recognising China as an equal, didn't find them suspicious but weren't happy when relations between China and the USA started to improve
THESIS
The USA and USSR underwent a period of increasing mistrust and suspicion during the Cold War. The relations that both nations had with China during this time reflected their mutual feelings towards each other across the period from 1947-1979.
HISTORIOGRAPHY
Sergey Radchenko
Argues that the dramatic shifts in the Sino-Soviet relationship can be understood in reference to mutual perceptions of China and Russia by their political elites in the broader context of a global hierarchy dominated by the United States.