Downing concluded: "It is a matter of ideology, and it is true that the differences in this area are irreconcilable, but there should be more than that. ”

Takeda took a sip of wine and said, "Of course, it is not only a question of ideology, but also a question of national interests and foreign policy differences.

After October 1949, China and the Soviet Union came together and formed an alliance and friendly relations, not only because of ideological factors, but also out of consideration of national interests. The alliance between China and the Soviet Union was a strategic choice made by the leaders of the two countries in the face of the Cold War strategy pursued by Western countries against the socialist camp.

However, after 1958, the huge difference in strategic interests between China and the Soviet Union became increasingly exposed, and this year became a turning point in Sino-Soviet relations. The first dispute, which arose, was caused by the problems of the long-wave radio station and the common nuclear submarine fleet. In July 1958, out of the need to oppose US imperialism, the Soviet Union proposed to the Chinese leadership the creation of a joint fleet and a radio station on the eastern coast of China to coordinate the activities of Soviet submarines in the Pacific waters. Mao Weiren believed that this demand of the Soviet Union not only undermined China's sovereignty, but also attempted to control China in the name of "military cooperation." Therefore, he reacted very strongly, categorically rejected the Soviet Union's demands, and severely criticized the Soviet side for putting forward political conditions to China while aiding China.

Although after the talks, the Soviet Union basically abandoned the demand for a joint submarine fleet and long-wave radio stations, the dispute that occurred cast a huge shadow over the already rift in Sino-Soviet relations. Prior to the 24 May 1958 Political Consultative Conference of the Warsaw Pact countries, the Soviet Union had decided that the purpose of the conference would be "to study and formulate new common measures for easing international tensions" and had prepared a draft declaration in advance. On the basis of Soviet proposals, an agreement was reached: the Warsaw Pact unilaterally disarmament of 419,000 troops, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Romania, and the signing of a non-aggression pact with NATO. These measures are simply the opposite of the actions that Mao Weiren was about to take, but they really reflect the major differences between China and the Soviet Union in foreign and domestic policies, and have caused sharp confrontations. are two things that happened later.

First, on August 23, shortly after Khrushchev and his entourage left China, the Chinese Communists suddenly took a military action to shell Kinmen, which caused the United States to intervene, and the situation in the Far East suddenly became tense. Second. China's delay in providing the Soviet Union with a US "Sidewinder" missile, which it had obtained in an air battle in the Taiwan Strait crisis, made Khrushchev so angry that he immediately decided to refuse to provide China with information on the development of the P-12 medium-range ballistic missile, which should have been delivered. A few months later, when China had to hand over the new missile, which had been disassembled several times, Soviet researchers discovered that a key component was missing: an infrared warhead sensor. At this time, the two sides have reached the point where they are incompatible.

In June 1959, the Soviet Union stopped its assistance to China's nuclear program on the grounds that it was negotiating an agreement with the United States and other countries to ban nuclear tests. In August, during the Sino-Indian border dispute, the Soviet Union's TASS news agency issued a statement of neutrality to the Sino-Indian conflict without communicating with China. At the end of September, Khrushchev and US President Dwight D. Eisenhower held a summit. Reconciliation is carried out. The Soviet Union did this to reduce the threat of nuclear war, and because of China's Great Leap, it became known that the CCP was not a true Marxist; The CCP thus believed that the CPSU was retreating in the face of the West. In 1962, Mao Weiren criticized the Soviet Union's retreat in the Cuban Missile Crisis, believing that Khrushchev

It can be seen from this that the different experiences and personalities of Mao Weiwei and Khrushchev caused difficulties in communication between the two people, making it impossible for both to correctly understand the messages sent by the other, and at the same time stimulating the conflict between the personalities of the two people, and this contradiction between the top leaders affected and determined the direction of the relations between the two countries under the special historical conditions at that time. ”

Tang Ning nodded: "The reason for this is indeed too complicated, but I remember that there seems to be a relationship in the middle that can be eased." Could it be that something is wrong in the middle? ”

Takeda explained: "That's right, in February 1961. Xiannian led a CPC delegation to Tirana to attend the congress of the Albanian Workers' Party, and when he passed through Moscow, he persuaded the Soviet leaders to restore relations with Albania. However, the Soviet Union had decided to subdue this former little friend who had been disobedient in Eastern Europe, and relations with Afghanistan were becoming increasingly acute.

When the Warsaw Pact summit was convened in March of that year, China adhered to its original view of international issues. Khrushchev did not compromise with the Soviet Union's position, and when Khrushchev saw this, he no longer fulfilled Mikoyan's promise to restore the dispatch of experts and continue to aid China, which he had said during Shaoqi's visit to the Soviet Union.

In the second half of 1961, relations between the USSR and the Albanian state deteriorated sharply, and in just a few months. The Soviet Union not only announced the cessation of economic aid, the withdrawal of naval bases and all Soviet personnel from Afghanistan, but also finally severed diplomatic relations with Albania. Since Albania was the only party that most firmly supported China during the Sino-Soviet controversy at that time, it was actually sanctioned by the Soviet Union so severely, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China naturally found it difficult to accept it, and could not but express great dissatisfaction.

On October 17 of that year, the Chinese side chose to send Enlai to attend the congress on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Before leaving, the Chinese side informed the Soviet side that Muftiou, the leader of the Albanian Workers' Party who was visiting China, also planned to take the plane to Moscow and then return to China. The Soviet side immediately replied that the plane was specially used to pick up the Chinese communist delegation and that no one else should take it. In fact, it is nothing to carry an extra person on the plane, and this move is precisely what the Soviet side wants to express its dissatisfaction with Albania.

Seeing that the Soviet Union refused to take an Albanian on the plane, Enlai immediately informed the Soviet side that instead of taking this free "special plane," the Chinese Government would rent the plane at the expense of the Chinese government, so that China would have the final say on who to take on such a plane. Muftiu then followed Zhou Enlai on the plane to Moscow, from where he returned to China. This incident shows that Soviet-Albanian relations have reached a very serious point at the time of this congress and will affect Sino-Soviet relations.

Sure enough, when Enlai arrived in Moscow to attend the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev made a series of important decisions at the meeting, in addition to making a big attack on Albania, including moving Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb, expelling Molotov and others from the party, and announcing that the Soviet Union would develop from a country under the dictatorship of the proletariat to a country of the whole people, and that communism would be established within 20 years. All these were unacceptable to the Chinese Communists at that time.

That's why it's the way it is now, and I'm even going to fight soon, so I'm ordered to sneak in and do my old job! (To be continued.) )