It’s just political realignment. When the US is strong, we support the USSR. When the USSR is strong and threaten our interest, we support the US to keep the Soviet ambition in check.
Play both sides and coming out on top have always been China’s strategy to defend its national sovereignty as a weak nation since independence. We only have two allies: the People’s Liberation Army and Navy.
The fact is that we’ve won - you can’t say that about the USSR. To win, you have to get rid of that idealist fantasy and willingto play dirty when it comes down it.
There’s an element of realpolitik that states have to conduct, and the path China took certainly managed to preserve the state in the midst of a hostile world, which can’t be discounted. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only path that could have worked, potentially.
The realignment towards the US had massive negative consequences for socialist movements around the world. If, in a better timeline, the Split hadn’t happened, or if it had been healed, so many better things could have potentially happened.
Between that and the invasion of Vietnam, China was really brain broken during that time.
It’s just political realignment. When the US is strong, we support the USSR. When the USSR is strong and threaten our interest, we support the US to keep the Soviet ambition in check.
Play both sides and coming out on top have always been China’s strategy to defend its national sovereignty as a weak nation since independence. We only have two allies: the People’s Liberation Army and Navy.
The fact is that we’ve won - you can’t say that about the USSR. To win, you have to get rid of that idealist fantasy and willingto play dirty when it comes down it.
There’s an element of realpolitik that states have to conduct, and the path China took certainly managed to preserve the state in the midst of a hostile world, which can’t be discounted. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only path that could have worked, potentially.
The realignment towards the US had massive negative consequences for socialist movements around the world. If, in a better timeline, the Split hadn’t happened, or if it had been healed, so many better things could have potentially happened.