The Extension of the Cold War: China

The Chinese Civil War

• The Chinese Civil War (1927-1936 and 1946-1950) was a conflict between:
  • The right-wing government forces of the Republic of China (Kuomintang).
  • The left-wing People's Liberation Army (Chinese Communist Party - CCP).
• The communists gained support from landless and starving Chinese peasants.
• A truce occurred during World War II, with both sides battling Japanese invaders, the communist forces assisted by fighting a guerrilla war against the Japanese.
• The communists encouraged support for their ideology during the war.
• After the war, Chiang Kai-shek signed the United Nations Charter on behalf of China.
• China became one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
• The country was politically divided.
• General Marshall of the USA tried unsuccessfully to form a coalition government between Chiang and the communists.
• The civil war resumed.
• The Kuomintang, despite receiving American aid, was defeated by the communists under Mao Zedong.

Formation of the People's Republic of China

• The communists gained control of mainland China.
• On October 1, 1949, they established the People's Republic of China, commonly known as China (or Red China).
• The Kuomintang, under Chiang, retreated to Taiwan (formerly surrendered by Japan after World War II).
• They re-established the Republic of China, referred to as Taiwan.
• Disputes over islands in the Taiwan Strait led to the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises.
• Mao Zedong opposed Taiwan holding China's seat in the UN Security Council.

The Great Leap Forward

• Mao aimed to rapidly industrialize and modernize China to compete with the USA and USSR.
• He used communist ideology to justify the transformation.
• The 'Great Leap Forward' and the 'Cultural Revolution' aimed to overhaul Chinese society.
• Mao became the leader of the world's most populous country.
• The population largely consisted of landless peasants.
• The Agrarian Reform Law of 1950 seized land from landlords and distributed it to peasants.
• In 1956, the Hundred Flowers Campaign encouraged citizens to criticize the communist regime.
• In 1957, the Anti-Rightism Campaign targeted those with insufficiently communist ideas.
• In 1958, The Great Leap Forward collectivized farms and restructured industry.
• Peasants and workers surrendered their produce to the state.
• Like similar policies in the USSR, this led to famine and millions of deaths.
• The Great Chinese Famine (1958-1961) is considered the largest famine in human history.
• This period was known as the Three Bitter Years, during which China exported grain to repay Soviet loans.
• In 1961, The Great Leap Forward policies were abandoned, and grain exports ceased.
• Mao's status in the CCP declined.
• Mao's literacy policy was more successful; literacy rates rose from 20% in 1949 to 90% in 1965.
• China aimed to become a nuclear power and detonated its first atomic bomb in 1964.

The Cultural Revolution

• The Cultural Revolution was a period of political persecution.
• In 1966, Mao implemented the policy to remove 'revisionists' attempting to revive capitalism.
• Revisionism involves modifying an already-formulated ideology.

Who Was Chairman Mao?

• Mao Zedong (1893-1976) was a Chinese communist revolutionary and the founding father of the People's Republic of China.
• He ruled as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1949 until his death in 1976.
• His theories, military strategies, and political policies are known as Maoism.
• Mao initiated the Red Guards, a paramilitary organization of young adults, to implement the Cultural Revolution.
• The Red Guards attacked and attempted to overcome the 'Four Olds' of Chinese society: old culture, old customs, old habits, and old ideas.
• They destroyed books and art, damaged religious sites, and ransacked museums.
• Streets and buildings were renamed.
• Historians view the Cultural Revolution as Mao's attempt to improve his standing in China.
• Gigantic portraits of Mao and posters with sayings from his Little Red Book were displayed to create a personality cult.
• The Red Guards attacked and executed older intellectuals.
• The Down to the Countryside Movement (beginning in 1968) sent privileged young people from cities to learn from peasants in the countryside.
• The Cultural Revolution ended in 1976 after Mao's death.
• Its leaders, known as the 'Gang of Four', were arrested.

Chinese Relations with the USSR (1949 - 1973)

Early Years and the Sino-Soviet Treaty

• The USSR hoped to gain an ally in the worldwide communist revolution when the Chinese Communist Party won the Chinese Civil War.
• Mao initially admired the USSR as the leader of the communist movement and a model for development.
• On February 14, 1950, China and the USSR signed the 20-year Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.
• The USSR granted China a large loan to rebuild its economy after the Chinese Civil War.
• The USSR provided China with industrial technicians and military support.
• During the Korean War (1950-1953), both the USSR and China backed North Korea.
• The Soviets supplied weapons, while China provided a military presence.
• This strengthened ties between the two communist states, but it only lasted a short time.
• The relationship between Stalin and Mao deteriorated due to a growing power struggle.
• Stalin could not control China like the USSR's satellite states in Eastern Europe, which frustrated him.
• Mao anticipated China becoming more powerful than the USSR.

Khrushchev and the 1950s

• After Stalin's death in 1953, Khrushchev became the leader of the USSR.
• Because of the dangers of nuclear war, Khrushchev improved relations between communist and capitalist countries.
• Mao disapproved of Khrushchev's policy of 'peaceful co-existence' with capitalist countries.
• Mao believed in the Marxist vision of spreading communism worldwide.
• Mao labeled Khrushchev a 'revisionist,' and Khrushchev called Mao a traitor.
• Despite this, the USSR backed China in the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958 against Taiwan and the USA.
• Khrushchev grew concerned about Mao's recklessness during the crisis.
• Although the USSR had assisted China in developing nuclear energy between 1954 and 1960, they refused to reveal how to make an atomic bomb.

The Sino-Soviet Split

• Economic policy differences also existed.
• During the Great Leap Forward, Mao focused on utilizing the abundant labor of Chinese peasants.
• Khrushchev accused Mao of wasting Soviet aid.
• In 1960, the USSR cancelled all aid to China.
• In 1962, the USSR supported India in its war with China over territory.
• Mao criticized Khrushchev's 'capitulation' during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• In 1963, China accused the Soviets of colluding with the West by signing the Limited Test Ban Treaty with the USA and the UK, designed to reduce nuclear testing.
• The breakdown in the relationship between China and the USSR in the early 1960s is known as the Sino-Soviet Split.
• 'Sino' means 'Chinese,' so the Sino-Soviet Split refers to the breakdown in relations between China and the USSR.
• In the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, China and the USSR supported opposing sides.
• In 1967, anti-Soviet demonstrations occurred in China, and the USSR removed its diplomatic staff from the country.
• Mao became antagonistic towards the USSR.
• In October 1968, he pressured North Vietnam to choose between China and the USSR for continued support in the Vietnam War.
• (North Vietnam chose the USSR, which provided more aid, so China broke off relations with North Vietnam.)
• China was critical of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring.
• The Brezhnev Doctrine caused China to fear a Soviet invasion.
• In 1969, China and the USSR had military conflicts along their shared border, resulting in deaths on both sides.
• China demanded control of Damansky/Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River, part of the Sino-Soviet border.
• The USSR agreed to hand it over after the conflict, but relations remained poor.
• The Soviets called the island 'Damansky Island,' and the Chinese called it 'Zhenbao Island'.
• In 1970, the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance expired and was not renewed.
• China then competed with the USSR for influence in Africa.
• In 1970, China began building the Tanzam Railway.
• In 1972, China invited the president of the USA to visit, marking a new foreign policy strategy.

Chinese Relations with the USA (1949-1973)

• Initially, China regarded the USA as its natural enemy.
• However, China and the USA grew closer due to shared concerns about the USSR's behavior in the 1960s and 1970s.
• The early 1970s showed signs of improved relations between the two nations.
• President Nixon lifted the ban on Sino-American trade.
• By 1971, the USA agreed that China should become a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power.
• Growing trust and friendship between the USA and China culminated in Nixon's historic official visit to China in 1972.
• The USA did not formally recognize the People's Republic of China for 30 years after Mao established it.
• When the communists defeated the Kuomintang, the American embassy staff followed the Kuomintang to Taiwan.

America, China and the Korean War

• Following the start of the Korean War in 1950, the UN passed Resolution 82, condemning the North Korean invasion across the 38th Parallel into South Korea as 'aggressive'.
• As part of the UN force, American troops supported South Korea, pushing the North Koreans north, back past the 38th Parallel and to the Chinese border.
• When South Korean and UN troops entered North Korea, China sent in Chinese troops to help North Korea push them back south.
• Relations between the USA and China became tense.
• The USA froze Chinese assets in the USA.
• China seized all American assets within its borders and expelled all Americans from the country.
• In 1950, the USA also established a trade embargo against China.
• The USA considered using nuclear bombs against Chinese bases in Manchuria, but negotiations ended the Korean War in 1953, so these nuclear bombs were never deployed.

America, China and Taiwan

• In the mid-1950s, American foreign policy shifted toward economic, military, and diplomatic support for Taiwan against China.
• In the First Taiwan Strait Crisis (1954-1955), China took control of some islands in the Taiwan Strait claimed by Taiwan.
• Premier Zhou Enlai of China expressed that the issue of Taiwan was 'a purely internal affair of China'.
• The USA supported Taiwan against China, temporarily ending hostilities in the Taiwan Strait.
• In the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis (1958), China again attacked certain islands claimed by Taiwan.
• The USA backed Taiwan, and the USSR also backed China.
• The USA discussed using nuclear weapons against China, but the hostilities subsided.
• Relations between China and the USA worsened.
• In 1958, Mao stated that 'It is the task of the people of the whole world to put an end to the aggression and oppression perpetrated by imperialism, and chiefly by U.S. imperialism.'
• Zhou Enlai (in office 1949-1976) was involved in Chinese decisions regarding the Korean War.
• His experiences led him to advocate peaceful coexistence with the West, but he maintained China's claim to Taiwan.

America, China and the Vietnam War

• The Vietnam War (1955 to 1975) also brought the USA and China into conflict.
• The USA supported South Vietnam, while China supported North Vietnam.
• American presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson pressured the UN Security Council to prevent China from taking up a seat at the expense of Taiwan.
• In 1964, China tested its first nuclear device, frustrating the USA.
• The USA viewed China under Mao as a greater threat than the USSR under Khrushchev, because Mao seemed committed to worldwide communist revolution.

Improvements in Chinese USA Relations in the Mid-1960s

• Despite public animosity, secret diplomatic meetings were conducted between the USA and China from 1955 to 1970.
• In 1966, the USA felt less threatened by China due to the Cultural Revolution, seeing it as a sign of great political tensions.
• The USA returned to viewing the USSR (under Brezhnev) as 'enemy number 1'.
• In 1967, the China Claims Program allowed Americans to claim lost assets from the 1950 communist takeover.
• Later that year, Johnson announced that there were "some very important things taking place in China today that will contribute to a better understanding and a more moderate approach to their neighbors in the world”.
• In 1968, the USSR invaded Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring, and China publicly condemned this interference.
• This increased Mao’s interest in improving relations with the USA to gain leverage over the USSR.

Chinese-USA Relations Continue to Improve into the 1970s

• On January 20, 1969, Richard Nixon became the new president of the USA.
• Nixon, strongly anti-communist, saw China as a growing power with whom the USA should actively try to have a better relationship.
• In 1969, the USA announced the 'Two Chinas' policy that accepted the existence of both Taiwan and China, whereas previously the USA had only recognized Taiwan.
• In the same year, Nixon said that the USA was going to stop being the ‘global policeman’, referred to as the Nixon Doctrine.
• As a result, American ships stopped patrolling the Taiwan Strait on the southern coast of China.
• Nixon wanted to drive a wedge between China and the USSR so that they would never act as a united communist block against American interests.
• This coincided with a battle between China and the USSR on its northern border.
• In 1971, Kissinger, the USA's secretary of state, visited China
• The USA's trade embargo against China (which had existed since 1950) was removed.
• In 1971, the USA supported China in its mission to get a seat in the UN, and at this time China was successful.
• In 1972, Nixon visited China and tried to forge a diplomatic relationship between the two countries.
• During this visit, on February 27, 1972, the USA agreed Taiwan was part of China and agreed to withdraw its forces from Taiwan.
• The ongoing Vietnam War stalled the process of normalising relations between the countries.
• However, the USA withdrew its troops from Vietnam by March 29, 1973.
• Kissinger visited China again in 1973, in order to open up bilateral trade between the two countries, the representatives of each country discussed potential exports.
• During this visit, Mao offered to export ten million Chinese women to the USA, which Kissinger called 'a novel proposition'.
• Kissinger later observed that 'Mao's passion strove to overwhelm opposition; Zhou's intellect would seek to persuade or outmanoeuvre it.'

China's Relationship with the USA after 1973

• In 1973, the USA withdrew its troops from Vietnam, which pleased China.
• In 1974, Nixon resigned as the American president, and in 1976, Mao died.
• However, relations between the USA and China (USSR) continued to improve, and the two countries established full diplomatic relations.
• From 1978, the de facto leader of China was Deng Xiaoping, who saw the USSR as the main threat to China and the USA as a potential ally.
• Under Deng, China embarked on a massive policy of modernisation and economic reform.

Technological and Economic Reforms under Deng

• Like Mao, Deng wanted to reduce poverty in China but had different ideas about how best to do this.
• Under Deng's policies of modernisation and market socialism:
  • Agriculture, industry and the military were modernised.
  • Farms were de-collectivised and household subsistence farming was allowed.
  • Industry was decentralised (factories could now deal directly with each other rather than contracting through the state).
  • Price controls were abandoned.
  • Peasant farmers were allowed to sell their surpluses on the open market.
  • Entrepreneurs were allowed to own businesses.
  • An 'open door policy' allowed trade between Chinese and Western companies.
  • Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were established to trade directly with Western markets, particularly with the USA.
  • Foreign investment was allowed.
• However, key industries remained state-owned.
• To support this new direction, Deng increased economic contact with the USA and signed free-trade agreements.
• In 1978, the USA's President Jimmy Carter announced that from the beginning of 1979, the USA would officially recognise the People's Republic of China as a legitimate political entity and stop recognising Taiwan as an independent state.
• In 1979, Deng visited the USA to meet Carter, and trade links were further cemented.
• Coca-Cola and McDonalds were some of the first American firms that gained production and trading concessions in China.
• However, later in 1979, also under Carter, the USA produced the Taiwan Relations Act, which allowed for unofficial diplomatic relations between the USA and Taiwan, and allowed the USA to help Taiwan to help defend itself if it were attacked.
• Carter wanted to ensure that China would not actually take control of Taiwan.
• Therefore, the USA's support of Taiwan remained a point of contention in its relationship with China.

The Changing Relationship Between China and its Neighbouring States

• From the start, China has had difficult relationships with Taiwan and Tibet:
  • China wanted to take control of Taiwan and to this day remains in conflict with it.
  • In 1950, China invaded Tibet and continues to control the country as a region within China.
• China also had difficult relationships with the neighbouring states of India and Vietnam:
  • It has been involved in border conflicts with India.
  • It got involved in a civil war in Vietnam and later invaded it.

The Relationship Between China and Taiwan

• When the Chinese again took over the island of Taiwan in 1945, it had already been colonised by the Dutch, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.
• After the communists defeated the Kuomintang on mainland China in 1949, the Kuomintang made the city of Taipei on Taiwan the 'temporary' capital of the Republic of China.
• The island of Taiwan became the main territory controlled by the Kuomintang, and so the ROC came to be called Taiwan after this island.
• China and Taiwan never recognised each other as legitimate governments, and never signed a formal peace treaty to finish the Chinese Civil War.
• Taiwan also controlled other islands in the Taiwan Strait, many of which were close to the Chinese mainland, as well as Hainan Island in the South China Sea.
• China wanted control of these islands, and in 1950 took control of Hainan Island.
• In 1954 and 1955 China attacked a number of other islands in the First Taiwan Strait Crisis.
• China took control of the Tashen Islands and the Yijiangshan Islands, but Taiwan successfully defended Kinmen Island and the Matsu Islands with American support.
• In 1958, in the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, China attacked Kinmen Island and the Matsu Islands again, and again Taiwan managed to defend them successfully with American support.
• In the 1970s the USA and China established diplomatic relations, and in 1979 the USA recognised China's viewpoint that Taiwan was a part of China.
• This displeased Taiwan, but gradually Taiwan and China started to negotiate on some issues, such as cross-border visits to family members.
• China still claims Taiwan and vice versa.
• However, in reality China and Taiwan are separate and independent countries.

The Relationship Between China and Vietnam

• By the time of its independence in the late 20th century, Vietnam had been subjected to extended imperial and colonial control by three powers: Imperial China between 100BCE and 900 CE, France between the mid-19th century and 1940, and Japan from 1940-1945.

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR

• In 1945 a communist liberation movement called the Viet Minh declared Vietnam to be free from Japanese control and therefore an independent nation.
• But once France - Vietnam's former colonizer - had been liberated from its own German occupation, it tried to re-colonize Vietnam.
• This gave rise to the First Indochina War (or the Anti-French Resistance War) in Vietnam.
• This war lasted from 1946 to 1954.
• Both China and the USSR recognised the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as an independent country in 1950, even though the First Indochina War was still going on.
• But, at this point, the USSR was very involved in supporting its satellite states in Eastern Europe.
• So while the USSR did send weapons to the Viet Minh via China, it was China itself that gave the most support to the Viet Minh in this conflict with France.
• China supplied arms, technical advice and diplomatic support.
• However, the Viet Minh were suspicious of China's intentions and were determined that Vietnam should not be swept under the control of China, having just got rid of the French.
• China advised the Viet Minh to end the First Indochina War before the USA got involved on the side of the French.
• So in 1954 the First Indochina War ended in a negotiated settlement.
• The country was temporarily divided into two sections - the North, and the South - with a demilitarised zone separating the two.
• It was also agreed that democratic elections would be held later in the year, in order to unify the two parts of the country under a new government.
• During the time of the division, the Viet Minh then only controlled North Vietnam.
• When anti-communist forces in South Vietnam held a rigged election there in 1955 and set up an independent state, the Viet Minh felt they had been badly advised by China to agree to the 'temporary' partition of North and South Vietnam.
• Conflict started up again.
• This time, the war was between the communist forces of the North Vietnamese government and communist rebels in the South called the Vietcong, and the forces of the South Vietnamese government.
• The Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Government were given aid by the Chinese and the USSR.
• The South were given support first by the French, and later by the USA.
• Initially, China supplied most of the international assistance given to the Vietnamese communists, as it had in the First Indochina War.
• However, after the Sino-Soviet Split in the early 1960s, the relationship between China and the USSR became more competitive.
• China told the leaders of the Viet Minh that China would supply them with military and economic aid if they refused Soviet aid.
• However, the Viet Minh refused to be manipulated in this way, and turned to the Soviets instead.
• From 1968 the USSR sent more aid and advisors to the Vietnamese communists, and the USSR became the Viet Minh's primary source of support.
• Nevertheless, in the late 1960s, when the USA became far more involved in the Vietnam War, it still did not put troops on the ground in North Vietnam because it feared that China would then also send troops into North Vietnam.
• So the public commitment of China to the communist cause in Vietnam was still a major deterrent to increased American involvement.
• The North Vietnamese army and the communist forces in the south won the Vietnam War in 1975, and in 1976 South Vietnam and North Vietnam became the unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam (which is normally just called Vietnam).
• Vietnam continued to have close ties to the USSR, and China saw this as impinging on China's sphere of interest, so relations between these two communist neighbours remained poor.
• In 1978 Vietnam invaded Cambodia (an ally of China).
• In retaliation, China invaded Vietnam and laid waste to the north.
• Tensions between China and Vietnam remained until the 1990s, when the collapse of the USSR and Vietnam's withdrawal from Cambodia led to talks and a normalisation of ties.

The Relationship Between China and Tibet

• Tibet is a country to the West of China. Its territory is amongst the most contested on earth. Since the collapse of the Tibetan empire in the 9th century, control over its provincial boundaries and people has dominated Tibetan history.

CHINESE-TIBETAN RELATIONS IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

• In 1912 there was a revolution in Tibet against Chinese occupation, and in 1913 Tibet declared itself independent.
• In 1951, once the Chinese Civil War was over, China invaded Tibet again.
• In May 1951 the defeated Tibetans signed the 'Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet’.
• This is normally just called the 17-Point Agreement, and it gives control of Tibet over to China.
• In this document, China promised Tibet political autonomy, with local officials, and the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, remaining in place.
• However, the Chinese also instituted free and open schools, which went against the Tibetan policy of supplying education only through the Buddhist monasteries.
• Initially, the feudal system of lords and peasants remained in Tibet, although China did free the serfs and slaves.

THE 1950'S: LAND REFORM, UPHEAVAL AND ANNEXATION

• But in the mid-1950s the Chinese started to introduce land reforms and collectivisation, which upset the feudal lords.
• A lot of land that was taken from the Tibetan lords was also given to Chinese peasants instead of Tibetan peasants, so China did not win the support of the Tibetan peasants.
• From 1956 revolts broke out against the new policies.
• In 1959 there was a major uprising against the Chinese, which was squashed.
• The Dalai Lama and all high-ranking Tibetan leaders were exiled.
• Most fled across the border to India.
• Tibet was the hardest hit by Chairman Mao's sweeping policies.
  • During the Great Leap Forward, a famine ravaged the region: between 200,000 and 1,000,000 Tibetans died.
  • During the Cultural Revolution, 6,000 monasteries were destroyed; this essentially eradicated centuries of historic Tibetan architecture.
• However, over 2 000 monasteries still remain in Tibet, and a relatively high ratio of 1 monk or nun per 35 ordinary Tibetans.
• The Tibetan resistance still exists especially in response to the deliberate effort to settle ethnic Chinese in the Tibetan province in order to outnumber Tibetans.
• Activists argue that this effectively ends any Tibetan independence.
• The Chinese now outnumber the Tibetans (7,5 million Chinese in Tibet to 6 million Tibetans).
• Tibet is essentially now a province of China.

The Relationship Between India and China

• India is a large country to the south-west of China.
• It has a long history of trade with China, stretching back to at least 100 BCE.
• India was controlled by the Mughal Empire and then the British Empire, until it achieved independence in 1947.
• In 1950 it became a democracy: the Republic of India.
• When the People's Republic of China was established in 1950, recognised it as the government of mainland China.
• In 1954 India and China signed the Panchsheel Treaty, agreeing to coexist peacefully and to not interfere in each other's territory and domestic affairs.

INDIA, CHINA AND THE TIBET QUESTION

• At this time, India also recognised the right of China to control Tibet.
• However, in 1957, there were border disputes over two areas between India and China.
• When the Tibetan exiles fled to India in 1959 the Chinese authorities felt that India was hosting a resistance movement against China.
• This increased tensions between the two countries.
• In 1962 China sent troops into the two disputed areas and a short war broke out.
• China won this war, but agreed to take control over only one of the disputed areas, allowing India to take control of the other.

INDIA, CHINA AND THE INDIA-PAKISTAN WARS (1867-1971)

• However, tensions continued, and in the 1965 lndo-Pakistani War, China supported Pakistan.
• In 1967 India and China were involved in another small conflict.
• In 1971, when war broke out again between India and its neighbour Pakistan, China supported Pakistan again, although it did not actually intervene militarily.
• Diplomatic relations then broke down until they were re-established in 1979.

To What Extent Was China Established as a Superpower by the Time of Mao's Death?

• A superpower is a major nation that is significantly more powerful than all others - economically, militarily, technologically and diplomatically.
• In 1976, the USA and USSR were both superpowers, but China could not really be called a superpower at that stage.
• Economically China was not nearly as strong as the USA and USSR.
• The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution had damaged the country’s human resources and not improved its economy.
• China had a large population, but the potential of this population was not being realised.
• Military China was strong, with a huge army and also its own nuclear weapons.
• However, its military technology was still not on a par with that of the USA and the USSR.
• Technologically China was still, on the whole, underdeveloped.
• Mao had emphasised agriculture over industry.
• This meant that it had large stocks of grain by the time of his death, but it was not the industrial powerhouse that it is today.
• As it had cut itself off from capitalist countries, it was slow to pick up on technological developments occurring in the West.
• Diplomatically China was quite influential.
• It had a seat on the UN Security Council and could therefore veto any actions that it did not approve of.
• It also used propaganda to promote its interest in Asia and abroad.
• The fact that China was quick to use its army to enforce its foreign policy made other countries take it seriously, and it was also respected for giving economic aid to the developing world, such as when it built the Tanzam Railway in Africa.
• In 1976 China was definitely a major power, alongside the other major powers on the UN Security Council: the UK and France.
• However, it was not in the same league as the USA and USSR, who had the world's strongest economies and militaries.
• Some historians peak of a three way Cold War between the USA, USSR and China, but in this model China was the weakest of the three players.