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Sino-Soviet Dispute

And India By S. H. Ahmed


Mr. Ahmed is Research Fellow, Department of East Asia Studies, Indian School
of International Studies, New Delhi.

The Sino..Soviet dispute has reached the the Soviet Union has thereby developed a
point of no return. In the last few years fear or dislike of revolutions in the under-
certain far-reaching developments have taken developed countries and realises the
place which could not have been foreseen imperative need for friendship with the
before they started happening and changed United States. China considers these policies
the nature of international relations. After as opposed to the basic
principles of Marxism-
the emergence of communist China it was Leninism. Thirdly, it seems clear now that
widely believed that an alliance between the Soviet Union was never too
happy about
China and Soviet Union was a foregone China going communist and
becoming
conclusion. Even when differences started powerful. Although the Soviet Union
appearing between them not much credence increased its technical and material aid to
was given to them. Now it seems difficult China after the death of Stalin in 1953, this
to believe that these two countries could aid was not meant to put China in a position
ever develop a common ideological point of of independence from the Soviet Union.
view to which they could subordinate their Griffith has pointed out that &dquo;the
primary
national interests. Again, it would have been cause of the Sino-Soviet rift has been the
difficult to believe a few years ago that the determination of Mao and his associates
Soviet Union and the United States could that China should become a super power
ever develop a unity of interests. This and the determination of the Soviet leader-
radically changed pattern of relationship has ship to prevent it&dquo;B Fourthly, when serious
significantly affected. The Sino-Indian border differences started appearing in spite of
dispute is not the only thing responsible for many efforts by the two countries to recon-
the worsening of relations between India cile them, it became clear that the differ-
and China. For China, India is an important ences were actually rooted in their
traditions,
factor in the Sino-Soviet rift. aspirations, and social systems. Although
both subscribe to Marxism-Leninism, they
Sino-Soviet Rift
interpret it differently. Communist China
It is not necessary to go into the details came into being more than three decades

of the dispute, but some of its significant after the October Revolution in the Soviet
features may be pointed out: First, the Union. It was under the personal rule of
dispute is not just ideological, it also con- Stalin that the Soviet socialist society
cerns their national interests. The Chinese developed. Gradually Mao realized that there
believe in the revolutionary ideology of were many defects in the Soviet
society and
Marxism-Leninism and Maoism; the Soviet was determined to build socialism in China

leaders are no longer as committed to this in a different way. This determination of Mao
revolutionary ideology as the Chinese and to develop the Chinese way of socialism actu-
have expressed faith in &dquo;peaceful evolution&dquo; 1 William E. Griffith, "Sino-Soviet Relations,
and &dquo;peacefulI co-existence&dquo;. Secondly, I964-65". The China Quarterly, Jan-Mar I966 p. 4.
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20

ally put the Soviet leaders in a defensive independence from the Soviet Union.
position. For the first time a potentially Since then India has been considered by
powerful country with all its resources of the Chinese as an enemy being used by the
area, population, revolutionary experience Soviet Union and the United States against
and revolutionary leadership and ideology China. The Chinese see this new situation
as alliance between the &dquo;U.S. imperialists,
was challenging the Soviet model of social-
ism. The Soviet Union found no alternative Soviet revisionists and Indian reactionaries&dquo;.
to opposing China at all costs. China also The neutrality of the Soviet Union during
developed the desire of undermining Soviet the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962 was
influence in the international Communist described by the Chinese as an act of
movement and in the underdeveloped betrayal on the part of the Soviet Union.
world. The years after 1962 only hardened the
It was in 1959 that Sino-Soviet relations attitude of the Soviet Union, and detente
started worsen ing in a way that no retreat with the United States and friendship with
was possible from their conflicting positions. India and other non-aligned countries
Khrushchev definitely decided in favour of a became the major aims of Soviet policy.
detente with the United States; he decided India thus became an important factor in
to force the Chinese to give up their the Sino-Soviet dispute. It goes without
separate economic, ideological and political saying that India has gained much political
strategy; he formally abrogated the Soviet and material benefit from the Sino-Soviet
commitment to give China aid in atomic dispute.
weapons; he used the Chinese Defence
Peace-loving Soviet Unioh
Minister, P’eng Teh-huai, and other Chinese
leaders to oppose Mao’s extremist policies The Soviet Union adopted the policy of
at home and abroad; he declared neutrality &dquo;peaceful co-existence&dquo; in 1956 and, as
when the Chinese precipitated the first indicated above, by 1959 Khrushchev was
major crisis on the Sino-Indian border; and firmly committed to implementing it. The
he embarked on a programme of technical policy hardened due to the fact that China
and material aid to the non-aligned count- had claimed from the Soviet Union a vast
ries, particularly India. All this was con- territory of maritime provinces it had lost
sidered by China as hostile and detrimental to the Tsarist Government. China had
to the interests of China. Soviet aid and already committed aggression against India
support to India when the latter was and had claimed or occupied thousands of
receiving aid from the United States as well, miles of Indian territory. The Soviet Union
was interpreted by the Chinese as nothing had learnt a lesson from this and wanted to
less than Soviet-US collaboration in avoid any involvement in a military conflict
building up India against China. The with- which would weaken its military strength
drawal of Soviet technical aid from China vis-a-vis the U. S., which the Soviet leaders
in 1960, when the Chinese economy was knew was stronger. Secondly, the Soviet
badly shattered because of the failure of the Union did not want to be involved in any
Great Leap Forward policy, confirmed the conflict with the U. S., for any such conflict
Chinese fear that the Soviet Union cared would bring about a Sino-Soviet detente
more for India than for China. A compromise where by Chinawouldstand togain. That the
on ideological issues on the part of China Soviet Union follows this poiicy even today
could have saved the situation, but China is confirmed by the war in North Vietnam
decided to go it alone and assert its complete and the recent West Asian crisis. The

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2I

Soviet Union is not prepared to take any Algeria and Cyprus, and in China itself in
in
risk beyond giving verbal support or supply- its war with Japan. It is also true that in
ing arms. On the other hand, the United China guerrilla tactics have been perfected
States has shown that it can take risks to into a military science. China hopes to
achieve its objectives. The Cuban crisis of attack US bases, investments, and influences
1962, the Vietnamese war, the crushing of with the help of this new strategy. The
the rebellion in the Congo, andd other reasoning seems to be that most of the
examples illustrate the point that the United underdeveloped countries are unstable
States has developed more initiative and a economically and politically, susceptible to
deeper sense of involvement in the troubles coups d’etat and cannot effectively fight
of its friends than the Soviet Union. This national liberation movements. National
sense of involvement of the United States liberation struggles would also make Ameri-
has reduced the Soviet Union’s political can escalation unlikely and the Soviet Union

influence not only in the socialist but also would not be able to show much enthu-
in the non-aligned world. Similarly China siasm because of Its commitment to the
has been trying to dislodge the Soviet Union policy of Soviet-US detente. But China will
from its pre-eminent position in the inter- give all its support to them without directly
national communist movement. India at involving itself and will thus be able to
present receives protection from both these increase its influence. In order to save
super Powers. Both are definitely interest- itself from direct involvement, China has
ed in keeping peace in Asia, and this goes emphasized the principle of self-reliance in
against the interest of China. And both all people’s wars.
countries are interested in strengthening
On 2 1965 three articles
September
the defences of India against China. Thus,
emphasized the
growing need for people’s
India is the common ground where the two
war based on guerrilla tactics. Lo
super Powers meet to contain China. Jui-ching,2
But China is interested in creating trou- Lin Piao,3 and a Jen-min Jih-Pao editorial4
elaborated upon the world situation and
ble in the underdeveloped world so that the
the importance of the people’s war. It is
concept of ‘~just&dquo; and &dquo;unjust&dquo; wars could be also more than probable that the Chinese
proved true. The difficulty before China are training Pakistani soldiers in guerrilla
today is that the Soviet Union is not inter- warfare on a massive scale. If the United
ested in these local wars any more, and that
States and the Soviet Union fail to keep the
the United States with its powerful military
peace between India and Pakistan, India
might often succeeds in crushing these wars should be prepared to face such a war in the
immediately. It was in search of a solution troubled area of Kashmir.
of this problem that China intensified the
propagation of its theory of people’s war. But it does not mean that China will
always fight shy of taking a direct part in a
New Strategy of China local war. China in all earnestness has
With the help of the concept of people’s been building her nuclear capability and it
war China is preparing itself for protracted will not be long before she realises the
warfare and struggle in Asia, Africa and ambition. Already she has developed
Latin America. China imagines that an era nuclear devices and missiles, and once she
of guerrilla warfare has started in the under- 2
Pekiog Review, Sep. 3, 1965 pp. 31-39.
developed world. There is no doubt that 3
Jen-min Jch-Pao, Sep. 2, 1965.
guerrilla warfare has succeeded in Cuba, 4J MJ P, Sep. 2, 1965
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22

acquires nuclear capability, the highly per- paper the relevant ones are: the People’s

fected of guerrilla warfare combined with


art Liberation Army (PLA) is the school in
immense manpower will definitely give which the whole nation has to be educated;
China advantage not only over Asian nations the concept of people’s war is being inten-
but also over other nuclear powers. sively and extensively propagated; the
When this change in balance of power uitimate objective is to militarise the whole
comes about, what will be the situation in nation; the Chinese people are being pre-
Asia? Will not China be able to launch a pared for great hardships and sacrifices; and
conventional war safely against any nation new emphasis is being laid on the concept
in Asia? What will be the position of India of internationalism. One fundamental aim
in Asia and how will she be able to maintain of the cuftural revolution is to reject the
its prestige and political influence against Soviet Union as a socialist country and to
China? Will it solve the problem for India make China the centre of the world revo-
to depend on the super powers for a nuclear lution. In spite of the Chinese emphasis
umbrella? These questions demand clear on self-reliance for a country involved in
and definite answers. war with imperialism, the cultural revo-
lution has given birth to a greater sense of
The Proletarian Cultural Revolution
involvement. There are important indica-
The recent happenings in China have tions that once China acquires a nuclear
removed all doubts that China is bent not arsenal of its own, its cautious attitude will
only upon strengthening itself but also upon be radically changed and China will start
playing a very active and dominating role in actively helping liberation movements in
world politics. Actually, China has been the underdeveloped countries. China may
offered this grand opportunity by the Soviet not have sent any &dquo;volunteers&dquo; to fight in
Union’s increasing withdrawal from the Vietnam as she did in the Korean war. But
commitment to world revolution. It is now she has sent a few hundred thousand
clear that the Soviet Union can give only Chinese engineers and other technical per-
&dquo;limited support&dquo; to countries which require sonnel to assist Hanoi’s army in building
its help against the United States. If one and repairing roads and bridges and in the
goes through the official literature on the production of armaments. And these Chinese
proletarian cultural revolution carefully and engineers are surely trained guerrilla
knows enough of recent Chinese history, it fighters themselves. Again, China may not
will be difficuit not to conclude that China be prepared at the moment to take too
has entered upon a new phase in the sphere many risks. But as soon as China feels
of its domestic and foreign policy. Nothing that greater risks can be taken she would
has been more misunderstood abroad about certainly use a part of her massive man.
China than the cultural revolution. No power to achieve her objectives. The three
one pauses to think why, if it is a struggle &dquo;constantly read&dquo; articles which have been
for power, the Liu-Teng group does not use used recently for moulding the human mind
mass media against the Maoist group. emphasise ’~internationalism&dquo; and &dquo;total
Nobody tries to question why the Maoists sacrifice&dquo; for the sake of the world revo-
put up too many big-character posters for lution.
the Japanese to read and interpret them. Again, every student of Chinese history
Everyone seems to bclieve that China is knows that Mao is obsessed with the idea
going to pieces. The cultural revolution has that the Chinese revolution must be kept
many asx ects but for the purposes of this alive and the revolutionary zeal of the

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23

Chinese people must not die down. There pletely independent of the Soviet Union
is an important connection between the and the United States in a measurable time.
theory of &dquo;uninterrupted revolution&dquo; and The eventual withdrawal of the Western
the cultural revolution. According to the Powers from Asia and the emergence of a
Chinese leaders the revolutionary elan can strong India capable of defending itself
be maintained by big projects of socialist unaided is bound to induce Peking to rethink
construction demanding full play of the its policy and attitude to India. A stronger
people’s subjective power, by instilling in India would also be a more effective force
the people the belief in class struggle, in against colonialism, old or new, in Asia. It
socialist society and constant efforts to should be obvious after the recent West
remould the human mind in the image of Asian crisis that dependence on super
Marxism Leninism and Mao’s thought, and powers for one’s security is dangerous.
by believing in the world revolution and When China develops sufficient nuclear
helping other nations actively in this histori- power (and it will not be long before it
cally inevitable process. Tne Red Guards does), it will pose a new threat to India.
seem to have been given tasks which are No super power will then be prepared to
not internal but also external. Actually,
only take risks for the sake of India.
it would be going against Mao’s own con- Conclusions
cept of &dquo;permanent revolution&dquo; if China Wecan draw some very definite conclu-
did not help revolutions in other countries. sions from the above analysis: Firstly,
Chinese hostility to India is an important
India and Self-Reliance
part of its global strategy. It is not just
There is no denying the fact that as far differences on the border which stand bet-
as international relations are concerned ween China and India. The desire for
India is placed in a more fortunate situation friendly relations with China sometimes
than China. Both the super powers are not voiced in this country is thus based on a
only friendly but arealso giving considerable faulty understanding of Chinese communist
material and technical aid. India has many strategy. Secondly, in the coming years
more friends in the world than China has. Asia would witness a number of distrubing
But the fact remains that China has emerged situations. With the increasing strength of
as a more powerful country than India. And China, even the northern borderof India can-
every year widens the gap between India not be peaceful. Nothing but a rapid and
and China. India has not been able to well-organised self-strengthening process in
effectively the foreign aid. Although it
use India can help it to gain a respectable posi-
is quite clear that China will remain hostile tion in Asia. Thirdly, it seems suicidal on
to India for a long time to come India has the part of India not to develop its own
not been able to prepare itself to face this nuclear power. India cannot and must not
situation. The two super powers certainly depend on the temporary sense of security
provide a sense of security for India for the provided by the two super powers.
moment. But such prolonged dependence Fourthly, in all matters, India must effec-
on them can only damage Indian interests tively start implementing the policy of
in the long run. Something more than self-reliance. It would bring independence
paying lip-service to the concept of self- from the super powers and might provide
reliance is required to make India really the basis for a reasonable relationship with
self-reliant. India must pledge itself to China. Only then will India be in a
policies which will gradually make it com- position to secure its interests in Asia.
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