Introduction
The foreign policy of China, performed by Mao Zedong, is a matter of world history that has not been studied completely yet. The fact is that it may be studied in at least three dimensions: system, state, and individual. In some relations, these dimensions are closely linked to each other. Nevertheless, it should be stated that all the dimensions and factors which define the foreign policy of China have their own explanations and backgrounds. Thus, in order to have a clear understanding of Mao’s foreign policy, it is necessary to give general information on his personality and political views.
Mao is known as the leader of the Chinese Party Communists, and this addiction to communist views made him struggle against the Kuomintang in the Chinese Civil War. This factor had an essential impact on the foreign policy by Mao and on the attitude of the other countries towards China in general and Mao in particular. From this point of view, it should be stated that Mao is regarded among the 100 most influential people in the history of the world. Nevertheless, he still stays a controversial personality in world history rather with a disputable legacy.
System Level of the Analysis
It has already been stated that Mao was the leader of the Communist Party and supported the Marxist views. This factor was the defining one in the foreign policy and was the reason for friendship with the Soviet Union ruled by Stalin, and then the reason for conflicts with the USSR under Khrushchev. Due to the fact that the USSR was the largest neighbor of the People’s Republic of China, and one of the most powerful states in the world, thus, the factor of friendship or rivalry with the Soviet Union may be regarded as one of the most important points in the foreign policy of any country. The traditional Marxist views, followed by Mao, became the reason for disagreement with Khrushchev’s policy. Mao accused him of revisionism, and departure from traditional communist principles, followed by Marx, Lenin, and Stalin.
As for the rest of the world, Mao, as stated by Hunt (1996), “set forth the “three worlds” strategy and the important principle that China would never seek hegemony, began to enter a new phase in foreign work and created favorable international conditions for China’s modernization drive.” The concept of the three worlds represents the view on the division of the countries according to their economic development. China was regarded as the head of the third world countries.
Originally, there was no need to mention that relations of China with the capitalistic world were rather tense. This was caused by the same reason and sometimes led to ridiculous situations. A bright example of such nonsense was the visit by Henry Kissinger to Beijing. This visit was represented to the Chinese people as the visit of the representative of the capitalistic world for granting help to China in struggling against capitalism. Surely, the real reasons were absolutely different; however, Mao could not explain them to his people.
State Level of the Analysis
This dimension of analysis is mostly historical. Still, it should be stated that the foreign policy on the state level was shaped under the influence of the system and addiction to communist principles of the policy, both domestic and foreign. Kau and Leung (1986) emphasized the following fact: “Premier Zhou Enlai, who dominated the international sector of Chinese polity for close on half a century, has been widely credited with the crafting of what is called China’s “foreign policy”. However, foreign policy was an integral part of a strategy for “arranging the world revolution”. Thus, the Maoist era was featured with the integrated foreign and domestic policies. Moreover, the coercions of state and national interests in “foreign policy” were the same in the matters of domestic policy, so, it was difficult to distinguish these two spheres“. From the point of view of these facts, it should be stated that the state dimension of the foreign policy was performed with the correct diplomatic course, however, defending the national interests of the People’s Republic of China. The circumstances of the Cold War only aggravated the tension between China and the capitalistic world, and the territorial conflicts with the Soviet Union are regarded as the main directions in the official State foreign policy. As for the Asian countries, it is necessary to emphasize that China aimed to help its neighboring regimes if they tried to follow the socialistic way of development. Thus, Chinese troops helped the North Korean army attack the South Korean frontier posts. China also assisted Vietnamese resistance powers to struggle against the “democratic” intervention of the US army.
Personal Factor in the Foreign Policy
First of all, it is necessary to mention that the personal factor may be regarded as the defining one for all the other dimensions of foreign policy analysis. It is impossible to regard them separately, as personal beliefs and preferences made Mao join Communist Party. Then, his personal features and the principles of communism (which were similar) formed the official State foreign policy. Taking this notion into consideration, it is necessary to cite Kau and Leung (1986), who emphasized the following: “It is the burden of this exploration that the ideas and perceptions, the methods of analysis, the identification of objectives and the strategies for their realization that dominated the making and implementation of Foreign policy” those of Mao. They were derived, as will be discussed later, from the understanding that Mao came to acquire the objective world of China and of its domestic and external oppression. This understanding provided Mao with the answers he had been seeking to the three linked questions of what was meant by making revolution, which would make revolution, and how it was to be made.” The fact is that Mao was not a revolutionary by nature; however, he aimed to arrange the world revolution of the proletariat. He himself was not afraid of the nuclear war, which was rather close in the circumstances of the Cold War and the territorial conflicts with the Soviet Union. He claimed that if the nuclear war had started, most Chinese would have stayed alive; thus, the personal dimension of foreign policy was featured with Mao’s self-confidence and impudence.
Conclusion
Finally, it is necessary to emphasize that the foreign relation of PRC under Mao’s regulation have not yet been analyzed completely. Thus, there are numerous contradictions and gaps in the analyses available.
References
- Hunt, Michael H. The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.
- Kau M. Y. Leung, J. Armonk The Writings of Mao Zedong, 1949-1976. Ed., NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1986.