The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis and the Sino-Soviet Split Essay

The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis and the Sino-Soviet Split - Essay Example The present research has identified that during the period from 1924-1927, China and the USSR suffered under poorly managed governments. After 1945, Stalin demonstrated a residual resistance to lending aid to the Chinese Communists.   However, with China’s establishment of the Chinese People’s Republic and the rise of Communism in China, both nations found a way to iron out their differences and to work together in solidarity. By the 1950s the common belief among the international community was that communist China and the USSR were impenetrable allies engaged in a common goal to ensure that Communism was a major influence on the world. There was more than enough evidence to support this perception. Under Mao Tse-tung’s leadership, China formally aligned itself with the USSR. When the Communist in North Korea invaded the Republic of Korea, China intervened and the USSR lent military aid. Regardless, by the 1960s, the Sino-Soviet Alliance was practically shatter ed as their respective ideologies and policies were increasingly at odds. The office of the US Central Intelligence Agency reported to the US’s administrators in February 1962 that: Sino-Soviet relations are in a critical phase just short of an acknowledged and definitive split. There is no longer much of a fundamental resolution of differences. In our view, the chances that such a split can be avoided in 1962 are no better than ever. There are a number of theories put forth by historians and political scientists attempting to understand the driving force splitting the union between the world’s two largest Communist states. Athwal argues that the US’ â€Å"nuclear superiority† put increasing pressures on Sino-Soviet relations and policies by first influencing China to obtain nuclear weapons and by forcing the Soviets to look to the West in a more amicable way. Moreover, both China and the Soviet Union had different perceptions of the US threat which creat ed additional tensions between the USSR and China. In addition, the US policies toward the Chinese Communist Party and the US sponsorship of CENTO and SEATO and its presence in South Asia placed continuing pressure on Sino-Soviet relations contributing to the split.