The state and possible prospects: Soviet-Chinese relations in the first half of the 1980s in the reflection of the Soviet political literature of the "pre-perestroika" 5 years

Dorozhkin A. G.

The article deals with the Soviet-Chinese relations in the first half of the 1980s, when there was a gradual trend towards a cautious normalization of these relations. The direct subject of the research of this article is the reflection of Chinese themes in the Soviet political literature of this period, with a special focus on the current state and possible prospects for the development of relations between Moscow and Beijing. The authors of the relevant publications in the first half of the 1980s were Soviet diplomats, journalists, and in some cases representatives of the Soviet party nomenclature. As a rule, it was about professional sinologists; some of the works were partly memoirs. The analysis of the publications allows us to distinguish two stages in the interpretation of Chinese topics by Soviet political literature of the five "pre-perestroika" years. The first of them (1981-1982) maintained a negative ratings when considering Chinese subjects in Soviet political literature – especially negatively evaluated the foreign policy of the PRC; when interpreting the internal situation of the country, some changes for the better were indicated very carefully. At the second stage, which began around the middle of 1982, the intensity of anti-Maoist propaganda in the USSR gradually weakens, which is reflected in the pages of socio-political literature. The softened tone of publications and the more restrained nature of criticism indicate a trend towards improvement in bilateral relations. This process is, however, uneven, partly intermittent – 1984 was marked by a certain increase in the critical tone of publications about the PRC, and this is more noticeable in political literature than in periodicals. This situation reflected both difficulties in the process of negotiations on normalization of relations, serious differences in the positions of the parties on a number of issues, and strained relations between the China and some “third countries” that had close ties with the USSR.

Keywords:Soviet-Chinese relations, China, USSR, politics, propaganda, normalization, “pragmatics”, confrontations.