In December 1949, Mao Zedong flew to Moscow to meet Josef Stalin. The leader of the new People’s Republic of China, which had been established only a few months earlier, was eager to join his fellow leader of the world proletariat in celebrating both the victory of communism in China and the 71st birthday of the Soviet premier. But for Stalin, Mao was no equal. How times have changed.
According to Stalin, Mao was useful because he would help spread communism across Asia. Therefore, in February 1950, the two leaders signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. Mao wanted more – security guarantees against the United States and direct military support – but Stalin was ‘noncommittal’. According to him, Mao was not only under him – a needy neighbor with delusions of grandeur – but also a danger. He feared that closer ties with the People’s Republic of China could jeopardize the Soviet Union’s achievements in Asia and lead to American intervention.
Today it is Chinese President Xi Jinping who looks down on his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin. In fact, Putin’s state visit to Beijing earlier this month – his first trip abroad since his inauguration for a fifth term – was virtually a mirror image of the meeting between Stalin and Mao 75 years ago.
