China and the Superpowers (review)

230 SAIS REVIEW Despite the drawbacks, Red Storm Rising is as informative asJane's Fighting Ships and much more fun to read. Clancy has found his forte, entertaining and informing readers with his war-as-video-game novels. China and the Superpowers. By Roy Medvedev, translated by Harold Shukman. New York: Basil Blackwell, Ltd., 1986. 234 pp. $19.95/cloth. Reviewed by James Lloyd Glucksman, M.A. candidate, SAIS. The normalization of relations between the United States and China has spawned a large number of new books on the domestic and foreign policies of the People 's Republic. There have been relatively few books, however, on Sino-Soviet relations, and those that exist are often biased against the Soviet Union. For this reason, Roy Medvedev's latest work, China and the Superpowers, is particularly welcome; it gives us a reliable account of the Soviet side of Chinese politics. Soviet historian Roy Medvedev is perhaps best known for his scathing critique of the Stalinist era, Let HistoryJudge, a book still considered one of the most important works on the subject. In China and the Superpowers Medvedev reveals a long-standing interest in China, whose revolution and development he has followed closely. Medvedev's access to Western sources makes him an atypical Soviet historian, and at times one wonders whether this work was intended solely for export. The book is divided into four parts and a conclusion. The first two sections cover past Sino-Soviet and Sino-American relations. Medvedev traces the Sino-Soviet relationship back to 1911 and quickly discusses the two countries' revolutions. He argues that Joseph Stalin could have done more to assist the Chinese Communists but that he did not out of fear that they might call into question his position as leader of the communist world. On the subject of the Sino-Soviet split, Medvedev accuses Mao Zedong of unfair criticism of Khrushchev's reformist and detente-oriented policies. The account of U.S. involvement with China goes back further, to the 1840s when the two countries began their economic relationship. U.S. support of Chiang Kai-Shek's forces on Taiwan is explained by anticommunist feelings aroused by senator Joseph McCarthy that would also cause U.S. involvement in the Korean War. Medvedev writes that U.S. relations with the People's Republic remained cold until the late 1960s, despite recommendations to presidentsJohn F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson that the United States should exploit differences between the Soviet Union and China to further U.S. interests. He credits Nixon for opening China to the United States, though he claims that these relations were slow to develop because Nixon attached greater importance to détente with the Soviets. The third section covers developments in the 1980s. Among them is President Reagan's initial anticommunist stance, which he softened gradually as the reforms instituted by Mao's successor, Deng Xiaoping, took shape. Medvedev also credits Deng with stabilizing the Chinese government. During this time BOOK REVIEWS 231 China also declared itself to be the leader of the Third World, thereby placing itself in a potentially adversarial position vis-à-vis the United States and the Soviet Union. This forced China to exploit any differences arising between Moscow and Washington, which in turn— according to Medvedev—explains Deng's friendly advances to the United States. The continued Sino-Soviet split is blamed on Chinese Sinocentrism and on traditional Chinese fear of the Russians. Medvedev denies that the Russian people have a traditional fear of the Chinese, despite many arguments to the contrary. His only criticism of the Soviet leadership is that they have not done enough to improve their poor image in China. The fourth section examines what the future holds for China. Medvedev applauds China's New Economic Policy, which is designed to introduce a mixed economy into the country; he compares it favorably with Lenin's plans to introduce a limited amount of capitalism in the early years of the Soviet state. He also accepts the logic of China's approach to the West for technological and economic assistance — areas in which the Soviet Union trails the West. Nonetheless , he questions how effective such aid will be...