Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact The Cold War History of Sino-Soviet Relations June 2005 them".5 With that judgment,China and the Soviet Union became fundamentally divided in opinions upon the guiding principle in foreign policy of socialist countries. The disparities demonstrated themselves first in their different views on"peaceful co-existence"and "detente with U.S."Peaceful co-existence was "the general guideline of socialist countries'foreign policies"put forward in the 20th congress of Soviet Communist Party.The Chinese Communist Party had also spoken highly of the principle of peaceful co-existence since 1954.Related to this was the question of whether to seek detente with the U.S.in the international situation of that time.On the basis of the general line on peaceful co-existence,Khrushchev made improving relations with the U.S a top priority of Soviet foreign policy.This was precisely what China opposed firmly.At the beginning of 1957 Mao Zedong clearly pointed out,"I think it is more advantageous to us to establish diplomatic relations with the U.S.a few years later;"and to do so could"isolate the U.S.,deprive it completely of political resources and put it in an unjustifiable position.The longer this went on the more passive U.S.would become and the fewer its friends in China would be."Therefore on relations with the U.S.,China's policy was to "isolate and strike the U.S. imperialists,eliminate fear of the US,give people more confidence and make them dare to fight firmly against the U.S.imperialists"7Chinese leaders later even thought, "The fight between socialism and imperialism is a fight to the death.It's very dangerous to neglect this fight and sing the praises of peaceful co-existence,and not speak of the confrontation between the two worlds."8 So when Chinese leaders publicly stated that"only the Chinese government dares to confront the U.S.,"the bombardment on Jinmen was the best answer to the Soviet Union's policy of detente. Another significant difference in the foreign policies of China and the Soviet Union was the issue of how to treat the national liberation movement.Along with the putting forward of the intermediate zone theory and new judgments on the international situation,Chinese leaders began to take the "mutual desire for peace of Asian and African countries and their struggles against colonialism and imperialism" as"a basis for socialist countries to establish a united front with them."In the view of the Chinese leaders,this united front was to fight imperialism and colonialism rather than to "peacefully co-exist"with them.However,in the view of the Soviet leaders, peaceful co-existence,cooperation among socialist countries and support to national liberation movement were three separate principles,and"it is for the cooperation. unity and mutual support of the socialist camp that the USSR regards peaceful co-existence as the general line of socialist countries'foreign policies.It is not only a matter of supporting national liberation movements.As Mao Zedong repeatedly explained,the objective of the bombardment was in the first place to support the Arab anti-imperialism struggle.Peng Dehuai also stressed that"the Chinese people must give their support through actual actions,of which one is the deployment of the air force in Fujian and another is the bombardment on Jinmen...It is also to tell people all over the world that if the U.S.imperialists want war Chinese people are not be afraid." The bombardment showed the idea of supporting national liberation movement in 3Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact The Cold War History of Sino-Soviet Relations June 2005 them”.5 With that judgment, China and the Soviet Union became fundamentally divided in opinions upon the guiding principle in foreign policy of socialist countries. The disparities demonstrated themselves first in their different views on “peaceful co-existence” and “detente with U.S.” Peaceful co-existence was “the general guideline of socialist countries’ foreign policies” put forward in the 20th congress of Soviet Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party had also spoken highly of the principle of peaceful co-existence since 1954. Related to this was the question of whether to seek detente with the U.S. in the international situation of that time. On the basis of the general line on peaceful co-existence, Khrushchev made improving relations with the U.S a top priority of Soviet foreign policy. This was precisely what China opposed firmly. At the beginning of 1957 Mao Zedong clearly pointed out, “I think it is more advantageous to us to establish diplomatic relations with the U.S. a few years later;” and to do so could “isolate the U.S., deprive it completely of political resources and put it in an unjustifiable position. The longer this went on the more passive U.S. would become and the fewer its friends in China would be.”6 Therefore on relations with the U.S., China’s policy was to “isolate and strike the U.S. imperialists, eliminate fear of the US, give people more confidence and make them dare to fight firmly against the U.S. imperialists” 7 Chinese leaders later even thought, “The fight between socialism and imperialism is a fight to the death. It’s very dangerous to neglect this fight and sing the praises of peaceful co-existence, and not speak of the confrontation between the two worlds.”8 So when Chinese leaders publicly stated that “only the Chinese government dares to confront the U.S.,” the bombardment on Jinmen was the best answer to the Soviet Union’s policy of detente. Another significant difference in the foreign policies of China and the Soviet Union was the issue of how to treat the national liberation movement. Along with the putting forward of the intermediate zone theory and new judgments on the international situation, Chinese leaders began to take the “mutual desire for peace of Asian and African countries and their struggles against colonialism and imperialism” as “a basis for socialist countries to establish a united front with them.” In the view of the Chinese leaders, this united front was to fight imperialism and colonialism rather than to “peacefully co-exist” with them. However, in the view of the Soviet leaders, peaceful co-existence, cooperation among socialist countries and support to national liberation movement were three separate principles, and “it is for the cooperation、 unity and mutual support of the socialist camp that the USSR regards peaceful co-existence as the general line of socialist countries’ foreign policies. It is not only a matter of supporting national liberation movements.”9 As Mao Zedong repeatedly explained, the objective of the bombardment was in the first place to support the Arab anti-imperialism struggle. Peng Dehuai also stressed that “the Chinese people must give their support through actual actions, of which one is the deployment of the air force in Fujian and another is the bombardment on Jinmen…It is also to tell people all over the world that if the U.S. imperialists want war Chinese people are not be afraid.” The bombardment showed the idea of supporting national liberation movement in 3