174 Mao Zedong Yafeng Xia 175 Soviets to a united front against both the United States and the Soviet from foes in order to defeat his enemies one by one.In international pol- Union. itics,Mao's thinking and tactics revolved around this familiar pattern. Mao's emphasis on class relations did not have its basis in social rela- He read mainly to confirm his established principles and beliefs.After tions but in state relations.This was the method that allowed him to the Korean War,Mao rarely listened to his senior colleagues.Nor did he relinquish his world revolution ideology.According to the world revo- seek advice from international affairs experts.His mental make-up com- lution analytical model,the class analysis method is to combine social prised three main aspects:his own personal experience (i.e.many years relations with international relations.Now,from the angle of the inter- of brutal war and revolution);Chinese traditional culture and ideas, national united front,it was necessary to distinguish social relations especially the history of political struggles and court intrigues;and lastly from international relations.The criterion was anti-United States and Marxism-Leninism,especially on class struggle and violent revolution.50 anti-Soviet Union-the two superpowers.Thus,the reactionaries of all Mao's mental map on international power politics was changing and countries-that is,those who suppressed communist revolutionaries, adaptive.When he proposed the theory of the 'intermediate zone'in such as prime minister Tun Abdul Razak of Malaysia,and president 1946,which was based on his united front experiences with the Nation- Marien Ngouabi of the Republic of the Congo-became the natural alists and his interpretation of China's national interests,Mao attempted objects to win over against both the United States and Soviet Union. to form an anti-American united front for the purpose of defeating the After the establishment of the theory of 'Three Worlds',it was out of Nationalists in the Chinese civil war.In 1949,seeking an alliance with tune to stress 'revolution'in international politics.In 1974,Mao even- the Soviet Union to offset the US threat to communist rule in China, tually compromised on this position.In a discussion with Zhou and his Mao declared the policy of leaning to the Soviet Union in US-Soviet associates on the international situation,Mao conceded,'Now we may Cold War confrontation.After the breakdown of the Sino-Soviet alliance not mention that the current world tide is revolution.'From then on, in the early 1960s,Mao expanded his 'intermediate zone'theory.He this viewpoint that had been publicized in the Chinese press for more proposed the concept of 'two intermediate zones'to include former than ten years,disappeared.No matter what Mao had in mind,China's colonialist countries such as England,France,West Germany and Japan foreign policy started to move further and further away from the foreign in his international united front,calling it an 'indirect alliance of the policy dominated by revolutionary ideology. people, After the death of Mao in 1976 and the advent of the Deng Xiaoping Mao was neither a great diplomat nor a consistent international strate- era several years later,the theory ofThree Worlds'was no longer rele- gic thinker.He created no miracle in Sino-American relations in his vant.This is mainly because the core of the theory of "Three Worlds'was last years just as he had previously failed to handle Sino-American rela- to create a united front in state-to-state relations among Third World tions successfully.After years of pursuing his doctrine of 'class struggle' governments.The main goal of a united front diplomacy was to protect in international politics,Mao had brought Sino-Soviet relations to the China's national interests.With the disappearance of the world revo- brink of war in 1969.To a great extent,Mao was compelled to adopt tac- lution goal,the anti-hegemony point in the theory of 'Three Worlds' tics to protect China's national security interests.He decided to exploit became superfluous.It is not surprising that the theory of 'Three Worlds' the opportunity presented by Nixon temporarily to relax tension with disappeared from the Chinese media in the Deng Xiaoping era. the United States,which was opportunistic on his side.He did not lessen his nationalistic pride or realize that his doctrine of'class struggle'was Conclusion seriously flawed.As he was so familiar with the doctrine of 'class strug- gle',Mao reverted to his familiar method of united front strategy in Mao never travelled abroad before assuming national power in 1949 order to adjust his policy.When he was obliged to receive the olive and made only two foreign trips during his lifetime-both to Moscow. branch from the American government,formerly the No.I enemy,Mao He had limited knowledge of the outside world,and a narrow vision of was not going to follow the policy of detente in full.He was always future world developments.In domestic politics,Mao believed in the aware of the fundamental differences between China and the United theory of class struggle and relied on violent revolution to win political States.He was also very sensitive to any compromise he had to make power.He also resorted to the united front tactics to distinguish friends with the United States.When he failed to form an anti-Soviet alliance