The role of the nuclear factor in the Sino-Soviet split

Abstract

Andrei Gromyko, a veteran Foreign Minister of the USSR, shocked the world last winter with a particular revelation in his memoirs: the late Chairman Mao Zedong of China had a plan to lure United States troops into the heartland of China and then wipe them out with atomic weapons made v/ith Soviet help. 1 We may question the truth of Gromyko’s memoirs. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has already done so. But the story of Sovietcooperation in China's nuclear industry, both for peaceful and military purposes, cannot be denied. It is one that tells why the Soviets and Chinese became close allies in the early 50s and why they drew apart several years later. It is the contention of this writer that the Sino-Soviet dispute cannot be fully understood without giving due weight to the disagreements the Chinese and Soviets had over nuclear technology issues.