NEW YORK ¨C 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 created just a few months earlier, was eager to join his fellow leader of the world proletariat to celebrate both the victory of communism in China and the Soviet premier¡¯s 71st birthday. But, for Stalin, Mao was no equal. How times have changed.
In Stalin¡¯s view, Mao was useful because he would help spread communism across Asia. So, in February 1950, the two leaders signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. Mao wanted more ¡ª security guarantees against the United States and direct military backing ¡ª but Stalin was ¡°noncommittal.¡± In his view, Mao was not only beneath him ¡ª a needy neighbor with delusions of grandeur ¡ª but also a liability. Closer ties with the PRC, he feared, could jeopardize the Soviet Union¡¯s gains in Asia and lead to U.S. intervention.
Today, it is Chinese President Xi Jinping who is looking down on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. In fact, Putin¡¯s state visit to Beijing earlier this month ¡ª his first trip abroad since being inaugurated for a fifth term ¡ª was practically a mirror image of the Stalin-Mao encounter 75 years ago.
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