DE LA AMICI LA INAMICI: „STRATEGIA ÎNCLINĂRII SPRE O SINGURĂ PARTE” ŞI IMPACTUL ACESTEIA ASUPRA LAGĂRULUI COMUNIST
From friends to enemies: the “lean to one side strategy” and its impact on the communist camp

Summary/Abstract: After the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China, the new regime faced multiple challenges.On the one hand, the Chinese Communists had difficulties in institutionalizing a Communist regime in a country devastated by a long civil war. On the other hand, the new Chinese State faced a diplomatic isolation. To resolve these two issues, in the vision of decision-makers in Beijing, the Chinese State had to adopt a foreign policy strategy that emphasized China's attachment to the Communist camp, and also, to receive Soviet economic assistance. Thus, China will adopt “lean to one side strategy” and on February 14, 1950 signed with USSR the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. But due to decisions of the 20th Congress of the CPSU (February 1956), Sino-Soviet relations will begin to deteriorate, in the early 60s the two countries engaging in a debate on the general line of the international communist movement. Based on documents from the Romanian archives and on other historiographical sources, our article attempts to identify the reasons which led to the adoption of the “lean to one side strategy” and also the reasons behind the reorientation of the Romanian foreign policy towards China.

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