China’s Quest China’s Quest THE HISTORY OF THE FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA John W. Garver 1 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America © Oxford University Press 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress. ISBN 978–0–19–026105–4 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To Penelope Benson Prime, doctor and professor of economics, mother of our two children, and partner in a lifetime of curiosity about and love for China CONTENTS List of Figures ix Preface xi Acronyms xv 1. The Fateful Embrace of Communism and Its Consequence 1 ACT I } Forging a Revolutionary State 2. Joining the Socialist Camp 29 3. War in Korea and Indochina 59 4. The Bandung Era 92 5. The Sino-Soviet Schism: The Race to Communism and Great Power Status 113 6. Sino-Indian Conflict and the Sino-Soviet Alliance 146 7. Reviving Revolutionary Momentum, 1962–1965 163 8. Revolutionary China’s Quest to Transform Southeast Asia 196 9. Countering the United States in Vietnam: Proxy War with the United States 232 10. The Cultural Revolution, 1966–1969 259 11. Rapprochement with the United States 286 12. Countering Soviet Encirclement and Trying to Preserve Mao’s Legacy 315 ACT II } The Happy Interregnum, 1978–1989 13. Opening to the Outside World 349 14. China’s Pedagogic War with Vietnam 383 15. The Strategic Triangle and the Four Modernizations 401 16. Normalization with the Asian Powers: Soviet Union, India, Iran, and Japan 428 ACT III } The Leninist State Besieged; Socialism in One Country 17. 1989: The CCP’s Near Escape and Its Aftermath 463 18. The Diplomacy of Damage Control 485 19. The Crisis Deepens: Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR 505 20. Constraining Unipolarity in an Unbalanced International System 528 21. China and America in the Persian Gulf 557 viii { Contents 22. The Recovery of Hong Kong 578 23. Military Confrontation with the United States 607 24. China’s Long Debate over Response to the US Challenge 634 25. China’s Emergence as a Global Economic Power 674 26. Reassuring and Unnerving the Neighbors: Japan 705 27 Reassuring and Unnerving the Neighbors: India 734 28. China’s Quest for Modernity and the Tides of World History 758 Notes 787 Index 857 LIST OF FIGURES 2-1 Mongolia and Soviet Special Rights in China’s Northeast, 1945–1955 39 2-2 Distribution and Productivity Contributions of 156 Key Soviet Projects 55 3-1 Tides of War in Korea, 1950–1953 75 3-2 CMAG-Viet Minh Campaigns of 1950–1952 90 5-1 China’s Role in the East European Socialist Camp, 1956–1977 121 5-2 The Offshore Islands 138 6-1 China’s Four Routes into Tibet, circa 1959 147 6-2 Distribution of Soviet Economic Assistance 159 7-1 Main Line of PLA Advance against India, 1962 180 7-2 Formation of the Sino-Soviet/Russian Border 183 7-3 The Third Front (1964–1971) 190 8-1 Laos and the Struggle for South Vietnam 205 8-2 Renmin ribao Reports on Armed Struggle in North Kalimantan 224 8-3 The PRC’s Revolutionary Quest in Southeast Asia, 1961–1978 228 9-1 PRC Military Aid to the DRV, 1964–1973 239 10-1 Zhenbao Island and the Riverine Border 280 11-1 China, the US and the 1971 India-Pakistan War 309 12-1 The Paracel Islands and the 1974 “Recovery” Operation 323 12-2 Geopolitical Underpinning of Sino-Iranian Entente of the 1970s 339 13-1 PRC Trade, 1950–2011 368 13-2 Guangdong’s Leading Role in Utilization of Foreign Capital 375 13-3 PRC Students and Scholars in the US, 1979–1983 376 14-1 China’s 1979 Punitive War against Vietnam 384 16-1 The Tawang Region and the Sino-Indian Military Balance 441 16-2 Japan’s Role in China’s Foreign Trade, 1978–1998 451 17-1 Percentage of Americans Having a Favorable Opinion of China 472 17-2 One Hundred National Level Patriotic Education Bases 478 19-1 Chinese Delegation Diplomacy with the Soviet Union, 1989–1991 519 20-1 Sino-Russian Joint Declarations 547 ix