Mikhail Gorbachev’s China Legacy
The 1989 Sino-Soviet Summit Helped China Acquire Much-Needed Technology Transfers And To Concentrate On Its Own Development Reforms
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died in Moscow. He was 91. While remembered for bringing an end to the Cold War under the ‘Perestroika’ and ‘Glasnost’ reforms, and considerably reducing the numbers of nuclear warheads possessed by both the USSR and the United States, he took the brunt of the blame for the subsequent collapse of the USSR in 1991. Living standards plummeted while savings and pensions were lost – many Russians suffered as a result, and he was never forgiven by the Russian people for the loss of that safety net. Many still today feel that Gorbachev’s ‘gift’ of democracy and better relations with the West were a mirage – with no Western aid or assistance being given to Russia in the wake of the end of the USSR, a situation that remains a reason why today’s Russian’s are still somewhat ambivalent towards Europe and the United States, an issue recently aggravated by the intense anti-Russian cultural propaganda in Western media.
In China though, Gorbachev is rather more fondly remembered, and he arguably helped pave the way for the 1990 reforms that have placed the country today as one of the world’s great economic powers.
That process was cemented at a four-day Sino-Soviet Summit, held in Beijing from 15-18 May 1989. This was the first time such a meeting had been held for 30 years, most of which had seen political relations between the USSR and China become very frosty – with the possibility at one stage of nuclear war between them.
To allow the summit to take place at all, several old areas of friction had been cleared up beforehand, again at Gorbachev’s initiative and including long-standing China-Russia border disputes. Gorbachev conceded to China in recognizing that the border between the two countries should run along the line of the Chinese bank of the two border rivers – the Amur and the Ussuri.
He also pledged to withdraw troops from Mongolia, East Russia and from Afghanistan, freeing up huge amounts of Chinese military and the operating expenses for Beijing. In 1986, the USSR re-opened its consulate in Shanghai, while China opened a consulate in St. Petersburg. The two countries began a series of trade shows in each other’s territories, showcasing the best of Chinese manufacturing in Russia and the Russian’s doing the same in China. I recall the Friendship Store in Shanghai stocking huge volumes of Soviet made rubber boots.
Gorbachev met with Deng Xiaoping, then the paramount leader of China, and Zhao Yang, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with the outcome being the “natural restoration” of Soviet and Chinese relations.
The impact of that 1989 summit has been lost in many respects as it took place at the same time as the beginnings of the Tiananmen incident. However, it paved the way for the strategic view of China-Russia relations today, as Chinese politicians emphasized that the restoration of party relations did not mean returning to the dominance of the Soviet Union. They stressed that the relationship would be of equality, independence, and sovereignty. Deng also viewed the summit as his last chance to assert his will over Sino-Soviet relations.
The two sides agreed that the two nations would share information and experiences but would not harmonize policies. The relationship has operated along those principles ever since – meaning China did not have to worry so much about its huge neighbor to the north and felt comfortable enough to reduce troop numbers along the Sino-Soviet border to a minimum. That allowed Beijing to concentrate on domestic development reforms – which Deng immediately set about doing in the aftermath and lessons of Tiananmen.
Gorbachev also discussed bilateral economic development, such as cooperation in metallurgy, energy, and transportation with Premier Li Peng, with those early border openings now part of the Belt and Road Initiative at Manzhouli, Heihe, and Suifenhe. Russia is now of course a major energy supplier to China, while technology transfer in metallurgy has allowed China to develop as a high-quality equipment manufacturer in its own right. Just last week a Chinese company sold huge quantities of oil-drilling pipes to Turkmenistan.
While Gorbachev’s ground-breaking visit to Beijing to ‘normalize relations’ has been overshadowed by the events that so nearly ruptured China itself in 1989, there is no doubt that Gorbachev’s summit with Deng helped pave the way for reform and opening up for Beijing. While his passing may not be mourned by many Russian nationals, there will be elder statesmen today within the CPC who will down a glass of vodka in his memory as he changed the USSR from being an adversary to becoming a partner. Without Gorbachev, the fast growth that China experienced from 1989 onwards would not have taken place in such a considered and unfettered manner. His impact on contemporary China remains understated.
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