Publisher's Synopsis
The Sino-American opening in 1971-72 and Washington's subsequent establishment of full diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1979 opened up an entirely new set of questions, and ultimately brought about a fundamental reappraisal of conventional wisdom about Chinese communist foreign policy on both sides of the Pacific.;Since that time, Michael Hunt has taken the lead in this quest for a new understanding, delving into the flood of historical sources on the Communist Party - including party documents, memoirs, and writings of Mao Zedong - that have become available only in recent years.;This text is the result of nearly 20 years of research, much of it in Chinese-language sources otherwise inaccessible to many Western readers. It reaches broadly into the history and traditions that have shaped Chinese foreign policy both before and after the communist take-over in 1949.;The author steers readers away from the reductionist notion that Chinese Communism was a direct ideological outgrowth of the Marxist-Leninist continuum, an interpretation that has failed to adequately explain China's hostility to Soviet direction over the years.;A major statement of developments in the field of Chinese history and international relations, this text should be useful to scholars, students, and policymakers. It should also appeal to any readers who hope to understand the motivations of Chinese political manoeuvres over the ages, and to broaden their perspective on China today.
