The Sino-Soviet Schism, 1957–1963

Abstract

The schism between Moscow and Beijing became irreversible once it became clear that Mao’s willingness to run the risk of nuclear war on behalf of Chinese national interests (Taiwan, in particular) by far exceeded Khrushchev’s willingness to run such risks, especially for purposes that served Chinese, but not Soviet, national-security interests. This led Moscow to precipitously withdraw its massive material assistance to China, and led China to denounce Moscow, increasingly openly, as an apostate to the cause.