Three Obstacles And The Normalization Of Sino-Soviet Relations

Due to the rapid proximity of China to the US and Japan at the end of 1970 s and the expansion of the Soviet power around China,after ten years of honeymoon,ten years of debate and ten years of confrontation,relations between PRC and USSR almost went to the end of the road,and the two sides' jealousy and alert to each other reached the peak of history in this period.In 1982,Brezhnev took the lead in releasing the signal to improve relations with China.Meanwhile,Deng Xiaoping immediately took over the olive branch delivered by the soviet side and initiated the negotiations on the normalization of Sino-Soviet relations on the government-government level.In order to maintain national security interests and dedicate to create a benifitial external enviroment for domestic economic construction,Deng put forward the prerequisite for the normalization of Sino-Soviet Relations-the elimination of the so-called "three obstacles",namely,the disarmament on the Sino-Soviet border and the withdrawal of the troops deployed in Mongolia,the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the withdrawal of Vietnamese from Kampuchea.However,because of the Soviet Union's no-recognized and no-discussed attitude towards "three obstacles" in a long term,the normalization had not made substantial progress.In view of the fact that the offensive and defensive positions of USSR and US in cold war exchanged and the Sino-US-Soviet strategic triangle relationship appeared stabled balance after 1985,Gorbachev,guided by the diplomatic "new thinking",carried out a comprehensive strategic contraction,made a substantial retreat from the original position of the Sino-Soviet negotiations and a major breakthrough in the solution of the "three obstacles".In the case of all or partial elimination of the "three obstacles",the Sino-Soviet summit held in Beijing in May 1989 officially declared the normalization of Sino-Soviet relations.Since then,PRC and USSR have entered a new period of developing new relations on the basis of the five principles of peaceful coexistence.