Structure,Perception And The Foundation Of Alliance:Study On The "Lean-to-One-Side" Approach Of The PRC(1949-1950)

Alliance study is one of the core issues in international studies and alliance formation is the key part of the alliance study.This year marks the 70^th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China?PRC?.As the first foreign strategy of the PRC,lean-to-one side approach has had a crucial impact on the triangle relations of China,the United States and the Soviet Union.A question arose here is why the PRC choose lean-to-one-side approach?What is the origin of the China-Soviet Union alliance?The traditional wisdom argue that China's lean-to-one-side approach is mainly based on national interests and ideology,and they rarely use alliance theory to exam it.Differently,based on the framework of the neoclassical realism and political psychology,this paper develops the alliance formation theory and uses two independent variables classified as structural imbalance and elites'perceptions to explain the lean-to-one-side approach.After constructing the theory,this paper uses historical,literature,case,and contrast research methods to comprehensively analyze the background,causes,and impacts of the lean-to-one-side approach,focusing on the structure and cognitive logic of the PRC'alliance strategy.This paper argues that China's lean-to-one-side approach reflects the imbalance powers between the US,the Soviet Union,the CCP and KMT parties and the recognition of the leaders with Mao Zedong as the core.From the view of structure imbalance,the Cold War and the complexity of China's domestic situation ruled out the possibility of the CCP taking the"middle way".The CCP's victory and dominance in the revolutionary war changed the Soviet Union's attitudes toward the KMT and the CCP.More importantly,the CCP and the Soviet Union have achieved consistency in their internal structure.From the view of perceptions,the CCP's perception on historical experience and US'unity of internal decision-making is that US wouldn't change its supports for the KMT and recognize the new regime.The uncertainty of the US policy toward the CCP have brought threats to the new regime established by CCP.Thus,the CCP choose to allay with the Soviet Union to balance the threats.With the change of power structure and elite cognition,the Sino-Soviet alliance has broken down.The implication of the lean-to-one-side approach is that China will still adhere to build a network of non-aligned international relations based on equality and fairness.