That’s true... but arming against the Chinese is an interesting move.
The Russians and the Chinese have had tensions along their shared border. This may be part of a series of signals from Moscow to Beijing.
‘That’s true... but arming against the Chinese is an interesting move.’
USSR and then Russia are at it with Vietnam and India against China since 1960s when Khruschev condemned Stalinism as brutal tyranny and heavily softened regime which was heavily criticized by Mao. Khruschev was infamous for bad manners and fired back saying that Mao killed even more people than Stalin, they are butt-buddies and called Mao different other names including racist thing. Then he cut all aid to the Chinese.
As a result Communist world has split it two parts: ‘liberal’ which is more correct to call socialist instead of Communist led by USSR including Germany, Poland, Vietnam and so on. Another block were hardcore commies led by China including Cambodia, North Korea or any other Commies who had bad blood with USSR and at the same time loved mass-murder like Albania and Chaushescu’s regime in Romania.
There were smart arses like Castro in Cuba and Yugoslavia who managed to suck from both though Castro were leaning more to a liberal block and Yugoslavia to neither and were leaning West.
The major principal difference between USSR and Chinese approach was that the liberal block rejected mass-murder and social engineering as a way of class warfare, recognized the right of its subjects to property and relative wealth and personal life and in international policy it recognized the right of Western society for existence. It was officially declared that Communism is just an ideal condition of society which can’t be pushed upon throats and people would be ready for it to happen as part of evolution somewhere in a future.
Of course Mao declared it a heresy, said class warfare is a centerline of Communist ideology and it has to be waged with all means available, death to the capitalist pigs, ends justifies means.
In general he declared Khruschev a traitor and liberal socialist nations on Soviet block sellouts who lost ideological war and surrendered to decadent Western values.
Of course Mao was a hipocrite and US - Chinese rapproachement with Kissinger using a split to prop Chicoms against Soviets is a perfect indicator. De-juro Soviets declared peace and Chicoms war to the West and Western values but de-facto Chicoms enjoyed the fruits of free trade capitalism. It made liberal socialists pissed off.
On the other hand free trade has somehow contributed to decline of the West and helped leftism in a way as a sold rope Lenin wrote about so maybe Mao was right to some extent.