A Misunderstood Friendship: Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung, and Sino-North Korean Relations, 1949-1976

by Zhihua Shen, Yafeng Xia

Today, the People’s Republic of China is North Korea’s only ally on the world stage, a tightly knit relationship that goes back decades. Both countries portray their partnership as one of “brotherly affection” based on shared political ideals―an alliance “as tight as lips to teeth”―even though relations have deteriorated in recent years due to China’s ascendance and North Korea’s intransigence.

In A Misunderstood Friendship , leading diplomatic historians Zhihua Shen and Yafeng Xia draw on previously untapped primary source materials revealing tensions and rivalries to offer a unique account of the China–North Korea relationship. They unravel the twists and turns in high-level diplomacy between China and North Korea from the late 1940s to the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. Based on unprecedented access to Chinese government documents, Soviet and Eastern European archives, and in-depth interviews with former Chinese diplomats and North Korean defectors, Shen and Xia reveal that the tensions that currently plague the alliance between the two countries have been present from the very beginning of the relationship. They significantly revise existing narratives of the Korean War, China’s postwar aid to North Korea, Kim Il-sung’s ideological and strategic thinking, North Korea’s relations with the Soviet Union, and the importance of the Sino-U.S. rapprochement, among other issues. A Misunderstood Friendship adds new depth to our understanding of one of the most secretive and significant relationships of the Cold War, with increasing relevance to international affairs today.

Genres: China, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Asia

376 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2017

About the author

Shen Zhihua (simplified Chinese: 沈志华; traditional Chinese: 沈志華; (this is a Chinese name; the family name is Shen.) is a professor of history at East China Normal University and adjunct professor at Peking University and Renmin University of China. Shen is an expert in the history of the Soviet Union, Sino-Soviet relations, and the Cold War. He is director of the Center for Oriental History Studies of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and honorary researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 2011 Shen was public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[Zulu Fox]

2.5 stars, rounded down.

Clearly, the authors have plumbed the depths of some interesting primary sources - contemporary diplomatic cables in particular. No doubt this book offers some interesting new materials and insights to the most hardcore Cold War historians focused on PRC-DPRK relations; but for the rest of us, this book is hopelessly in the weeds with little payoff.

For starters, having now read the book, I’m not quite sure what I had “misunderstood” about Mao’s friendship with Kim Il-Sung. The authors’ main contention here was that the relationship was complicated and not always easy - but I feel like everyone either knows that or assumes it to be the case. I found there to be nothing particularly revelatory or surprising here regarding this relationship.

More to the point, the authors often get so bogged down in the back and forth of diplomatic cables they miss the forest for the trees. WHY did Stalin ultimately give the green light for Kim to invade South Korea - a lot of scholars have written on this subject but the authors dont even touch it, for instance.

Another issue here is that this is very obviously a China-centric view of the relationship, written by Chinese profs, using mainly Chinese and Soviet materials (largely by necessity, in fairness). I found some of the takes to be fairly naive or Sino-centric - I’d be interested to read a Korean scholar’s review of this book.

On balance, there were a few interesting tidbits from the Korean War, but I’d say just about everyone could skip this book.

[Douglas Kim]

An interesting read. I'm told that the primary author is a pro-western shill and wants China to pursue a policy that is anti-DPRK, so take that with a grain of salt.

The book contains information from Soviet as well as Chinese archives, so I appreciated the content for the factual information contained in it, especially as so much about the DPRK is shrouded in secrecy. It helped clear up the dynamic between the two countries during the early part of their journey, and how it wasn't always sunshine and rainbows, for various reasons both in and out of their control.

As the Sino-Soviet split damaged the communist movement significantly, it's interesting to see how Kim managed his alliances with both the USSR and China, as it reminded me of the period of Korea before the Japan annexation, how the officials pursued a similar strategy with competing western powers attempting to carve up Korea for their influence.

I'm docking it a star because it doesn't totally promise what it claims to in the title, not much about Kim and Mao's actual relationship is discussed, moreso their political dealings and what they said about each other publicly. But maybe that information isn't something that will ever come to light, unless Korea is finally free from American influence.

[Chyi]

长期以来，中国官方的宣传均是“中朝两国人民用鲜血凝成的战斗友谊万古长青”，中朝之间的同盟是“血盟”。沈书的主要观点则是，中朝关系几十年的发展并非如双方宣传那样表现为“永恒的友谊”，而是冷暖无常，变幻莫测。同其他社会主义内部的国家关系一样，中朝同盟始终处于一种不稳定的状态。追求世界共运领袖地位的毛泽东，脑中有着浓厚“天朝”意识，而金日成追求的是朝鲜的民族独立，二者在本质上是对立的、矛盾的，这也是中朝同盟关系不稳定的根本原因所在。朝鲜有效利用了冷战东西对峙和中苏分裂的大背景，两头取利，中国被迫多次让利以拉拢朝鲜，形成了一种“尾巴摇狗”的现象。 总体来说，作者认为毛泽东和金日成对中朝关系的处理，实际上反映出共产党领导的社会主义国家之间关系的结构性弊病，即“以党际关系为基础”，“不是现代国家的正常关系”。

[Hengyu]

从来就没有什么血脉相连的中朝友谊，金日成从一开始就是亲苏联的游击队派，在朝鲜战争和清洗南方派、延安派的过程中又与毛和中国积怨较深。苏共二十大之后，中共成为世界共产革命领袖，金日成在中苏之间搞起了等距外交、左右逢源，玩得炉火纯青，两个大哥被一个小国玩得团团转。中苏分裂后，毛为了拉住这个在亚洲唯一的盟友，勒紧裤腰带，饿死中国人也要加大援朝力度，配合金日成金正日的白头山神话，割让了长白山主峰和大部分天池。中美接触之后，朝鲜痛骂中国背叛革命，再次转向苏联，几十年倒贴只换来两三年的跟屁虫。总感觉毛对朝鲜根本不是“天朝”理念，天朝是要荫蔽藩国，可是对朝鲜完全就是为了换几句应承不计成本的倒贴，多像个舔狗。

[lebaishi]

详细介绍了 1945 - 1976 的中朝关系
其中有些史实还是蛮让我震惊的。

在抗联，红军到后来的内战，都有许多的朝鲜人参加，而且有的人职位还不低，这对共产党取得最后的胜利还是有很大帮助的。

在中华人民共和国成立了，有很多东南亚和非洲国家的人来学习革命，输出世界革命。

在大跃进和文化大革命等我们无比艰难的时期还给了朝鲜巨大的援助。

中国和日美等资本主义国家建交联合应对苏联后，朝鲜扛起了世界革命的大旗，培训和输出革命

[汪先生]

2018-06-10 09:32:08
感谢豆友扫描补增部分，但是注释没有扫全，很遗憾。把短尾声变成了一大章五小结，多了数十页，基本结论是没变的，补增了改革开放后现代国家的外交模式，谈到了邓江两任对于朝韩关系的态度，单给这一部分评分，感觉还是有些表面化。

[Yuki Kudo]

情节惊心动魄，仿若惊险小说。金日成以小国之力，将两大国玩弄于股掌之上。

[故垒萧萧芦荻秋]

从意义上来讲，个人觉得这本书是沈志华老师最好的一本