ABSTRACT

During the 1950s, when it was claimed by the Chinese that the East Wind was prevailing increasingly over the West Wind, Sino-Soviet relations were generally warm and a high degree of co-operation existed at all levels, although it is now clear that the seeds of conflict were sown in this period. On the surface, therefore, between October 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded, and 196o, interstate rivalries were minimal in the vast Central Asian borderlands of Sinkiang.