ABSTRACT
The year 1927-1928 is one of the great watersheds in the history of Sino-Soviet relations. It marks a Soviet decision to support the establishment of a Communist state in China. The alignment of the groups was determined partly by the configuration of the power struggle which was just then reaching its climax in the Soviet Union. Once a soviet was established in one locality, the procedure would be repeated in an adjacent one, gradually expanding the territory under Communist control. Chinese Communist military activity did prevent substantial Kuomintang reinforcements from being sent to aid Chang Hsüeh-liang, and the Soviet Union obtained the restoration of its former position on the Chinese Eastern Railway. The decisions of the Soviet Areas Conference and of the Central Politburo meeting which followed it mark the apogee in the history of the Li Li-san leadership.
