The Fall of the Opposition and the Evolution of Stalin's and Trotsky's Views on China

As an anti-Communist reign of terror took hold virtually throughout China, Stalin’s paramount concern became saving his own reputation. Even in private letters to his closest collaborators he did not admit mistakes. In a note to Molotov of July 11, 1927, he wrote, “Our policy [in China] was and remains the only correct policy. Never have I been so deeply and firmly convinced of the correctness of our policy … in China,., as I am now.” ¹¹³ Two weeks later, on July 28, he published an article in Pravda> the overall aim of which was to explicit justify the Comintern’s China policy. ¹¹⁴