China demanded the removal of three obstacles; Gorbachev met them, and the 1989 summit normalised relations.
In the early 1980s China named three obstacles to better relations with the USSR. These were Soviet troops on China's border and in Mongolia, the Soviet war in Afghanistan, and Soviet support for Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia.
China also wanted to balance between the superpowers rather than depend on the USA. Deng's "independent foreign policy" from 1982 aimed for a peaceful environment for economic growth.
Gorbachev moved to meet China's conditions. In a speech at Vladivostok in July 1986, he offered to reduce troops in the Far East and Mongolia. Soviet troops left Afghanistan by February 1989, and Vietnam withdrew from Cambodia in 1989.
In May 1989, Gorbachev visited Beijing, the first Soviet leader to do so for 30 years. The summit normalised relations, though it was overshadowed by the student protests in Tiananmen Square.
- Three obstacles
- Border troops and Mongolia, Afghanistan, Vietnam in Cambodia.
- Vladivostok speech
- July 1986.
- Sino-Soviet summit
- May 1989, Beijing.
Worked example: Explaining normalisation
Why did Sino-Soviet relations improve in the 1980s?
- Security: Gorbachev removed the three obstacles.
- Economics: both needed calm borders to focus on reform.
- Superpower relations: improving Soviet-American ties reduced the USSR's need to confront China.
- Result: the May 1989 summit.
Watch out for this
China and the USSR became close allies again in 1989.
They normalised relations as neighbours, not as allies. China kept an independent foreign policy.
Check your understanding
Which was one of China's three obstacles to better relations with the USSR?
- Soviet support for Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia
- Soviet trade with Japan
- Soviet membership of the UN