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COLD WAR: CHINA, 1949-1972 {PART 15 OF 24} (TV)

Summary

The fifteenth in this twenty-four-part documentary series examining the events of the Cold War, from 1917 to the early 1990s. This series consists of interviews and archival footage, accompanied by historical narration by Kenneth Branagh. This episode chronicles twenty-two years in the Communist era of China's history. The program begins with perspectives on China's 1949 Communist revolution. John Paton Davies of the U.S. State Department recalls the sense of betrayal felt in the United States on losing Americans' biggest ally in Asia, and magazine editor Ge Yang describes the feelings of optimism that the revolution brought to China. Needing assistance in rebuilding war-torn China, Chairman Mao Zedong visited Russia and negotiated a mutual defense treaty with Joseph Stalin, which included economic aid. Ivan Arkhipov, chief Soviet advisor to China, states that the Russians advocated a comprehensive Chinese reform plan, which soon resulted in extensive land reforms. Driven by a hatred for U.S. capitalism and a concern for fellow Communists and Chinese borders, China's energies were diverted from domestic concerns as the country entered the Korean war. Further conflict continued in 1954 when Communist China and U.S.-backed nationalists from Taiwan fought over a series of small Chinese islands. When U.S. officials made indirect threats of nuclear aggression, a schism in Chinese-Soviet relations was born; the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev advised China to end conflict that could lead to nuclear war and refused to aid China in building its own nuclear bomb, preferring to act as China's protector. Meanwhile, as Chinese information minister Ruan Ming and Chen Youwei, foreign editor of "People's Daily," explain, the Chinese saw the atomic bomb as the key to entering world politics -- and as a way to prevent Soviet control of China. The schism between the Chinese and the Soviets widened when Khrushchev denounced the late Stalin and visited the White House. Lev Deluisin, Soviet advisor on China, concludes that Khrushchev and Mao had reached a standstill in their struggle for power in the Communist world. Journalist Liu Binyan comments on Chairman Mao's Great Leap Forward of 1958, which nationalized land, exponentially increased steel production, and created a system of work communes. In 1963, Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union signed a nuclear test-ban treaty, and in 1965 the U.S. sent troops into Vietnam, leading to a complete break between that country and China. Included is a speech by President Lyndon B. Johnson condemning China's policies in Tibet, Korea, India, and other nations. Professor Wu Ningkun describes the atmosphere in China during Chairman Mao's 1966 Cultural Revolution, and deputy ambassador to China Fyodor Mochulski recalls the anti-Soviet fervor of the Chinese Red Guard. The program concludes with information about Chinese-Soviet border disputes that escalated toward a nuclear war, and about the growing role of the U.S. in the Chinese-Soviet conflict. Included are comments by U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger about both his and President Richard Nixon's 1971 and 1972 trips to China, ending a twenty-two year-rift between China and the U.S. Commercials deleted.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, 1999.

This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.

Details

  • NETWORK: CNN
  • DATE: January 24, 1999 Sunday 8:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:46:30
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:58630
  • GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Cold War; China - History - 1949-1976; China - Foreign relations - U S; China - Foreign relations - U S S R; U S - Foreign relations - China; She Made It Collection (Pat Mitchell)
  • SERIES RUN: CNN - TV series, 1998-1999
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Pat Mitchell … Executive Producer
  • Jeremy Isaacs … Executive Producer
  • Vivian Schiller … Senior Producer
  • Martin Smith … Series Producer
  • Neil Cameron … Producer
  • Isobel Hinshelwood … Series Associate Producer
  • Alison McAllan … Series Associate Producer
  • Ted Turner … Series Concept by
  • Cathy Houlihan … Editor
  • Mary Currie … Research
  • Stephen Hallett … Research
  • Svetlana Palmer … Research
  • Steve Bergson … Film Research
  • Ian Buruma … Writer
  • Carl Davis … Music by
  • Kenneth Branagh … Narrator
  • Ivan Arkhipov
  • Chen Youwei
  • John Paton Davies
  • Lev Deluisin
  • Ge Yang
  • Lyndon B. Johnson
  • Nikita S. Khrushchev
  • Henry A. Kissinger
  • Liu Binyan
  • Mao Zedong
  • Fyodor Mochulski
  • Richard M. Nixon
  • Ruan Ming
  • Joseph Stalin
  • Wu Ningkun