The declaration was a fait accompli long before Gorbachev’s arrival in Beijing. Surprisingly, there were no further major achievements.
onsdag 18. september 2024
In Retrospect: When Gorbachev Came to Beijing (1989)
The talks went well, if not spectacularly. For Gorbachev, the crucial tete- a-tete was with Deng, who had forced him to wait three years for the meeting, a ploy in a cunning strategy to further Chinese aims such as a reduction in Soviet armaments and a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Their lunch Tuesday was cordial and uneventful. The high point came when Deng upstaged his visitor, the great upstager, by beating him to the historic punch. Just as the press corps was about to file out of the room where the two had met, Deng proclaimed, “Because the journalists have not left us yet, we can publicly announce the normalization of relations between our two countries.” Thus ended, at least officially, 30 years of antipathy, a period in which relations were icy at best and at times threatened war between the two Communist giants.
The declaration was a fait accompli long before Gorbachev’s arrival in Beijing. Surprisingly, there were no further major achievements.
The declaration was a fait accompli long before Gorbachev’s arrival in Beijing. Surprisingly, there were no further major achievements.
