A Misunderstood Friendship

Today, the Peoples Republic of China is North Koreas only ally on the world stage, a tightly knit relationship that goes back decades. Both countries portray their partnership as one of brotherly affection based on shared political idealsan alliance as tight as lips to teetheven though relations have deteriorated in recent years due to Chinas ascendance and North Koreas intransigence. In A Misunderstood Friendship, leading diplomatic historians Zhihua Shen and Yafeng Xia draw on previously untapped primary source materials revealing tensions and rivalries to offer a unique account of the ChinaNorth Korea relationship. They unravel the twists and turns in high-level diplomacy between China and North Korea from the late 1940s to the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. Based on unprecedented access to Chinese government documents, Soviet and Eastern European archives, and in-depth interviews with former Chinese diplomats and North Korean defectors, Shen and Xia reveal that the tensions that currently plague the alliance between the two countries have been present from the very beginning of the relationship. They significantly revise existing narratives of the Korean War, Chinas postwar aid to North Korea, Kim Il-sungs ideological and strategic thinking, North Koreas relations with the Soviet Union, and the importance of the Sino-U.S. rapprochement, among other issues. A Misunderstood Friendship adds new depth to our understanding of one of the most secretive and significant relationships of the Cold War, with increasing relevance to international affairs today.