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CONFIDENTIAL
national tradition of chauvinism and territorial
ambition led inevitably to imperialism.
New Tsars
had replaced the old; but in essence the ambition
of the Soviet Union to impose its own will on China,
as on other States, remained unchanged.
18. Even if the experiment of the Cultural
Revolution has failed and it is too early to make
such a sweeping judgement the Chinese see the threat
posed by the Soviet Union as more direct and more
sinister than ever. The invasion of Czechoslovakia
and the Brezhnev doctrine of limited sovereignty
confirmed China's fears. Her state of alarm was
further intensified by the subsequent clashes on the Ussuri River in 1969; the consequent build-up of Soviet forces on the border and what the Chinese see
as transparent attempts at encirclement.
19. In sum, and despite the continued conflict in Vietnam, the Soviet Union has replaced the United
States in China's eyes as the major direct threat to
her. The central purpose of Chinese foreign policy is thus to frustrate the Soviet Union in the pursuit
of her objectives world-wide. But however menacing
the threat from the Soviet Union, she is not the
only power which wishes to impose her will by force
on others. China objects as a matter of principle
to the concept of a bipolar world dominated by the
two superpowers. A secondary purpose therefore of China's foreign policy is to encourage multipolarity. For this reason China favours the expansion of the EEC, and supports efforts by Third World countries to
oppose domination by the superpowers. Chinese
distrust of the Soviet Union thus results in
/policies