The USSR was ruled as enemy number 1 precisely because it took a hard-line stance against colonialism and capitalism. The PRC, despite siding against colonialism and capitalism, ultimately is not nearly as fierce a fighter.
On the one hand, China isn't exactly a fierce champion of socialist ideals; yet on the other, Mao loathes Khrushchev—and actually went to war against the USSR precisely because Khrushchev had betrayed those very ideals, betrayed Stalin. It’s a bit odd, isn't it, Comrade?
Kafka is nervously smoking in the corner... You get what I mean, anyway.
This is the tradeoff, the “deal with the devil” that China made in order to advance socialism forward. The soviet path was not incorrect, but neither was the Chinese decision.
Yes, China had no other choice back then. It was a choice between reconciling with the USSR or turning toward the West. The Chinese proved to be a proud people, and so they turned to the West. I believe that China did not want to play second fiddle; it aspired to be the greatest socialist power of all.
What do you think would have happened back then—in the 70s—if China had chosen the USSR instead of selling its soul to the devil?
What course of events do you envision if two great nations were to unite against the yoke of capitalism—that force which devours everything in its path? Whether in the West or in China, there is essentially no difference... for what does it matter whether capitalism is "red" or "white"?
Without the industrialization of the economy under Mao
It failed—even though the Russians were helping. A great many Chinese students studied at universities across the USSR; there were plenty in my city, too. The USSR helped build factories and supplied machinery. Mao personally toured Soviet plants and copied their technological processes. He even secured a loan from Stalin.
So why, in that case, wouldn't they have carried out industrialization?
You give Mao all the credit, while the assistance from the USSR somehow gets completely overlooked... Everything Mao achieved back then, he achieved with the help of the USSR. Had the USSR not provided nuclear weapons technology, the U.S. would have simply pecked China to death—strangled it. It was only after acquiring nuclear weapons that China attained true freedom. This is precisely what Iran needs; otherwise, it will be pecked to death in the exact same way.
The reason I say Mao’s contributions were essential is because Mao played a similar role as Stalin, turning a post-revolutionary country into a newly industrialized one. Like the Stalin era, mistakes and excess occurred, but also like the Stalin era, such industrialization became the backbone of the future economy and brought incredible improvements to quality of life and production.
The reason I say Mao’s contributions were essential is because Mao played a similar role as Stalin
Rather, like Lenin. Mao is the ideologue of Chinese socialism. Stalin always referred to himself as Lenin's disciple.
turning a post-revolutionary country into a newly industrialized one.
A different view prevails here: that the best work Mao ever did was accomplished before—or, to use the Soviet analogy, prior to 1921. Subsequently, however, Mao went off the rails, drifting into "uncharted territory"—uncharted, at least, for him. His approach to economic construction ultimately devolved into a nightmare for China. The path he was pursuing proved untenable, necessitating an abrupt change of course.
but also like the Stalin era, such industrialization became
Yes, of course, there were many mistakes, but Stalin ended his journey on a high note.