A Misunderstood Friendship: Mao Zedong, Kim Il-Sung, and Sino-North Korean Relations, 1949-1976

Today, China is widely known as North Korea's only ally on the world stage, a relationship that goes back decades as both countries forged a path as communist governments in the post-World War II period. Historically, both countries have advertised the relationship as being one of special closeness, based on shared political ideals and regional goals. Yet, as China has risen in global standing, its current position in relation to North Korea seems to be changing into a reluctant one, affected by global perceptions of North Korea, calls for Chinese global and regional leadership, and increased economic and political connections between China and other world powers like the United States.

In A Misunderstood Friendship, Zhihua Shen and Yafeng Xia contend that the history of the North Korea-China relationship is not so simply understood. Relying on newly declassified Chinese government documents and in-depth interviews with former North Korean and Chinese diplomats, this book reveals that the complexity, tension, and global sensitivities that currently plague the alliance between the two countries have in fact been a feature of the relationship from the beginning. Shen and Xia contend that China has always viewed the relationship as one of convenience, and further, that going forward the relationship will not play as large of a factor in Chinese foreign policy decisions as some experts or foreign policy officials in the region may believe. An in-depth study drawing on unprecedented archival access, this book covers exciting new ground in the history of Cold War Asia