A Comparative Analysis of the Two Sino-Soviet Alliances of 1945 and 1950

�e Sino-Soviet alliance was established twice in 1945 and 1950. �erst alliance was formed by the Republic of China and the Soviet Union; the second was formed by the Peoples Republic of China and the USSR. Most previous research focuses upon the historical process in which the latter alliance was estab- lished, and rarely compares both alliances. Although a few scholars cover both alliances, they argue mainly about whether the two alliances were equal or not. Without taking the essential function of alli- ance mentioned below into account, they mostly examine how Soviet interests in China were arranged in the alliances in order to indicate how unequal or equal the arrangements were. �is paper aims to compare the two Sino-Soviet alliances not only in terms of Soviet interests in China, but also in the context of the essential function ofalliance,� which can be considered as an arrangement of joint defense against potential enemies. �is arrangement conventionally takes the form of an oensive and defensive alliance, while the collective security embodied in the League of Nations or in the United Nations was invented to overcome the conventional oensive and defensive alliance. �ese two types (oensive and defensive alliance and collective security) dier in the location of potential ene- mies. �e former locates them outside of the alliance, while the latter includes potential enemies within its membership. �e conclusion of this paper is divided into three arguments: (1) �e Sino-Soviet alliance of 1945 can be considered as a regional arrangement which comple- ments the collective security embodied in the United Nations. (2) �e alliance of 1950 can be located between a conventional oensive and defensive alliance, and a regional arrangement of the collective security. (3) Based on the essential function of alliance mentioned above (1, 2) , both alliances similarly arranged Soviet interests in China.