GDR, China and International Politics. An Indian Perspective

Abstract The worldwide operation of the Big Power Triangle (US-USSR-China) impacts also on Germany. Situated on the remote eastern flank of the Soviet landmass, China nevertheless influences the GDR's policy and attitude, not bilaterally but via the Super Power circuits. The sharpening of the international political situation covering Africa and Asia in recent years has triggered the GDR's stringent critique of Beijing. Despite the age of detente, East Berlin's insecurity on the German Question vis-ä-vis Bonn remains, and China has reinforced that insecurity by means of its Intermediate Zone strategy designed to weaken Soviet bloc cohesion. East German criticism of, and moves against, China reflects, therefore, the GDR's perception of the latter as a threat to its fundamental values, which are cherished in the face of the German Question being kept open by Bonn.