Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Peng Zhen in Moscow. Photography.

[Moscow], [November 1960]. 
18,7x23,6 cm.

In good condition, some light wear to edges, small tear.

The Chinese leaders in the photo (from left to right) are Liu Shaoqi, President of the People's Republic of China; Deng Xiaoping, General Secretary; and Peng Zhen, the First Secretary of the Beijing Committee of the Communist Party of China.
The Soviet politicians in the photo (from left to right) are Anastas Mikoyan, the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union; Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; Frol Kozlov, the Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; and Mikhail Suslov, a member of the Politburo.
Relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union deteriorated after Stalin's death and the subsequent denunciation of his cult of personality at the 20th Party Congress. The Sino-Soviet split began in September 1959 following Khrushchev's unsuccessful visit to Beijing. In 1960, criticisms of Khrushchev's 'capitulationism' began appearing in Chinese media, leading to Khrushchev's announcement of the recall of all Soviet specialists from China, which caused the cancellation of many joint scientific projects. This contributed to the famines during the Great Leap Forward.
Amidst these tensions, the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties was held in Moscow in November 1960. The Chinese delegation was led by Liu Shaoqi. China accused the Soviet Union of 'seeking peaceful coexistence with free world powers and abandoning the spirit of Leninism'. However, Khrushchev received international support in his ideological dispute with Mao. The Sino-Soviet split was finalized in 1962. Relations between the USSR and China only began to gradually improve after the deaths of Mao Zedong in 1976 and Leonid Brezhnev in 1982.
Liu Shaoqi and Peng Zhen were purged during the Cultural Revolution for opposing Mao's views. In the early 1980s, they were posthumously rehabilitated by Deng Xiaoping's government.

Provenance: Private archive of a Soviet politician.