Communists: The Confrontation

A troupe of Patagonian jugglers would have received a warmer welcome from the Kremlin. Not a single Soviet reporter or photographer was on hand when the men from Peking appeared at Moscow airport; Pravda did not even mention their arrival. After months of invective, accusations and counteraccusations, the great confrontation between Soviet and Chinese Party delegations was finally at hand. East and West watched the showdown—or what could be seen of it—with equal fascination.

Although Nikita Khrushchev suddenly discovered urgent business in Kiev, the Kremlin was stiffly correct about it all, sent...

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