Sino-Soviet Ties: A 40-year Seesaw

1949: Chinese Communists defeat Nationalists. Moscow provides Beijing with aid. 1956: Ties deteriorate following Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin, which Mao Zedong sees as undermining unity of the Communist bloc.

1959: Khrushchev rescinds offer to give Beijing ``sample'' A-bomb.

1960: Kremlin stops all aid to China, pulls out more than 1,000 technicians, and terminates more than 200 Soviet-backed industrial projects. Party ties cut.

1962: Moscow supplies advanced jets to India, then fighting a border war with China.

1969: Fighting breaks out along Sino-Soviet border. China claims huge tracts of land it says czarist Russia had seized.

1970s: During Cultural Revolution, Chinese leaders prepare for Soviet invasion that never comes. Both sides maintain more than 1 million soldiers along border. China resumes US relations.

1976: Sino-Soviet relations begin to improve after Mao's death and the emergence of the more pragmatic Deng Xiaoping, who says there is no imminent threat of war and that China must devote its energies to economic development. -30-{et