On August 20, 1969, Soviet Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Dobrynin, acting on orders, urgently requested a meeting in Washington with U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. He informed Kissinger of the Soviet Union’s intention to carry out a nuclear strike against China and sought the U.S. position. At minimum, the Soviets hoped the United States would remain neutral. After emergency consultations between President Nixon, Kissinger, and others, the U.S. leadership concluded that the greatest threat to the Western world came from the Soviet Union, and that the existence of a strong China was in the strategic interest of the West.

The United States leaked the Soviet intention to the media. On August 28, The Washington Star published a report titled “The Soviet Union Plans a Surgical Nuclear Strike on China.” The article stated: “According to reliable sources, the Soviet Union intends to use medium-range ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads with yields of several megatons to carry out surgical nuclear strikes against China’s key military installations—such as the Jiuquan and Xichang missile launch bases, the Lop Nur nuclear test site—as well as major cities including Beijing, Changchun, and Anshan.”

Mao Zedong Rushes to Prepare for War

The report caused an international uproar, sending shockwaves around the world. Brezhnev was said to be furious. China, of course, would not react as Kissinger reportedly hoped—“one hopes the Chinese Communist leaders will see the report and not then throw it away.” After hearing Zhou Enlai’s briefing, Mao Zedong said: “So they want to fight a nuclear war? Atomic bombs are powerful, but I am not afraid.” He simultaneously put forward the policy of “dig deep tunnels, store up grain, and never seek hegemony.” The entire country quickly entered a wartime readiness posture. Many enterprises shifted to military production, and the national economy began moving toward a war footing. Large numbers of factories were relocated to remote mountainous areas, implementing the “mountains, dispersion, and tunnels” strategy of Third Front construction. Major cities such as Beijing began digging extensive underground facilities.

The United States Prepares Retaliation Against the Soviet Union

Kissinger later revealed that the U.S. president had signed a top-secret order preparing for nuclear retaliation against more than 130 Soviet cities and military bases. If even a single Soviet medium-range missile left its launch pad, the U.S. retaliation plan would be triggered. Upon learning this, Brezhnev angrily exclaimed, “The Americans have betrayed us.”

The Soviet plan to carry out a nuclear strike on China made Mao Zedong realize that the United States was not necessarily China’s enemy and could, in fact, become a strategic partner. From that point on, Sino–American relations began to shift.

During the 1969 Sino–Soviet border clashes, a saying circulated in Europe: Marx had changed the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” to “Workers of the world, stay farther away from each other.”