AHC: Most Soviet-friendly Chinese leader after Mao.

Is there any possible Chinese leader who could've taken power after Mao's death who would've instituted economic reforms like Deng, but would've been more friendly and cooperative with the Soviet Union? This also means a continual hostility towards the U.S. and Western countries. My challenge also can have the leadership taken through a coup, assassination of Deng, etc.
 
Would having Lin Biao in power also means no China trip for Nixon-Kissinger?

Really depends on which accounts you believe about him. Lin Bao is either painted as a traitor to the PRC or anti-Soviet Maoist. I'm not of the opinion that he is pro-Soviet or even pro-West. He's the type of guy that would adjust his own policies towards the demands of the geo-political situation. I don't think Lin Bao will tolerate American power-playing as much as Mao did.

At this point in the game (1971), relations with the Soviets are at a low. Renewal of cooperation between the two states requires not only insistence by the Chinese but also on the part of the Soviets. Brezhnev is willing to come to the table, as is Lin Bao, but Lin Bao isn't going to go out of his way. I think a Lin Bao leadership leads to a chilly at best relationship, but one that could pave the way for normalization just around the time the Soviets would be collapsing... :( unless the pod is big enough to alter this.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Lin Biao was actually pretty close with the Soviets. I don't say this to paint him as a traitor or anything; he more or less turned to them because they appeared far more reasonable than the radicalized and self-destructive frenzy that Maoism was working itself into.
 
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