1958 saw Communist China embark on the Great Leap Forward, which killed tens of millions, directly and indirectly, and wrecked the economy, society, and ecology of China, vie with the Soviet Union for leadership of the Socialist World (Mao hated Khruschev and the feeling soon became mutual, enough that Khrushchev ultimately decided not to give the Chinese access to atomic weaponry, delaying their program by about a decade) and also kick off the second Taiwan Strait Crisis, just for shits and grins. And through sheer weight of numbers, the CCP made it through this insanity more or less in one piece.
What if this went all as pear shaped for the government as it did for the people living under it? What if his gambles with the Soviets and the Americans did not pay off? Suppose Mao manages to alienate the Soviet Union even more and when the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis kicks off, Khrushchev contacts Eisenhower and lets him know that Mao is on his own on this one, the Soviets are tired of his antics.
What if this went all as pear shaped for the government as it did for the people living under it? What if his gambles with the Soviets and the Americans did not pay off? Suppose Mao manages to alienate the Soviet Union even more and when the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis kicks off, Khrushchev contacts Eisenhower and lets him know that Mao is on his own on this one, the Soviets are tired of his antics.