On March 21, 2024, at 11:00 AM, the activity “The Open File” will be held at AIDSSH, featuring a lecture by Associate Professor Dr. Gjon Boriçi on Albanian-Chinese political and economic relations from 1954 to 1960.
“The Beginnings of Albanian-Chinese Political and Economic Relations 1954–1960” by Gjon Boriçi, published by the Institute of History–ASA.
Professor Gjon Boriçi’s monograph covers the entire span of the extraordinary and delicate relations between the People's Republic of Albania and the People's Republic of China from 1954 to 1960.
The book “The Beginnings of Albanian-Chinese Political and Economic Relations 1954–1960” is an effort to present as comprehensively as possible the early stages of relations between the two countries in the second half of the 1950s, as well as to explain the reasons behind the full rapprochement between them.
A characteristic of political Albania under communism, especially during the second half of the 1950s, was the breakdown of its very close relations with the Soviet Union and, ultimately, its strong alignment with the Chinese. The openly declared motive was ideological disagreement, while the interstate relations and the true reasons for the rupture are explained with clear distinctions between each case in this monograph. The author begins his study of this time period in 1954, when spectacular political upheavals started occurring within the Socialist Camp, and when Enver Hoxha was forced to resign as Prime Minister under Soviet pressure.
Albanian-Chinese relations have their own history. Their beginnings did not differ from Albania’s relations with other countries of the Socialist Camp. However, while they began similarly, over time they experienced unexpected intensification, which indicated that the political leaderships of the respective countries had strong interests—interests that are detailed in this study.
Gentiana Sula Official Page @Gjon Boriçi Institute of History – IH / Albanian Institute of History