The purpose of this article is to investigate the main characteristics of thediplomatic policy of New China during the period of its formation and its historicalimplications.
I."Leaning to One Side"and the Revolutionary Nature of New China‘s Diplomacy
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC ）began to considerNew China ‘s diplomatic policy around the end of 1948.The main diplomatic principlesformulated within approximately three months consisted of the following ：Non-recognitionof imperialism and a bias towards the Soviet Union（later called "leaning to oneside"），"building a new stove"（i.e.，cooking one ’s meal in a new way ），and "cleaning up the house first，then Inviting guests."In the light of the guidingprinciples and the problems to be resolved，all these "three principles showeda strong revolutionary commitment.
By "revolutionary commitment"we mean that they appeared under the Guidanceof the theory of Chinese revolution and were closely linked to the fundamental problemsto be resolved in the late phase of the Chinese revolution.In this sense ，``leaningto one side"was the most representative.
The concept of leaning to one side had two meanings ——the guiding principleand development strategy for New China.Firstly ，Mao Zedong ‘s motive in proposing"leaning to one side"was to answer the question of on which side China should standin an international configuration of states divided into two camps -the socialistcamp and the capitalist camp.At this level.，leaning to one side was both a guidingprinciple for the diplomatic strategy of New
China ，and a vivid description of its diplomatic pattern.Alliance with theSoviet Union and non-recognition of imperialist states were only specific manifestationsof this general pattern.
Leaning to one side was a product of more than twenty years of revolution andwas put forward as a cardinal principle on the eve of victory.It is impossibleto interpret the formation of the principle of leaning to one side，or the inherentlimitations in the later readjustments made to New China‘s foreign policy，unlessthe understanding of the relations between the Chinese revolution and world politicson the part of the CPC leadership are taken into consideration .
The great changes brought about by the end of World War I and the victory ofthe October Revolution in Russia established the international background for theChinese revolution led by the Communists.Lenin ‘s theory of imperialisrn，theOctober Revolution，the lessons learnt from the failure of the 1911Revolution ，and the experience and plight of the early CPC leaders were all incorporated intothe Communists"knowledge of important matters such as international affairs andthe relationship between the Chinese revolution and the world.In their view，"theworld capitalist and imperialist powers are in collaboration to exploit the proletariatand the oppressed nations throughout the world."The Chinese revolution would prevailover imperialism "only if it