Is it worth the money?
In the 60s of the last century, my country maintained a deep friendship with a small Eastern European country, providing it with billions of dollars in aid every year. This generosity did not end until 1978, and the total amount accumulated was at least 10 billion.
However, by the 80s, relations between the two countries had changed dramatically, and in 2009 Albania joined NATO and became an ally of the United States. Why, despite Albania's disappointing behavior, has not been in vain in our past investments, but has realized great value?
In many people's minds, Albania is a distant and unfamiliar country. However, in the last century, China and Argentina have had a deep relationship.
We have mobilized the whole country to help them, and they have done their best to support us internationally, even at the expense of offending the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. However, before the 60s, the relations between China and Argentina were actually very ordinary, what prompted the in-depth development of the relations between the two countries?
Albania, a small country that is very quiet in the international community, can only look around for a backer, and in the end they chose the Soviet Union. At that time, the "Cold War" between the United States and the Soviet Union was about to begin, and the Soviet Union was looking for a "little brother" to confront the United States, so they included Albania under their command.
With the great assistance and support of the Soviet Union, Albania became a member of the Warsaw Pact. They were very grateful for the aid and support of the Soviet Union, and even called Stalin "respectful father" and his portrait hung everywhere.
However, in the 50s, when Khrushchev came to power, he began to completely negate everything about Stalin, which made Albania dissatisfied and questioned. At the same time, relations between China and the USSR began to become delicate.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, China's strength continued to increase, and there were differences with Khrushchev's political views in terms of ideology. The Soviets were unhappy with this, because they had always considered our country to be their followers, and now that China was gaining power, they felt a certain threat, so they began to suppress us.
The year 1960 was a turning point for both China and the Soviet Union and Sino-Arab relations. On June 5 of this year, the 11th meeting of the World Federation of Trade Unions was held in Beijing, and we were the host for the first time.
However, at the dinner, a fierce quarrel broke out between the representatives of the USSR and our side, breaking the originally harmonious atmosphere.
Although the Soviets did not give face at the Beijing Conference and openly opposed our opinions, we could not just throw in the towel. What is even more infuriating is that Khrushchev went so far as to describe us as "** activities against the CPSU" in order to suppress us.
But this is not the end, only half a month later, the Soviet Union began to "do things" against our country again. On June 24, a conference of representatives of the Communist Party and the Workers' Party of the Socialist Countries was held in Bucharest, attended by a delegation led by Beijing Mayor Peng Zhen.
However, at this meeting, the Chinese representatives were "hunted" by the Soviet Union. Under the deliberate arrangement of the Soviet Union, after arriving in Bucharest, our delegation was completely in a state of blackness, unable to contact representatives of other countries, which was equivalent to being "isolated".
After the official meeting began, Khrushchev openly criticized the internal and foreign policies of our country, and at that time the Soviet Union was the "big brother" in the socialist camp, and our country was relatively weak, and most of the delegates attending the meeting chose to stand on the side of the Soviet Union, which made our country particularly isolated.
However, it is surprising that Albania has come forward and publicly expressed its support for our country. Seeing this, Khrushchev was very angry and loudly rebuked the Argentine representatives.
Albania did not care about this, and after the meeting, it told our Chargé d'affaires in Albania that Albania would give full support to China. Albania has always been consistent with China's position and silently supported China in many subsequent meetings of the Communist Movement.
However, this completely angered Khrushchev, causing the Soviet Union to unilaterally tear up the economic and military aid contract with Albania, withdraw all support, and later completely break off diplomatic relations with Albania.
This makes us more aware that weak countries have no diplomacy, and we must unite against the great powers.
China has had a tradition since ancient times that "a drop of water reciprocates the kindness of a spring", and Albania has supported us when we needed it most. Therefore, when the USSR withdrew aid, we immediately took over, continuing Soviet aid to Albania.
You know, it was in the early 60s of the last century, and our country was facing many difficulties, but we still tightened our belts and fully supported Albania. At the end of September 1960, the Albanian delegation came to Beijing to participate in the National Day activities of the 11th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
At the National Day ceremony, the representatives of the Albanian side were also specially invited to climb the Tiananmen Tower and perform fireworks and singing and dancing with them. Although Albania is located in Europe, it is very poor and backward, with almost no industry, and even everyday items such as toothpaste, matches, etc., cannot be manufactured.
Although our country was also difficult at that time, it was much stronger than Albania. Albania was almost paralyzed after the withdrawal of aid from the Soviet Union, but fortunately our country came to the aid in time.
In the winter of 1960, a 10,000-ton ship departed from Guangdong, loaded with grain and goods, and from that year on, China's assistance to Albania lasted for nearly 20 years.
Our assistance to Albania covers a wide range of areas, including projects left over from the Soviet Union and Albania's Fourth Five-Year Plan, as well as military and economic assistance.
For example, for unsalable goods in Albania, we accept them in full; Our own army does not have the conditions to match the new **, and we must first send it to the Albanian ......According to conservative estimates, the value of our assistance to Albania is at least tens of billions.
On the face of it, the return we have received for our assistance to Albania has not been commensurate, and Albania has not been able to provide us with substantial assistance. However, in terms of practical benefits, this aid has actually benefited our country ideologically.
First of all, the existence of Albania has allowed third world countries to see another path other than the United States and the Soviet Union, and our country does not bully the weak, but always gets along with them on an equal footing.
Second, Albania has made many small countries realize that they can maintain a better life even without the support of the Soviet Union or the United States and through normal diplomatic exchanges with China.
Most importantly, Albania has taken the lead in supporting our country at the international level, which has enabled it to regain its rightful seat in the United Nations. Although Albania later switched to the United States, it was because of their greed and lack of appreciation for our aid.
Overall, this aid, while not reciprocal on the surface, actually gives us enormous ideological benefits.
Albania has lost its gratitude, and after entering the 70s, with the improvement of China's international status, relations with many countries have improved, which makes Albania feel jealous and feel betrayed, especially after Nixon's visit to China, Albania is even more angry, accusing us of revisionism.
In 1978, our country stopped its assistance to Albania, and although it has done its best for nearly 20 years, Albania will take revenge.
A little later, Albania stated that our country was the main enemy and began to oppose China in an all-out way. In the 90s, Albania turned to the United States. However, this useless "little brother" is dispensable in the eyes of the United States, and he doesn't pay attention to it at all.
Later, an economic crisis broke out in Albania, which caused a series of social problems, coupled with inaction, which directly reduced the former "country of mountain eagles" to one of the poorest countries in Europe.
Today, although Albania is a member of NATO, life is not easy, it is still poor, and it is not accepted to join the European Union. All this can only be said to be self-inflicted and unworthy of sympathy.