How did the split between China and the Soviet Union affect Chinese politics in the early 1960s?

The split between China and the Soviet Union, which became public and irreparable by 1963, significantly intensified political tensions within the Chinese leadership during the early 1960s. The rift was fueled by Mao Zedong’s resentment toward Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, particularly regarding the lack of consultation on de-Stalinization, the Soviet ridicule of the Great Leap Forward, and the 1960 withdrawal of Soviet technical assistance.1

This international tension exacerbated domestic instability. Following the economic collapse and famine caused by the Great Leap Forward, Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping implemented pragmatic recovery policies, such as material incentives and individual household agricultural production. Mao, however, increasingly viewed these methods as "revisionist"—a fear heightened by the ideological conflict with the Soviet Union.1

Mao interpreted these recovery efforts as a repudiation of his revolutionary strategy, leading him to prioritize "class struggle" to prevent the emergence of "new bourgeois elements" within the party. This ideological divide culminated in the Cultural Revolution, during which Mao purged Liu Shaoqi, labeling him "China’s Khrushchev" for his perceived deviation from revolutionary orthodoxy.12