Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

====Asia====
[[File:Ji8, 3-1, Sino-Soviet Friendship, 1950.jpg|thumb|right|1950 Chinese stamp depicting Stalin and Mao shaking hands, commemorating the signing of the new [[Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance|Sino-Soviet Treaty]]]]
In October 1949, [[Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party|Chinese Communist Party chairman]] [[Mao Zedong]] took power in China and proclaimed the [[People's Republic of China]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=301|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=509|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=286}} Marxist governments now controlled a third of the world's land mass.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=509}} Privately, Stalin revealed that he had underestimated the Chinese Communists and their ability to win the civil war, instead encouraging them to make another peace with the KMT.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=553}} In December 1949, Mao visited Stalin. Initially Stalin refused to repeal the [[Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance|Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1945]], which significantly benefited the Soviet Union over China, although in January 1950 he relented and agreed to sign [[Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance|a new treaty]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=509|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=287–291}} Stalin was concerned that Mao might follow Tito's example by pursuing a course independent of Soviet influence, and made it known that if displeased he would withdraw assistance; the Chinese desperately needed said assistance after decades of civil war.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=552|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=287}}

At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States divided up the Korean Peninsula, formerly a Japanese colonial possession, along the [[Division of Korea|38th parallel]], setting up a communist government in the north and a pro-Western, anti-communist government in the south.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=552|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=294}} North Korean leader [[Kim Il Sung]] visited Stalin in March 1949 and again in March 1950; he wanted to invade the south, and although Stalin was initially reluctant to provide support, he eventually agreed by May 1950.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=302|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=553|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=294–295}} The [[North Korean Army]] launched the [[Korean War]] by invading South Korea in June 1950, making swift gains and capturing [[Seoul]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=554}} Both Stalin and Mao believed that a swift victory would ensue.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=554}} The U.S. went to the UN Security Council—which the Soviets were boycotting over its refusal to recognise Mao's government—and secured international military support for the South Koreans. U.S. led forces pushed the North Koreans back.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=554|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=295–296}} Stalin wanted to avoid direct Soviet conflict with the U.S., and convinced the Chinese to enter the war to aid the North in October 1950.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=555–556|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=296}}

The Soviet Union was one of the first nations to extend diplomatic recognition to the newly created [[state of Israel]] in 1948, in hopes of obtaining an ally in the Middle East.{{Sfn|Yegorov, 15 December 2017}} When the Israeli ambassador [[Golda Meir]] arrived in the USSR, Stalin was angered by the Jewish crowds who gathered to greet her.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=291}} He was further angered by Israel's [[Israel–United States relations|growing alliance with the U.S.]]{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=285}} After Stalin fell out with Israel, he launched an anti-Jewish campaign within the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=518}} In November 1948, he abolished the JAC,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=291|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=577|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=284}} and show trials took place for some of its members.{{Sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=567|2a1=Brackman|2y=2001|2pp=384–385}} The Soviet press engaged in vituperative attacks on [[Zionism]], Jewish culture, and "rootless cosmopolitanism",{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=291|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=308–309}} with growing levels of antisemitism being expressed across Soviet society.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=576–577}} [[Joseph Stalin and antisemitism|Stalin's increasing tolerance of antisemitism]] may have stemmed from his increasing Russian nationalism or from the recognition that antisemitism had proved a useful tool for Hitler;{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=290}} he may have increasingly viewed the Jewish people as a "counter-revolutionary" nation.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=286}} There were rumours that Stalin was planning on deporting all Soviet Jews to the [[Jewish Autonomous Region]] in [[Birobidzhan]] in Siberia.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=577|2a1=Overy|2y=2004|2p=565|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=309}}