China's foreign policy during the era of Mao Zedong (1949-1976) was characterized by independence and security, leading to a line dispute that resulted in a break with Moscow in the 1960s and a spectacular rapprochement with the USA in 1972. Starting in 1978, Deng Xiaoping sought to resolve this contradiction with a commitment to interdependence and economic opening. Even in 2004, Beijing is dissatisfied both with its immediate surroundings, where many actors are either tacitly or openly arming against a "Chinese threat," and with a world dominated by the USA. The most visible expression of the perceived impairment of its great power aspirations is the ongoing, independent existence of the "renegade province" of Taiwan.