leverage to alter the points regarding the Kuril Islands or Southern Sakhalin, which were the USSR’s territorial gains made in Yalta. Regarding Mao's desire for a new treaty, Stalin addressed the possibility of formally retaining the existing treaty while changing it in practice. For instance, the Soviet Union still reserved the rights to station troops in Port Arthur, yet at the same time, withdrew the units in Port Arthur as the CCP had suggested. Mao responded euphemistically that it is necessary to consider the legality of the Yalta Conference; however, within Chinese society, the public believed that since the Nationalist party was already defeated, the existing Treaty of Friendship and Alliance lost its purpose and significance. Stalin, in turn, claimed that the existing treaty would be altered eventually. Turning point Similar to the request for a new treaty, Mao also received other refusals from Stalin. One of them was the military aid to support the PLA for launching an attack on Taiwan. Stalin argued that military aid from the USSR would give the United States an excuse to intervene. After the celebration of Stalin’s 70th birthday, Mao further reinforced his position on concluding a new treaty, yet what he received were more refusals from Stalin. According to Mao himself, Mao tried to reach Stalin several times, but the Kremlin told Mao that Stalin was not at home and tried to arrange Mao with Stalin’s associates instead. Mao decided to keep waiting. With rumours of Mao being held by Stalin secretly spreading, the two parties finally agreed to act in accordance to address the rumours. They decided to invite Mao for an interview with Soviet press TASS. The interview also marked a turning point in the discussion of the treaty with Mao. Agreement reached On January 2, 1950, Stalin finally agreed to initiate the talk with Mao to address the treaty issue. Mao presented three proposals: the conclusion of a new treaty, a publication of official announcements from the two countries claiming that the two parties have reached an agreement on issues regarding the previous treaty, and finally, a signing of the declaration of relationships between the two countries without the need of a new treaty. Mao certainly favoured the first proposal, which he argued would bring great benefits to both countries politically, particularly for confrontation with other imperialist powers. After the approval from the Soviet side, the two parties arranged