On January 14, Comrade Stalin, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, picked up *Pravda*. The headline on the front page was the news that law professors from Moscow University and Leningrad University in the Soviet Union went to Shanghai, China to participate in the Asian International Tribunal.

After reading this article, Comrade Stalin lit his pipe out of habit. He was not very satisfied with the work of Bukharin, the editor-in-chief of *Pravda*, on this matter, but only not very satisfied. Because He Rui's reaction was too fast, from annihilating the ANZAC Corps to calling on international legal experts, it was done in one go. Although Comrade Stalin made direct instructions immediately after discovering this opportunity, the best time had been missed. The Organizing Committee of the Asian International Tribunal first declined the law professors from universities in Moscow and Leningrad to become members of the Organizing Committee.

Only after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began to execute Comrade Stalin's instructions did they strive for the qualification of observer committee members. The gap between Organizing Committee members and observer committee members was too big. In comparison, Hungary, a country disliked by everyone, eventually obtained the qualification of an Organizing Committee member because of timely action.

What really made Stalin very dissatisfied was Joffe, a member of the Politburo of the CPSU and Chairman of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. Perhaps Joffe should be dismissed and replaced by a more capable comrade. Comrade Stalin began to consider this matter. But who should replace him?

Refilling a pipe of tobacco, Comrade Stalin stood up and walked around the office. Finally, he decided to raise this matter at the Standing Committee meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU. Although Joffe was very close to Trotsky, this matter would definitely be considered by the Trotsky faction as Comrade Stalin engaging in political struggle. But since those people only considered such things in their minds, Comrade Stalin felt it was even more necessary to struggle with them.

January 15 was the day of the Standing Committee meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU. It could be seen that Trotsky's opposition attitude was very clear at this time. At this time, Trotsky was already in a weak position in the Politburo. After being forced to resign as Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council in January 1925, he served as Director of the Electrical Technology Development Bureau and Chairman of the Industry and Technology Committee.

Even so, this man with thick hair like a lion's mane still had no intention of retreating. As soon as the meeting started, Trotsky proposed a brand-new report, "The Industrial and Technology Committee hopes to send a delegation to negotiate with China on technical cooperation, hoping to reach a long-term agreement. Moreover, regarding the Soviet-China personnel exchange plan, we also hope to discuss the plan proposed by the Chinese government."

These two plans were promoted by Trotsky and his supporters, and were also a major boost that Trotsky believed could influence Soviet economic policy in the near future.

Given the current situation within the CPSU, the committee members knew very well to what extent the contradictions had reached. These proposals were no longer just proposals, but a struggle for discourse power and policy-making power. Many wait-and-see committee members did not express their attitudes; everyone was waiting for Stalin's speech. Comrade Stalin still listened calmly, showing no emotion on his face.

Trotsky continued, "I think the Chinese side will not refuse these agreements, but what I want to say is that by comparing trade between the Soviet Union and China, and trade between the Soviet Union and Europe, the gap is very large. The Chinese side can accept payment for goods one and a half years after signing the agreement, while in the limited trade in Europe, European merchants have very tight requirements for time. So many European merchants are not unwilling to trade with us, but cannot accept our delivery time. According to the intelligence we collected, the delivery time between China and merchants from various countries is much shorter. Comrades, I really want to discuss this matter."

The wait-and-see committee members and the committee members supporting Stalin all looked at Stalin. They understood that this was another round of attack by Trotsky. Previously, only Soviet liberals dared to compare the European economy with the Soviet Union. Due to the deep-rooted distrust between the Soviet Union and Western European countries, identifying with Western Europe was almost considered treason, so this comparison met with strong dissatisfaction from the top and bottom of the Soviet Union and did not cause much impact.

China's He Rui regime was considered a 'bourgeois reformist regime' in Lenin's era, but the re-demarcation agreement between the He Rui regime and the Soviet Union was within the acceptable range of the CPSU Central Committee. The border military buffer zone between the He Rui regime and the Soviet Union was executed quite well. This agreement stipulated that the two countries form a joint inspection team every year to inspect the other side's military buffer zone and visit the military camps of the other side close to the military buffer zone.

After the establishment of this military mutual trust mechanism, although the huge China still posed some potential threat, the huge China became a shield for the Soviet Union in the East, greatly reducing the security pressure on the Soviet Union.

The He Rui regime amended the constitution and determined that China is a socialist regime. Even if many people in the Soviet Union still considered China a bourgeois reformist regime, this 'bourgeois country' was regarded as a 'moderate bourgeois country' or even a 'good bourgeois country.' As the trade volume between China and the Soviet Union grew larger and larger, the Trotsky faction, which originally tended to compare Europe with the Soviet Union, now increasingly used China as a reference object for comparison with the Soviet Union.

Comrade Stalin hated Trotsky's comparison very much. The Soviet Union is the Soviet Union, and China is China. Trotsky seemed to have completely forgotten the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism, having neither the ability to figure out the specific differences between various countries nor the ability to figure out the universal connections between things.

Just like Trotsky tried to construct the conclusion that 'China is stronger than the Soviet Union' by comparing the Soviet Union's untimely delivery with China's rapid supply, and then criticized the existing Soviet production based on this conclusion, finally achieving the goal of competing for discourse power.

Out of basic politeness, Comrade Stalin listened to Trotsky's speech but did not speak. In political rules, 'King does not fight King.' So Politburo member and *Pravda* editor-in-chief Bukharin spoke, "Comrade Trotsky, I also think the reaction speed of the Chinese side is very fast. Recently, there is a very important matter. China is achieving a breakthrough in diplomacy by building the Asian International Tribunal. I really want to ask Comrade Joffe, why didn't the law departments of Moscow University and Leningrad University respond at all when China first issued the invitation letter? So much so that until now, we can only send personnel to become members of the observation group of the Asian International Tribunal."

This counterattack was very fierce, leaving Joffe, Chairman of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, unsure how to react for a moment. The situation had developed to a point that left Joffe dumbfounded. The Asian International Tribunal established by China had been defined as an 'academic organization.' The Chinese government hid its figure behind an international academic organization, as if it didn't exist in this ambassadorial event dominated by politics and military affairs.

Chinese Doctor of Law Professor Zhao Tianlin stood completely under the spotlight of the world diplomatic stage, becoming the most shining one. Zhao Tianlin's academic qualifications, experience, and character completely withstood the detailed scrutiny that came with attention, becoming a representative figure in the legal circle in the world.

Committee Member Joffe had to admit that after China successfully shaped such an image, the Asian International Tribunal had become a big stage for diplomatic circles. China's diplomatic flexibility made Joffe feel he saw Comrade Lenin's keen sense. After China kicked the United States out of the Asian International Tribunal, those active on the stage were famous figures in the legal circles of Europe and China. The news that the foreign ministers of Italy, Austria, and Hungary accompanied legal professionals from the two countries to China appeared inconspicuous. Based on the intelligence collected by the Soviet Embassy in China, France and Germany also had diplomatic personnel arriving in China and communicating with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

China's diplomacy was unprecedentedly successful, and this success was exactly what the Soviet Union needed. The biggest problem in Soviet diplomacy at present was the inability to break the blockade situation.

Since Bukharin's attack had begun, the goal must be achieved. What Joffe could understand, Bukharin also understood. So after Bukharin described China's breakthrough in diplomacy, he continued, "If the Soviet Union wants to restore trade with Europe, the first thing is to obtain a breakthrough in diplomacy, not simply discuss small matters like delivery time. Mr. He Rui said when talking with our ambassador to China at a dinner a few days ago that for any national-level action, no matter how fast, there is always faster; no matter how slow, there is also slower. In international development, the important thing is whether one can grasp the principal contradiction and secondary contradiction. In this matter, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs is not a question of fast or slow, but completely failed to understand the situation. I think this proves that Comrade Joffe's working ability is worth discussing."

Speaking of this, the members of the CPSU Central Committee understood that Comrade Stalin was going to remove Joffe from the position of Chairman of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. The People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs was a key channel for communication between the Soviet Union and Europe and America, but the importance of this position was not particularly high.

Since Joffe was to be removed, Joffe's problems had to be listed. Many committee members were very happy to see this happen. Because many people they couldn't stand obtained a lot of European goods that other comrades couldn't get because of various relationships with the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. The foreign ministries of reactionary European governments were influencing and bribing some Soviet comrades through such petty favors.

Such a situation was not curbed until Comrade Stalin strengthened trade with China. China was indeed very excellent in the production of light industrial products and very talented in imitating European and American light industrial products. If one did not insist on a certain European brand but was willing to accept Chinese brand goods, the Soviet Union could trade with rich resources owned by the Soviet Union such as timber, iron ore, and coal mines. The prices were much cheaper than European goods.

Even if some committee members liked a certain European brand, the Chinese side could conduct entrepot trade through trade channels. Although the price was a bit more expensive, it was fair. With such trade, the means by which European diplomats could win the favor of the Soviet middle and upper classes with a few commodities were interrupted.

Therefore, when Trotsky tried to criticize Soviet industrial production by comparing Sino-Soviet trade delivery times, the committee members supporting Comrade Stalin all felt that Trotsky was very likely trying to use such an attack to criticize the huge achievements Comrade Stalin had already made in building Soviet-Chinese trade.

Bukharin knew the mentality of the committee members very well, so he was very calm when attacking Joffe. "Comrade Joffe, I really want to know, after China did not issue an invitation to the law departments of Moscow University and Leningrad University, why didn't you take the initiative to announce that the law departments of Moscow University and Leningrad University were willing to participate in the just action of the Asian International Tribunal?"

Joffe could not answer. What he considered at that time was how to restore diplomatic relations with Europe, believing that China's actions would only trigger fiercer contradictions between China and Europe, and completely failed to consider the possibility of cooperation between China and Europe in the Asian International Tribunal.

Seeing Joffe not answering, Bukharin continued to ask, "At the Politburo meeting at that time, comrades did think that the relationship between China and Europe was mainly confrontational. You failed to offer more insightful opinions in the diplomatic field. Afterwards, when the French legal circle actively announced that they would join the Asian International Tribunal, why did you still not submit an application for Soviet law professors to join the Asian International Tribunal?"

Joffe still couldn't answer. At that stage, Joffe doubted very much whether China's action of forming the Asian International Tribunal would evolve into a farce of bringing disgrace on itself. Joffe believed that although China had achieved certain military victories in the Sino-British war, this did not mean that China's action of inviting jurists from European and American countries to join the Asian International Tribunal would ultimately succeed. There were contradictions between European and American countries, but when facing China, the contradictions between these countries should be secondary contradictions.

The members of the Politburo of the CPSU listened quietly to Bukharin's accusations. Bukharin's accusations against Joffe were not groundless. Facts proved that Joffe failed to make correct judgments at every stage of the development of the Asian International Tribunal. He lost the opportunity to break the diplomatic blockade, which was very important for the Soviet Union.

If it were in the era of the AUCP(B) Civil War, such execution capability might have led to being shot. According to the political tacit understanding established by Stalin as the First Secretary after Lenin's death, physical elimination was not used, but a leisurely position was found for placement. Joffe would probably go to a department with no real power.