Abstract The two political incidents in Mosul and Kirkuk, Iraq, in 1959 are widely regarded as key turning points in the complex history of the Iraqi Communist Party amidst the dynamics of Pan-Arab nationalism and the Iraqi government. Subsequently, a narrative alleging that China had aided the ICP or even directly intervened in the events circulated among some Arab media and Western intelligence agencies, and was used to criticize China for interfering in regional affairs. By examining British and American archives, ICP documents, relevant newspapers, and memoirs, this paper finds that this claim lacks direct evidence. China, at that time, had neither the motive nor the capability to provide practical support to the ICP. The narrative was more likely a product of political propaganda within the context of regional conflicts during the Cold War.
Zeng et al. (Sun,) studied this question.