As for broader Asian concerns, Stalin was keen to designate China as having primary responsibility for the further expansion of communism there without at the same time conceding that Mao had made independent contributions of universal significance to the treasure trove of Marxism – Leninism. In this way China could be a kind of buffer to absorb such relation as the American might choose to carry out without the Soviets conceding to Mao a leading role (albeit of a lesser kind) in the international communist movement. This was signaled in the order in which the two communist giants recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in January 1950. China was first on 18 January and the Soviet Union followed almost two later. During this time, of course, Mao was still in Moscow. Interestingly, Ho Chi Minh visited Moscow while Mao was there, but Kim Li-Sung did not