Description
Book SynopsisLocked in a common fight against Imperial Japan, the United States and Nationalist China became allies, but significant fissures in their relationship soon developed. Neither ally would accommodate each other’s core interests in strategies necessary to win the war. This disconnect continued after Japan’s surrender, as the United States pressed Chinese Nationalists and Communists to join a coalition government that neither wanted. During the civil war, the United States supported the Nationalists, but never to the degree they thought mattered. After the Communist triumph, America served its national security and anti-Communism, by helping the Nationalists defend Taiwan, but hedged against assisting Chiang Kai-shek to reconquer the mainland. Twice in the 1950’s tensions in the Taiwan Strait nearly expanded into nuclear conflict.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Fraught Partnership
Chapter 2: An Impossible Coalition
Chapter 3: Estrangement and a Lifeline
Chapter 4: 1953: A New Administration Arrives in Washington
Chapter 5: Rising Tensions in the Strait
Chapter 6: Eisenhower Goes to Congress
Chapter 7: The Formosa Resolution: Floor Proceedings
Chapter 8: After the Resolution, a Treaty
Chapter 9: Defend or Abandon Quemoy and Matsu
Chapter 10: A Crisis Renewed
Conclusion
Appendix A: Text of the President Eisenhower's Message to Congress on the Formosa Resolution
Appendix B: Text to the Formosa Resolution
Appendix C: Text of the United States Mutual Defense Treaty with the Republic of China and related letters of understanding
Appendix D: The Anti-Secession Law of 2005
Appendix E: Maps of China and Taiwan
Bibliography
About the Author
