Description
Book SynopsisSimei Qing offers a new perspective on relations between the U.S. and China after World War II. Based on American, Russian, and newly declassified Chinese sources, this book reveals rarely examined assumptions entrenched in mainstream policy debates on both sides, and sheds light on the origins and development of U.S.–China confrontations.
Trade ReviewSimei Qing is the most extraordinary historian to come out of China since the floodgates opened in the 1980s. In this long-awaited book, she uses important new Chinese sources, Guomindang as well as Communist, and her training in the sociology of knowledge to provide remarkable insights into Chinese–American relations in the 1940s and 1950s. The study of Chinese–American relations will never be the same. -- Warren I. Cohen, author of
The Asian American CenturySimei Qing is an important and innovative scholar in the field of modern China’s international relations. This is a bold and pioneering work that transcends conventional diplomatic history to get at the intellectual, social, and psychological roots of Sino–American relations. -- Steven I. Levine, University of North Carolina
Qing’s nuanced analysis of the roots of Chinese Communist–American conflict from the end of World War II to 1960 enriches our understanding of this often tragic period. In addition to her keen appreciation for the cultural dimension of politics, her prodigious use of new Chinese sources adds unique elements to a work of great substance. -- Michael Schaller, University of Arizona
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Cultural Visions and Foreign Policy 1. Perceptions and Realities: Chinese and American Visions of Modernity and Identity in the Modern Era 2. Straining the Cordial Relationship: Truman and the Reconstruction of China after World War II 3. Disillusionment and Polarization: The Failure of the Marshall Mission and Deepening Divisions in Nationalist China 4. New American Strategies: Debates over the Chinese Communist Party and Taiwan in the Truman Administration 5. Two Sides of One Coin: The CCP's Policies toward the Soviet Union and the United States 6. From Adversaries to Enemies: Military Confrontation in Korea 7. Inducement versus Containment: U.S.-China Policy under Eisenhower 8. The Foundation of New China: Conflicting CCP Visions of Industrialization in the 1950s 9. Mao's Magic Weapon: From a Gradualist Political Program to the Hundred Flowers Policy 10. Becoming First-Class Citizens of the World: China's Diplomacy of Peaceful Coexistence Conclusion Ways of War and Peace: Recognizing Deep-Seated Assumptions in U.S.-China Diplomacy Notes Primary Sources Index
