China as seen by the West

The Cold War Era and the US-China Alliance

The cold war era turned out to be crucial for the US-China alliance. The US view of China was significantly impacted by the post-second world war dynamics that were changing. From 1949 to 1969, the United States made several attempts to undermine, disrupt, and ultimately topple the communist government in China. The US thought that China had turned aggressive because it was preoccupied with gaining more power. The US was led to believe that China posed a danger for these reasons. The US decided to build a military alliance along the southern and eastern borders of the People’s Republic of China in an attempt to address the problem. (PRC). The US formed alliances with South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan and culminated into the formation of Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) (Jones 21). The US invigorated its allies to refrain from getting into any diplomatic relations with PRC and also the US citizens were prohibited from visiting Chinese. Furthermore, America decided to cut off trade ties with China and placed an international embargo to the PRC. The US more was tough on China compared to the Soviet Union which was its primary communist rival.

Formation of Sino-Soviet Communist Bloc

In 1949, June the announcement made by Mao Zedong, the China Chinese Communist leader attested to be damaging to the already established tensions that existed between the US and the China. This was three months before the founding of the PRC when Mao Zedong proclaimed that China would support the international affairs of Soviet Union. Mao Zedong’s news was not welcomed by the US as USSR was its principal rival during the cold war. The administration of President Truman arrived at the policy of non-recognition of PRC. The US was bitter with the move made by the Chinese leaders as the US had played a fundamental role in giving support to Chinese Nationalists during the period of civil war. US perceived that PRC was a traitor. Despite the China’s decision, the US maintained its relations with Taiwan nation, and thus, the Chinese Communist Party became concerned with the idea that the US would end up being a severe threat. On February 14, 1950, the PRC signed “Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship Alliance” and ”Mutual Assistance” with the leaders of Soviet Union (Jones 45). Notably, the signed alliance agreements were majorly military treaties and provided a commitment to the two sides that aid would be provided when under attack from the US.

The Korean War

The Korean War outbreak gave no hopes to the stabilization of the Sino-American relations. For three years, China and America were entangled in a deadly war on the Korean peninsula since June 1950-July 1953. In October 1950, PRC entered into the Korean War, and America alleged it to be a primary threat to the American’s fundamental interests in Asia and also to the Japan’s security. Proper relations were maintained between PRC and the Soviet Union in the Korean War. Therefore, the Sino-Soviet alliance worked towards undermining the US interests in the war. The Soviet Union gave massive support to China including huge military support and economic assistance. The hostility that existed between China and US made Washington take hard lines through toughening the United States’ economic embargo against China. China was perceived to be a betrayer, and the US further offered support to Taiwan, blocked the association of China in the United Nations and besides isolated China politically. As Smith indicates, the China and America hostility intensified the cold war within the region (Smith 125).

Alliances and Crisis in the Strait

Dwight Eisenhower became the US president in 1953, and John Foster Dulles was appointed by as the nation’s secretary. During Eisenhower’s presidential campaign, his supports called for a roll- back to communism in Europe and Asia. President Eisenhower did work to prove that his administration was prudent on the issues of foreign affairs. Besides, Eisenhower’s administration was reluctant into taking actions that could have precipitated into a nuclear war with the USSR. Due to the antagonistic forces between the US and China President Eisenhower along with his secretary developed mistrustful on Chiang’, the Taiwan’s president. Fears arose that Chiang’ would attempt to involve the US in a war against the PRC which would make Chiang gain another control of the nation. Chiang’ sought for mutual defense agreement with the US and Eisenhower stalled its response.

PRC leaders steered by Mao were aware of the negotiations of alliance formation between the US and Chiang’. Nevertheless, they were not informed of the Eisenhower reluctance in reaching the agreement. Mao ordered the bombardment of Mazu and Jinmen Islands in 1954 in attempts to prevent the alliance formation (Shaw 30). Mao aimed at informing the US that it was dangerous to get involved in the Chiang’s alliance. However, Mao’s underlining objective backfired and culminated into more detrimental outcomes. Eisenhower and Dulles stood firm and viewed Mao and his administration as being a threat. They resolved not to retreat under the pressures of Mao and choose to sign a treaty with Taiwan. The signing of the agreement also drove at prohibiting the invasion of Chinese Communists in Taiwan. The crisis later on caused international pressures, and in 1955, representative talks began between the US and China (Smith 173). However, the representative talks did not prove to be fruitful. An agreement was first arrived at on the repatriation of US and PRC in the enemy territory. The issue of Taiwan proved to be harder than ever to resolve. According to Jones ”The American sides demanded the Chinese renounce the use of force in the Taiwan Strait while The Chinese side insisted that the liberation of Taiwan was a domestic issue, to be resolved by whatever means necessary” (Jones 49). Mao became unhappy with the US policy to continue the ambassadorial-level talks, and this made him cause another Strait Crisis in 1958. President Eisenhower and Dulles perceived China to have overstepped its boundaries and immediately cautioned that the US would intercede when Taiwan was threatened by PRC.

China Rapprochement and Recognition

When President Kennedy took office, American people were afraid that the president would work towards improving the America-China relations. Fear arose that Kennedy was soft on Communism and that he would recognize PRC. However, Gaddis reports that Kennedy’s actions demonstrated no interests in reaching out to PRC (Gaddis 39). Johnson Lyndon came into the white house and did not have the strong negative feelings towards Chinas expressed by the previous presidents. On the contrary, Johnson sought to ease the diplomatic tensions with China through floating several proposals. Nevertheless, Mao was busy struggling to revive his revolution and regain power and thus did not respond to the US requests. The successful testing of the nuclear bomb by the PRC in 1964 escalated more worries in the Americans. It proved to be a large threat to the US security particularly due to the unpredictable nature of the Chinese leaders.

In 1969, Richard Nixon took the presidential office and was labeled to be a staunch anti-communist and that he would not allow any changes towards China foreign policy. Nixon, however, held that the policies apprehended in the past were damaging. Splitting of the Sino-Soviet made Kissinger, Nixon’s national security adviser, to be accepted in China. The US recognized that Taiwan was the cause of hatred and announced that it would abandon the island. In turn, Kissinger asked PRC to push the North Vietnamese into peace negotiations with US that would make the US remove its forces from the war without painting a picture that it had surrendered (Gaddis 27). Unlike other presidents who had perceived China to be a threat, Nixon’s administration was confident in the corporation between Washington and Beijing. The US was certain that the relationship would shake USSR and thus ease the tensions of the cold war. America observed the possibility of a triangular relation under which Moscow would have no option but to back away from the US and PRC confrontations. The relationship also provided the US with substantial and vital information about the activities of the Soviet Union. In 1972, Mao, Nixon and Zhou Enlai, the PRC prime minister met and discussed the anticipation of PRC diplomatic recognition (Shaw 71). The establishment of the formal diplomatic relationship and the recognition of PRC came to a close in January 1979 during the reign of President Jimmy Carter.

Conclusion

The actions of PRC during the time of cold war formed the basis of the major confrontations and a battleground. Two contending ideologies of the rivalry and negative perception were embedded in liberal democracy and communism. The PRC leaders were vehemently persistent in proclaiming ”Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought” to be the founding ideology in the cold war era. The conflicting national interests stemmed from the overwhelming ideological beliefs that were primary in contributing to the hatred that drove the US and PRC apart. According to the US perception, PRC was also a periphery of the cold war and fueled the confrontations in the Taiwan Strait, the Korean Peninsula and even in the Vietnam War. Notably, the collapse of the Sino-Soviet Communist bloc largely contributed to the ending of the cold war.

Works Cited

Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War. 1st ed., London, Penguin, 2007.

Jones, F. C. ”China And The Cold War: A Study In International Politics“. International Affairs, vol 31, no. 4, 1955, pp. 544-544. Oxford University Press (OUP), doi:10.2307/2604935.

Shaw, Tony. ”The Politics Of Cold War“. Journal Of Cold War Studies, vol 3, no. 3, 2001, pp. 59-76. MIT Press - Journals, doi:10.1162/152039701750419510.

Smith, Arthur H. Chinese Characteristics. 1st ed., Chicago, Earnshaw Books, 2016.