Friends and Enemies

From Publishers Weekly
Chang, historian at UC-Irvine, argues that U.S. policymakers from the Truman through the Johnson administrations never regarded the Sino-Soviet relationship as monolithic but recognized their conflicting interests early on, actively encouraged a rift and exploited their differences. Based on newly declassified documents, the study reveals that President Eisenhower came close to ordering a nuclear strike on the Chinese mainland during the 1955 Quemoy-Matsu crisis, and that President Kennedy sought to collaborate with the Soviets in preventing China from developing a nuclear capability. A major consequence of Washington's utilization of the Beijing-Moscow feud, the author indicates, was the role this friction played in President Johnson's decision to escalate American intervention in Vietnam. Chang provides an illuminating inquiry into Washington's China policy during the more than two decades of hostility and non-recognition. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This study makes thorough use of recently declassified documents to present a new view of American policy toward Communist China. Chang (American history, Univ. of California, Irvine) discovered that, contrary to official statements, U.S. policy had never assumed that Communism was a monolithic movement. He documents how the United States actively pursued policies which would aggravate the split between China and the Soviet Union, and how these policies were a major factor in American intervention in Korea and Vietnam. A disturbing sub-theme in this book is the racial prejudice and disdain for the Chinese which influenced American policy. This study is heavily documented, with 58 pages of notes and an impressive bibliography. Many of the previously unpublished photographs were obtained from Chinese sources. Recommended for all college and university libraries.
- Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, Pa.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.