David J Diamond

The Chinese Puzzle David J Diamond

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, China became a key ally of the USA in the war against Japan. America supplied China with military equipment, money and advisers to help the Chinese Army in their war against the Japanese invaders. At the same time that China was fighting the Japanese, a Civil War was brewing in China between the Chinese Communists and the National Government of General Chiang Kai-shek. America became deeply involved in the conflict between the Communists and Chiang Kai-shek. President Franklin Roosevelt sent General Joseph Stilwell to China as his personal representative to the Chinese government. General Stilwell and the American foreign service officers in our Embassy in Chungking insisted that Chiang Kai-shek must reform his government if it was to survive the coming Civil War with the communists. A bitter battle developed within the American government as to what policy to follow with China. Support General Stilwell and exert maximum pressure on Chiang Kai-shek for reforms or give Chiang our unqualified support?General Stilwell lost that battle and was recalled. After the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in August 1945, the Japanese surrendered. Fulll scale war exploded in China between the National Government of China and the Chinese Communist Party. After four years of intensive warfare, Chiang Kai-shek and his govrernment fled to the island of Formosa, now Taiwan. Might the results of the Chinese Civil War have been different if America's China Policy had been different? Had the government of Chiang Kai-shek won the Civil War with the communists, our wars in Korea and Vietnam would most likely have been avoided. The intense and crucial struggle over America's China policy is detailed in this book and is a fascinating story of the clash of strong personalities that had a profound affect on world history. China was once our strong ally and is now our foe. How did that happen? This book details how America's policies in China might have determined the outcome of the Chinese Civil War.