Posted on Aug 7, 2019
How did we end up in an adversarial conundrum with China?
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Didn't we come to China's aid when they were overrun by the Japanese? Haven't we traded successfully with them in mutually beneficial arrangements? Certainly, there have been problems, many born from our sense of cultural superiority, but these don't seem to affect our current relationship with the Chinese of Taiwan. I'm sure there are obvious, maybe even easy answers to my question that I'll discover with some modicum of research, but I'd welcome any head starts that anyone may offer. I feel there is a book lurking in this. My musings have been inspired by photographs that a good friend, Zhi Liu, has been sending back from his extended tour of China. He obviously has a good eye and more than a little skill with a camera. (These are a few of his most recent ones) However, we met when he was a computer programmer and systems analyst for IBM and I was an independent computer systems and applications architect, working together on a project in Los Angeles. Zhi is a native of Taiwan and hopefully he'll join us and share his thoughts on my question.
Posted in these groups: 
China
World History
China World History
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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We came to the aid of Nationalist China, not the Communist insurgents under Mao. Not long before that, the US and other western powers had colonies all over China, and fought a nasty little war with them, the Boxer War.
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CPT Jack Durish
I'm not sure the Flying Tigers were protecting only Chinese Nationalist interests. They were shooting down Japanese warplanes regardless of their targets. As for our "colonies" in China, the US had only one "concession" that it never occupied...
Tientsin U.S. Concession
24 Oct 1860 United States granted the right to have a concession in Tientsin
by Treaty of Tientsin, a formal concession not established.
1871 U.S. consulate established in Tientsin (a formal concession
never materializes, although the U.S. consulate exercises some
jurisdiction over the area).
12 Oct 1880 Relegated to an uncertain status while the U.S. retained a right
in principle to take over the concession in the future.
Jun 1896 U.S. government renounces all jurisdiction over the 'concession.'
16 Aug 1900 - 1902 U.S. occupies the area following the Boxer Rebellion. Plans
for the establishment of a concession are soon canceled.
1901 Sanitary and police control handed over to the British Concession.
Nov 1902 Formally annexed to British Concession as its "Southern Extension."
As for US participation in the Boxer Revolution, that seems a footnote in history
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1999/winter/boxer-rebellion-1.html
Tientsin U.S. Concession
24 Oct 1860 United States granted the right to have a concession in Tientsin
by Treaty of Tientsin, a formal concession not established.
1871 U.S. consulate established in Tientsin (a formal concession
never materializes, although the U.S. consulate exercises some
jurisdiction over the area).
12 Oct 1880 Relegated to an uncertain status while the U.S. retained a right
in principle to take over the concession in the future.
Jun 1896 U.S. government renounces all jurisdiction over the 'concession.'
16 Aug 1900 - 1902 U.S. occupies the area following the Boxer Rebellion. Plans
for the establishment of a concession are soon canceled.
1901 Sanitary and police control handed over to the British Concession.
Nov 1902 Formally annexed to British Concession as its "Southern Extension."
As for US participation in the Boxer Revolution, that seems a footnote in history
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1999/winter/boxer-rebellion-1.html
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CPT Jack Durish - The Flying Tigers were based in Kunming and tasked to defend the Burma Road... well away from where the Communist forces were.
I don't think Mao ever got over our support for the Nationalist Government, which lasted into the 70's and indeed continues even today.
I don't think Mao ever got over our support for the Nationalist Government, which lasted into the 70's and indeed continues even today.
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CPT Jack Durish
Actually, we gave planes, weapons, and other equipment as well as ammo and supplies to both the Chinese nationalists and communists that they used against each other when WWII ended
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They have short memories on stuff like that, on other things it's like a steel trap.
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I'm currently reading a book (historical fiction) about the battle of Chosin Reservoir from the Korean war called, "The Frozen Hours". Great book by the way, but I think it sums up a lot of the issues which began with China fearing that the US wouldn't stop their march forward once they had defeated the North Korean army so they jumped into the war. I find the whole history of the Korean War to be quite fascinating in terms of the politics that took place and it seemed it was one of the first wars where politics guided military strategy vs. generals deciding it.
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CPT Jack Durish
They had some reasonable basis for their concerns. MacArthur was publicly vocal about his desire to march into China and openly defiant of President Truman's reluctance to allow it. MacArthur had even requested nukes in preparation for the invasion and everyone knew it. Ultimately, President Truman couldn't merely say "No" or even "Hell, no!" He had to replace MacArthur as a message to the Chinese (and everyone else) that we weren't going to expand the war into China
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