Asia Pacific Relations
Lecture 3
CHINA
Pacific: The American Lake
April 25-June 26 1946
Inauguration of the United Nations in San Francisco
- USA largest economy (nominally)
- China is the largest in terms of PPP
- American naval dominance in the Pacific is being challenged by China
The Fall and Rise of China
The Century of Humiliation
China’s fall from the most powerful nation in the world due to European technological and
military dominance
Overcoming the humiliation and rising to dominance again
1820: Qing China was by far the largest economy
Qing Dynasty descend from Jurchen tribes and brought China to its largest territorial extent
(Further than the current PRC)
“ Trembling Obey and Show No Negligence”
1793
- The relative power between Great Britain and China was heavily skewed in China’s favor
- This would change as the industrial revolution continued in Britain
The Opium Wars 1839-1841
- Britain smuggled Opium into China which greatly destabilized the Qing
- British fleets were able to greatly damage the Chinese and sail with essential impunity
Treaty of Nanking (August 29, 1842)
First of many Unequal treaties
Beginning of the Century of Humiliation
Second Opium War 1856-1860
1894-1895 First Sino-Japanese War
The upstart Japan decimated the Chinese fleet and won the war
Boxer Rebellion 1899-1901
- Attempt to kick foreigners out of China and restore their power
- Ended with an 8 Nation alliance
Further Humiliation
- Twenty-one demands from Japan
China shrewdly leaked the demands and was able to reduce them
Japan declares war on Germany and takes Tsingtao and Shandong Peninsula
Western Entente allow Japan to keep their holdings instead of giving them back to China
China sent hundreds of thousands of men to work in factories to keep economies going
Therefore, they perceived this slight as a betrayal from their allies
May 4th Movement Beginning of Anti-Japanese Nationalism in china
The End of Humiliation
- Arguably ends with the Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra Territorial Rights
in China (1943)
Mid-way through WWII
- Rest of the Western powers follow suit and relinquish their holdings
- Japanese holdings still in place with more war to come.
- USS Missouri receives the surrender of Japan
Arguable end of the Century of Humiliation
- 1946 Declaration of the People’s Republic of China
- 1953 Armistice ending of the Korean War
- 1996 Relinquishment of Hong Kong (Last vestige of the Treaty of Nanjing)
- Some argue that the “century” of humiliation will only end with the return of Taiwan
China After WWII
1) China as a UN Security Council Member and part of the “Big 4”
2) China as a Junior Partner of the Soviet Union in Socialist Camp
3) China as a Competing Power for leadership of the Socialist Camp
4) China in Revolutionary Isolation
5) China as Strategic Partner of the US
6) China as Competitor to USA
1) August 24, 1945
- Chang Kai-Shek signs UN Charter for China
- China made up of many “Cliques” and warlords with tenuous loyalty to Chang
- Japan’s surrender came too soon for Chang to capitalize on the former’s retreat to the
homeland
- This essentially left a vacuum across all of Asia
- Chang was unable to occupy the large swaths of land therefore Allied members came in to
attempt to keep some semblance of peace.
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- General George Marshall was brought to work out an arrangement between the Nationalists
and Communists
- Marshall was seen as a man of integrity and was less divisive than MacArthur, for example.
Chinese Civil War ends October 1st, 1949 with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China
2) China as a Junior Partner of the Soviet Union in Socialist Camp
- Mao visits Stalin for his Birthday in December 1949
- Stalin did not like Mao and treated him horribly
- Largest sticking point in negotiations is the fact that the PRC desired Port Arthur, something
Chang had agreed to leave to USSR
- USSR had no unimpeded warm water port
Therefore, Port Arthur was of high strategic importance to the Soviets
- Mao was not a puppet the same way the Eastern Bloc socialist leaders were to Stalin
- Soviet Boycott of UN Security Council
Boycott due to US and other non-recognition of the PRC as leaders of China
Boycott led to USSR not in attendance during intervention vote on the Korean War
Sino-Soviet Alliance 1950~1960
- Much technological and material aid sent from the Soviets
- Such as the first Chinese Nuclear Bomb
Announcement made during Tokyo Olympics and US Gold Medal
Stole headlines, big news in China
Sino-Soviet Split
- Started really with the death of Stalin
- Nikita Khrushchev delivered his “Secret Speech” and revealed much of Stalin’s crimes
(February 25, 1956)
- Khrushchev begins destalinization in the east
Peaceful Co-Existence was possible with the West
- Mao did not believe in peaceful Co-existence
- Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin’s “Cult of Personality” was anathema to Mao’s own
thought
1958
- Mao decided to humiliate Khrushchev by inviting him swimming
Something that Khrushchev was not comfortable doing
Even got the Russian Secretary a floaty whilst berating him for “abandoning the revolution”
- China shelled islands held by Taiwan
- US decided it was necessary to send aid to Taiwan in the form of bombers
- USSR Backs down
3)China As a Competing Power for Leadership of the
Socialist Camp
The Great Leap Forward (1958-1961)
- Marxist doctrine deemed a 2 step process to achieve true communism
- First a socialist state to control the means of production
4 Pest Campaign
- Mosquitos, Flies, Sparrows, Rats
- The goal was to kill these pests to reduce their effect on the agriculture and public health of
China
- The ecological effect was disastrous on China
- Eventually had to import 1.5 million sparrows from Europe
Industrial Leap Forward
- Forced people to industrialize
- Went so far as to use backyard smelters
Unusable Product
- Tried to make more dams to harness hydration
- Had people throw sticks into the rivers
Did not survive the first rainy season
The Perfect Storm
The first year of the Great Leap Forward coincided with a bountiful, above average harvest
When the situation returned to normal, it led to widespread starvation
Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) 15-55 million
Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) 20-30 million
World War II (1937-1945) 20 million
- Mao lost a lot of face and standing within the Communist Party
- Seemingly, he would be on the outs soon.
- However he enacted the Great Cultural Revolution as a last ditch effort
The Cultural Revolution
- Mao encouraged the youth to challenge their teachers, parents, other elders
- He desired to fill the youth of his country with a new communist fervor
- Teachers and elders were sometimes killed, often beaten and humiliated
Destroying the “Four Olds”
Old Ideas
Old Culture
Old Customs
Old Habits
- Defacing and destruction of old architecture and national treasures
- Buddhist temples and Confucius statues among other historical treasures
USSR Press dispute on Chinese Territories (Zhenbao/Damansky island)
- This island is essentially useless and serves only prestige
USSR is afraid of the now nuclear China
Ping Pong Diplomacy
USA opens diplomatic relations with China to garner more relations against USSR
- Henry Kissinger meets with then Chinese Prime minister
- Richard Nixon makes a state visit to China as well to bury the hatchet
Japan and China begin Reproachment in 1972
The Death of Mao
1976 Mao Zedong passes away
Deng Xiaoping was a Technocrat as opposed to a Communist ideologue
China seemingly was opening a new chapter of friendlier relations with the West
Ended with the Tiananmen Square Protests
See Tank Man June 5th, 1989
The Fall of the Eastern Bloc
Tiananmen Square coincided with the collapse of the Soviet bloc
- Poland’s first free elections
- Fall of the Berlin Wall
George Bush Sr. (previous diplomat to PRC) was prepared to bury the hatchet
