Customer Reviews

Friends and Enemies: The United States, China, and the Soviet Union, 1948-1972 (Modern America)

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I appreciate the author of providing very valuable stories of the Dachen Withdraw and the crisis of Jinmen and Mazu in 1955 and 1958. This part of history is very little known to the people of Taiwan. Should the history textbook of Taiwan include more details of these events?

Chapter 4 "To the Nuclear Brink" in 1954 US considered the ultimate disposition of Taiwan and Penghus unsettled. One of the option Washington had is to place Taiwan under U.N. trusteeship. US considered the offshore islands just off the coast of mainland were legally Chinese territory. I never heard of these concepts until lately. When Chiang Kai-Shek authorized the use of the atomic weapons against his people on the mainland the US National Security Council members were speechless. KMT and CKS demonized CCP when I was in Taiwan. I guess that will make the killing more justly. It is interested to me that these events happened 50 years ago is revived again. I heard China does not want Jinmen and Mazu because they fear that Taiwan will move further away from China. Taiwan has no interest in Jinmen and Mazu either.

On page 149 in 1955 president Eisenhower learned that preference of Taiwanese, in order, is independence, reunion with Japan, joining with Communist China. The mainlander and CKS always consider the Taiwanese are the traitors, because of Taiwanese's affection with Japanese. CKS treated the Chinese in Manchuria as traitors too. When he dispatched the representatives to accept Manchuria from Soviet Union and Japan he did not allow any Manchurian to be the representative. I knew Manchurian were discriminated from the top government positions in Taiwan when CKS was in power.

This book is an example of how the end of the Cold War has helped American history be less "Americancentric". We think one thing, but along comes Chinese and Soviet sources that help us have a more balanced view of the past. The book traces the relationship between the U.S., U.S.S.R. and China from 1945-1972. It is well researched and well argued and for the most part balanced. I felt there could have been a little clearer discussion of what lead up to the Nixon visit to China in 1972, It still seemed to just happen. A must for those interested in the cold war, China and Soviet communism and the such.