A Study Of U.S. Policy Toward Hong Kong In The Early Cold War Period,1949-1957

After the end of World War II,the Western camp led by the United States and the Eastern camp led by the Soviet Union waged a Cold War struggle and confrontation with each other around the world.With the intensification of the Cold War and major changes in the situation in East Asia,including,especially after the founding of New China,the growing U.S.desire to contain communism,Sino-U.S.relations rapidly retreated.Later,with the outbreak of direct military conflict between Chinese and American forces on the Korean Peninsula,the United States began to substantially adjust its policy toward China,viewing the new China as a major threat in the Far East and proposing a hostile and containment policy of political isolation,economic blockade,military threat,and diplomatic suppression.Against this background,this paper focuses on the evolution of the U.S.government’s policy toward Hong Kong from the establishment of New China in 1949 to the issuance of National Security Council Document 5717(NSC 5717)in 1957.In fact,from the end of World War II to the end of the 1950 s,the U.S.policy toward Hong Kong underwent a relatively large change,driven by a variety of factors.The most important of these was the premise of the Cold War,which made Hong Kong an important Western "outpost" at the doorstep of the new China.The British government was always concerned that a military attack by Chinese mainland would end its control over Hong Kong,so it tried to bring the United States in the defense of Hong Kong.However,the U.S.government never gave Britain any formal commitment to provide direct military assistance to support British forces in Hong Kong in the event of an invasion from Communist China,based on the geographical indefensibility of the area and the high cost of military involvement.A review of a series of documents from the U.S.National Security Council reveals that the U.S.pursued a policy of withdrawal on the defense of Hong Kong during this period.Economically,the U.S.government actively promoted the "Economic Defense Policy" and asked the British government and the British Hong Kong authorities to actively cooperate and strictly enforce the trade embargo against China.The starting and ending points of the U.S.policy toward Hong Kong were the prevention and containment of communism.Against the background of the East-West Cold War confrontation,Hong Kong played an important role in the U.S.Far East strategy and played a unique role due to its special geographical location and historical origins.