'A colossus and a conundrum': Canada, the United States, and Canadian China policy, 1942--1970

On 13 October 1970 the government of Canada announced that it had reached an agreement to recognize and exchange diplomatic personnel with the People's Republic of China (PRC). The American government did not normalize relations with the PRC until 1 January 1979, and was officially opposed to a greater international presence for the Communist government of China when Canada undertook its recognition initiative. The Communist government of China had vied for international legitimacy with the Republic of China, established in Taiwan after the ruling Nationalist party lost the Chinese civil war to the Communists, since 1949. The Canadian decision to recognize the Communist PRC as the sole government of China seemed to represent a significant departure from the policy of Canada's closest and most powerful ally, the United States. A closer examination, however, reveals that this appearance is misleading. Instead, the objectives of the US government shifted in a way that accommodated the longstanding preference of Canada's foreign policy leadership for recognition of the PRC. The diplomatic experts in the Department of Foreign Affairs had long sought just such an opportunity for action. Indeed, they had worked persistently to bring about a change in the American position on China. Their approach questioned, circumvented and, finally, challenged Washington's policy of isolation of the PRC, all the while ensuring the viability of other Canadian foreign policy priorities. Most importantly, Canada's foreign policy makers preserved the health and well-being of the increasingly important Canadian-American relationship as they sought to implement their favoured China policy. Their judgement and skill as they balanced what they would like to do with what they could do highlight their tenacity as they faced a complex, daunting set of circumstances that put recognition of the PRC, their favoured policy, in abeyance for nearly twenty years.