Evolution towards change in U.S. China policy, 1961-1963

In 1961, the Kennedy administration confronted widespread domestic and foreign anticipation that significant changes would be made to existing U.S. China policy. Although the new administration proposed to liberate the United States from past policies and offer fresh, innovative solutions to problems confronted worldwide, the major issues that characterized and defined the American relationship with both the Chinese Communists on the mainland and the Chinese Nationalists on Taiwan posed a challenge for the new President and his foreign policy advisers.; This study examines several contending circumstances that offered the opportunity for the Kennedy administration to establish a new direction in U.S. China policy: the Chinese representation issue at the United Nations and related debates with the GRC on alternative strategies; the U.S. position regarding the Nationalist regime's efforts to return to the mainland and the status of the offshore islands; the administration's deliberations surrounding the possibility of U.S. food aid for Communist China; and the growing trend advocating a more flexible American approach toward Peking and the circumstances that militated against the development of such ideas. Rather than pursue alternative approaches, however, the Kennedy administration chose to perpetuate the status quo in the U.S. posture toward both Chinese governments and aimed to maintain the tenuous balance of power existing in East Asia. Despite the lack of a major departure from existing policies, initiatives proposing a reappraisal of U.S. China policy during the Kennedy administration precipitated discussions and debates that significantly contributed to the evolution towards the eventual transformation of Sino-American relations.