Evolution Of The Johnson Administration, U.s. Arms Relations

In the late 1940s, Chinese social conditions, especially the political condition had undergone world-shaking changes: People' s Republic of China has been founded and the regime of KMT had retreated in defeat to Taiwan. During this process, the United States government came to rethink and adjust her policy toward China. Out of the need of Cold War, U.S. pursued containment policy toward China, including surrounding, isolating and blanking-off, during which, the U.S.-Taiwan relationship had experienced quite a complicated development course. Before the administration of President Johnson, the U.S.-Taiwan policy implemented by President Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy had lived three major periods with their different backgrounds, namely riding the fence and limited support, close watch-out and inactive reaction. What they left behind to Johnson administration regarding anti-China policy is : refusing to acknowledge the validity of People' s Republic of China, supporting Taiwan to be a sovereignty and to get the availability of the seat in the UN, and prohibiting trade and communicating with P.R.C.. Meanwhile, early from the late 1950s and the administration of Kennedy, there was a tempered tendency inside the government toward the mainland of China, which is continued and carried forward with the administration of President Johnson.In the middle and late 1960s, with the intricacy of international political surroundings, the U.S. got herself inextricably involved in the Vietnam War, which resulted in passive reaction toward Taiwan, because the U.S. government had to take into consideration of not getting China in support of Vietnam. Therefore, the affirmation of relaxing Sino-U.S. relationship is heard inside the U.S. government. The policy of" containment but not isolation" is open to the public against this background. In the same time, the KMT, which is led by Chiang Kai-shek, took " opposing the mainland and the Communist Party " as its mission. They struggled to upgrade their status in U.S. strategic layout in East Asia, and take the aggravation of the Vietnam War and the Great Cultural Revolution as the well-timed opportunity to realize their mirage of recovering the authority in China. However, the intention of the KMT went against that of the U.S. strategy, (especially concerning the anti-China policy). The U.S. carried out restriction in many ways against the KMT' s action in order to eliminate the possibility of large-scale military affairs over the Taiwan Strait. This accounted for a fact that in U.S. strategic arrangement of the South Asia area, the mainland of China was a chief complication over Taiwan, although the latter was her ally. The unbalanced communication of U.S. versus Taiwan and the unchallenged position of the U.S. compelled the Taiwan government to sacrifice her profits when conflicts appeared. Taiwan became an actual tool of U.S. tactics and faded into background in the U.S. strategic layout.The policy of restraining the ambition of Taiwan government kept the situation of Taiwan Strait in a peace. Whereas, out of the strategic interest and unrighteous moral sense, U.S.government will not leave go the policy of "supporting Taiwan and containing the mainland of China" . The United States took the promise prescribed in the " U.S.-Taiwan Mutual Defense Treaty" as the bottom-line of its attitude toward Taiwan, Neither of the side could violate the prescription of the treaty. In the next five years, which was from November of 1963 to January of 1969, Taiwan government repeatedly received the backing of U.S. government in the light of the treaty, and at the same time, suffered loss and grievance of its own independence which led to a gradual indifference of their relationship. This to a turn favored the condition of Sino-U.S. relationship. Ultimately, under the administration of President Nixon, the relationship of Sino-U.S. met its cornerstone.