This book examines Britain's recognition of the newly established Peoples' Republic of China in 1950 and the developments leading to the establishment of formal Anglo-Chinese diplomatic relations in 1954. The importance of the USA in Anglo-Chinese relations is also highlighted by this study. Based on archival materials and interviews, this is an attempt to apply a decision-making framework to study the formulation and implementation of Britain's China policy and to explore revolutionary China's conduct in international relations.

This book takes a somewhat different view of international or diplomatic history by concentrating on the more profound elements of sino-foreign relations, namely the economic and the commercial, especially with regard to Britain and France. The immediate post-revolutionary period in China is viewed here in the wider context of Britain and France's post-imperial decline and expressions such as 'imperialism imprisoned' and 'captive capitalism' are some new and interchangeable terms employed in this context. In contrast to the traditional interpretation that Chinese policies regarding the old imperial powers involved nationalization of foreign companies through the expropriation of their property, this study shows that almost no such practice took place. Rather, instances of appropriation only occurred following an indirect, subtle and protracted process. It is precisely because of the uniqueness of the process and its relatively long duration that the new regime in China succeeded in achieving its goals, perhaps even exceeding them. This study is based on hitherto inaccessible public, private and company archives in Britain, France and China.

An examination of Britain's relations with China from the end of the World War II to the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. This volume demonstrates how Britain's effort to recover something of its pre-war commercial pre-eminence in China were handicapped by its post-war financial weakness.

The book is a systematic study of the China-Britain relationship during the 1942–1949 period with a particular focus on the two countries’ discussions over both the 1943 Sino-British treaty and the discarded Sino-British commercial treaty, the future of Hong Kong, and the political status of Tibet. These were dominated by two underlying themes: the elimination of the British imperialist position in China and the establishment of an equal and reciprocal bilateral relationship. The negotiations started promisingly in 1942–1943, but, by 1949, had failed to reach a satisfactory settlement. Behind the failure lay a complex set of domestic considerations and external factors, including the powerful infl uence of the United States. Even after seven decades, the failure still has a contemporary impact. Recent Sino-British disputes over the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement and incessant Indo-Chinese confl icts and skirmishes over their unsettled borders all attest to the enduring legacy of the years 1942–1949 as setting the scene for subsequent Sino-British and Sino-Indian relations. From this perspective, the history has never left us.

The impressive Second Edition of this standard study incorporates important new evidence on the origins of the war from Chinese and Russian archives. It reveals that Stalin encouraged the attack on South Korea, but also confirms that the original initiative came from North Korea. Peter Lowe has also written an extended conclusion with a discussion of the Koreas in the late 1990s, and the challenges involved in securing their reunification.

The relationship between the USA and the People's Republic of China (PRC) was the defining factor in the Cold War in Asia - the potentially explosive conflict which, as seen in the Korean War, brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster. The PRC had not become 'Titoist' as some hoped and remained firmly within the Soviet international orbit. But how did Great Britain and the Republic of China (ROC) fit into this potentially lethal global jigsaw? Steve Tsang has illuminated the history of a seemingly obscure corner of international relations and politics but which was, to contempories, at the heart of global survival. He has carried out extensive research in unique Chinese- and English-language sources, both official and private.

A sequel to the author's Britain, Southeast Asia and the Onset of the Pacific War (Cambridge University Press, 1996) and Britain, Southeast Asia and the Onset of the Cold War (Cambridge University Press, 1998), this book discusses Britain's policy towards Southeast Asia in the period 1950-55, when it was crucially affected by the struggle in Korea. The phases in that struggle - briefly described and placed in a world context - provide a context for discussing Britain's relations with Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, and Indochina. Covering the dispute over West New Guinea and the Chinese Nationalist incursion into Burma, the book gives a full account of the Geneva conference 50 years ago, which reached a settlement in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and of the creation of the SEATO alliance. The focus of the work is on British policy, and it is largely based on a study of British official records.