China Confidential: American Diplomats and Sino-American Relations, 1945-1996

Book Overview

In the past sixty years, relations between China and the United States have fluctuated wildly. Such divisive issues as human rights, the future of Tibet and Taiwan, trade imbalances, and illegal immigration have fueled intense debate over how the United States should deal with the most populous nation in the world.

Nancy Bernkopf Tucker brings together a wide range of interviews on these and other issues, recorded by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, with key players in the making and execution of U.S. policy towards China since World War II. Historical events usch as Nixon's trip to China, the Tiananmen Massacre, and the recurring Taiwan Straits crises come to life as never before. Portraits of the essential personalities in Sino-American relations emerge from the pages of China Confidential, including Mao Zedong, Henry Kissinger, Zhou Enlai, Ronald Reagan, Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo, and Lee Teng-hui.

This rich array of interviews provides the context for understanding the otherwise baffling diplomatic interaction between the United States and China, shedding light on the circumstances under which difficult and crucial decisions were reached and revealing the background and biases of the people who made and carried out those policies.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231106319
• ISBN13: 9780231106313
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 638 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Excellent Review of Sino-American Relations

This book is a comprehensive review of Sino-American relations from the birth of the PRC to the end of Clinton's first term. From early controversies during the relationship, such as the expulsion of American diplomats in NE China in 1949 and America's involvement in the Chinese Civil War, to more recent crisises such as the 1996 Taiwan Strait missle exercises, this book reviews the dynamics of the Sino-American relationship and how individual diplomats and statesmen made such crucial differences in the conduct of the relationship. Kissenger and then Brzezinski's roles were especially important and the author explores the personal nature of how diplomacy was conducted, include how both men, who were Nationa Security Advisor to their respective presidents, outmanuevered their Secretary of State and the State Department. A very good read and overview of an important topic.