Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Operation Oracle: the United States, Great Britain, New Zealand, and the offshore islands crisis of 1954–55

2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 32; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0308653042000279687

1743-9329

Scott Barry Kaufman,

Japanese History and Culture

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes One of these works, admittedly, is my own. See Victor S. Kaufman, Confronting Communism: U.S. and British Policies toward China (Missouri, 2001); Zhai Qiang, The Dragon, the Lion, and the Eagle: Chinese–British–American Relations, 1949–1958 (Ohio, 1994); and David Lee, ‘Australia and Anglo-American Disagreement over the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis, 1954–55’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 23, 1 (1995), 105–28. He Di, ‘The Evolution of the People's Republic of China's Policy toward the Offshore Islands’, in Warren I. Cohen and Akira Iriye (eds.), The Great Powers in East Asia, 1953–1960 (New York, 1990), 223. He Di, ‘Evolution’, 223–25; Gordon Chang and He Di ‘The Absence of War in the U.S.–China Confrontation over Quemoy and Matsu in 1954–1955: Contingency, Luck, Deterrence?’, American Historical Review, 98 (1993), 1508–09; Zhai, Dragon, the Lion, and the Eagle, 153–54; and Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, ‘Cold War Contacts: America and China, 1952–1956’, in Harry Harding and Yuan Ming (eds.), Sino-American Relations, 1945–1955: A Joint Reassessment of a Critical Decade (Delaware, 1989), 249. For American reports regarding the Chinese build-up opposite the Tachens, see no.633, Rankin to Department of State, 20 May 1954, memorandum of conversation, 22 May 1954, and minutes of the 199th meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), 27 May 1954, Foreign Relations of the United States (hereafter FRUS), China and Japan, 14, 1952–54, 425–27, 428–30, 433–34. Kaufman, Confronting Communism, 81–82; and memorandum of discussion of the 214th meeting of the NSC, 12 Sept. 1954, FRUS, China and Japan, 14, 1952–54, 619–20. Memorandum of discussion of the 214th meeting of the NSC, 12 Sept. 1954, ibid., 620. For more on this division over China policy, see Kaufman, Confronting Communism, chs.1–2. On 17 September 1954 Anthony Eden told cabinet that he hoped to see the eventual transfer of Jinmen to Taiwan. Similarly, in a mid-February 1955 letter to Eisenhower, Churchill declared the offshore islands ‘legally part of China’. Meanwhile, the British Chiefs of Staff contended that the loss of Jinmen would not affect Quemoy's defence, a point of view seconded by Churchill. See minutes of cabinet meeting, CC 60 (54), 17 Sept. 1954, CAB 128/27; and Churchill to Eden, 1954, PREM 11/867, The National Archives, London (TNA, formerly Public Record Office); and Churchill to Eisenhower, undated (circa mid-Feb. 1955), FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 270. For instance, Eisenhower told Churchill that ‘deserting our friends on Formosa would risk a collapse of Asiatic resistance to the Communists’. See Eisenhower to Churchill, 25 Jan. 1955, FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 129. Memorandum of discussion at the 214th meeting of the NSC, Merchant to O'Connor, 19 Sept. 1954, memoranda of conversation, 22 and 29 Sept. 1954, no.4, Tedul Smith to London, 28 Sept. 1954, and no.201, Smith to Taipei, 1 Oct. 1954, FRUS, China and Japan, 14, 1952–54, 620, 651, 653–54, 664, 668, 672; and Michael Dockrill, ‘Britain and the First Off-Shore Islands Crisis, 1954–55’, in Michael Dockrill and John W. Young (eds.), British Foreign Policy, 1945–56 (New York, 1989), 178. Memorandum of Conversation, 29 Sept. 1954, FRUS, China and Japan, 14, 1952–54, 667–68; and no.988, High Commissioner for New Zealand to Minister of External Affairs, 30 Sept. 1954, and no.248, Minister of External Affairs to NZ Perm. Rep. to United Nations, 30 Sept. 1954, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2, Archives New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand. Pearson quoted in John Herd Thompson and Stephen J. Randall, Canada and the United States: Ambivalent Allies, 2nd edn (Georgia, 1997), 188. Menzies quoted in Glen St.J. Barclay, Friends in High Places: Australian–American Diplomatic Relations since 1945 (Melbourne, 1985), 81. Sulzberger quoted in Trevor R. Reese, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States: A Survey of International Relations, 1941–1968 (New York, 1969), 146. Reese, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, 160–61, 257–59; Raymond Parnell, ‘Canada Puts Off a Shift on China’, New York Times, 1 Feb. 1956; no.811, Secretary of State for External Affairs to Ambassador in France, 26 Dec. 1952, Documents on Canadian External Relations (hereafter DCER), Western Europe and the Middle East, 18 ⟨www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/department/history/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefid=4407⟩; Secretary of State for External Affairs to Cabinet, 14 Sept. 1955, DCER, United Nations and Other International Organizations, 21 ⟨http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/department/history/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefId=479⟩; and Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs to Secretary of State for External Affairs, 17 April 1957, DCER, Far East, 4 ⟨www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/department/history/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefId=5282⟩ Nos.383 and 386, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 2 and 5 Oct. 1954, and ‘Prime Minister's Conference, London, January 1955’, 13 Jan. 1955, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2; and Kaufman, Confronting Communism, 83. No.310, Permanent Rep. to UN to Minister of External Affairs, 8 Oct. 1954, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2. No.284, Minister of External Affairs to New Zealand Ambassador, 9 Oct. 1954, and no.399, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 9 Oct. 1954, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2; and memorandum of conversation, 9 Oct. 1954, FRUS, China and Japan, 14, 1952–54, 717. Memorandum of conversation, 9 Oct. 1954, FRUS, China and Japan, 14, 1952–54, 718–19 and 719 n.3; and no.398, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 9 Oct. 1954, EA W2619 264/3/2. No.399, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 9 Oct. 1954. ‘Prime Ministers’ Conference, London, January 1955' 13 Jan. 1955, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2; and no.2173, Makins to Foreign Office, 11 Oct. 1954, FO 371/110233, NA. No.201, Smith to Taipei, 1 Oct. 1954. no.244, Rankin to Department of State, 5 Oct. 1954, no.218, Dulles to Taipei, 8 Oct. 1954, and Robertson to Dulles, and Dulles to Robertson, 7 Oct. 1954, FRUS, China and Japan, 14, 1952–54, 672–73, 682–83, 706–08, 714–15; and Zhai, Dragon, The Lion, and the Eagle, 177. Memorandum of conversation, 13 Oct. 1954, FRUS, China and Japan, 14, 1952–54, 728–53; and Kaufman, Confronting Communism, 85, 86. No.410, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 14 Oct. 1954, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2. No.298, Minister of External Affairs to New Zealand Embassy, 15 Oct. 1954, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2. No.2200, Makins to Foreign Office, 14 Oct. 1954, and no.1020, Dixon to Foreign Office, 17 Oct. 1954, FO 371/110234; and minutes of cabinet meeting, CC 66 (54), 15 Oct. 1954, CAB 128/27. No.412, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, and no.283, Minister of External Affairs to NZ Perm. Rep. to United Nations, 16 Oct. 1954, EA W2619 264/3/2; and Kathleen Teltsch, ‘Soviet Asks U.N. to Denounce U.S. in China Attacks’, New York Times, 16 Oct. 1954. Memorandum of conversation, 21 Oct. 1954, FRUS, China and Japan, 14, 1952–54, 788–89; ‘Prime Ministers' Conference, London, January 1955’; and Kaufman, Confronting Communism, 87. McIntosh to Shanahan, 4 Nov. 1954, Papers of Sir Alister D. McIntosh, D32, Correspondence to/from Shanahan, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. Reese, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, 152. For more on the subject of Nash and the recognition of China, see David McGraw, ‘New Zealand's Second Labour Government and the Problem of the Recognition of China’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, 25 (1979), 178–85. Kaufman, Confronting Communism, 88–89. No.24, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 20 Jan. 1955, and no.24, Minister of External Affairs to New Zealand Ambassador, 21 Jan. 1955, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2. Memorandum of conversation, 20 Jan. 1955, FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 86–89; minutes of cabinet meeting, CC 5 (55), 20 Jan. 1955, CAB 128/28; and no.291, Foreign Office to Washington, 20 Jan. 1955, PREM 11/867. ‘United Nations Action on Chinese Off-Shore Islands’, 27 Jan. 1955, and no.25, Minister of External Affairs to New Zealand Ambassador, 22 Jan. 1955, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2; memorandum of discussion at the 233rd meeting of the National Security Council, 21 Jan. 1955, FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 91; no.165, Makins to Foreign Office, 21 Jan. 1955, and no.337, Foreign Office to Washington, 22 Jan. 1955, PREM 11/867; and no.169, Makins to Foreign Office, 21 Jan. 1955, FO 371/115024. William S. White, ‘House Votes 409–3 to Back Eisenhower on Formosa; Senate Hears Joint Chiefs’, New York Times, 26 Jan. 1955; Elie Abel, ‘Senate Votes Formosa Plan’, 85–3; U.N. to Act, May Invite Red China; ‘British Bid Soviet Curb Peiping’, New York Times, 29 Jan. 1955; Elie Able, ‘President Signs Formosa Measure; Sees Peace Guard’, New York Times, 30 Jan. 1955; and no.496, Rankin to Department of State, 29 Jan. 1955, FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 166–67. Leonard A. Kusnitz, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: America's China Policy, 1949–1979 (Connecticut, 1984), 73; Robert Accinelli, Crisis and Commitment: United States Policy toward Taiwan, 1950–1955 (North Carolina, 1996), 164, 198; Frederick W. Marks III, Power and Peace: The Diplomacy of John Foster Dulles (Connecticut, 1993), 84–85; memoranda of conversation, 30 Jan. and 5 Feb. 1955, and no.421, Hoover to Taipei, 31 Jan. 1955, FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 170–71, 173–76, 182–84, 222; no.518, Yeh to Taipei, 4 Feb. 1955, Papers of Wellington Koo, box 145, Butler Library, Columbia University, New York; and ‘Tachens Cleared; Fleet to Resume Formosa Patrol’, New York Times, 12 Feb. 1955. No.34, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 23 Jan. 1955, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.2; no.190, Makins to Foreign Office, 24 Jan. 1955, FO 371/115025; and ‘Report of New Zealand–United Kingdom–United States Working Party’, 27 Jan. 1955, FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 133–34. ‘Mr. Trevelyan's Conversation with Chou-en-Lai on Jan. 28, 1955’, Ann Whitman File, International Series, Box 10, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas; and no.110, Trevelyan to Foreign Office, 29 Jan. 1955, PREM 11/867. No.111, Dixon to Foreign Office, 30 Jan. 1955, FO 371/115029; no.1207, Bohlen to Department of State, 31 Jan. 1955, ‘Editorial Note’, and ‘Record of Conversation between Sir Anthony Eden and the Soviet Chargé d'Affaires on February 2, 1955’, FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 178, 199, 202, 223 n.2; ‘U.N. Invites Red China to Join Talks to Halt Fighting on Coastal Isles; Ridgway Sees Jeopardy in Army Cut’, New York Times, 1 Feb. 1955; and Zhai, Dragon, the Lion, and the Eagle, 177. Nos.3458 and 3670, Aldrich to Department of State, 4 and 17 Feb. 1955, and memorandum of conversation, 17 Feb. 1955, FRUS, China, 2 1955–57, 212, 286, 291; and no.171, Dixon to Foreign Office, 17 Feb. 1955, and no.1934, Foreign Office to Washington, 12 March 1955, PREM 11/879. Nos.107 and 114, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 9 and 15 March 1955, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.3. Memorandum of conversation, 9 March 1955, no.4858, Dulles to London, 23 March 1955, and Eden to Dulles, 25 March 1955, FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 341, 387, 397–98. No.130, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 26 March 1955, and no.98, Minister of External Affairs to New Zealand Ambassador, 28 March 1955, EA W2619 264/3/2, pt.3. No.668, Makins to Foreign Office, 26 March 1955, FO 371/115043; no.126 Saving, from Foreign Office, 26 March 1955, FO 371/115044; no.1295, Dulles to Ankara, 8 April 1955, FRUS, China, 2, 1955–57, 466 and 466 nn.1, 2; and no.136, New Zealand Ambassador to Minister of External Affairs, 30 March 1955, EA W619, 264/3/2, pt.3. Zhang Shu Guang, Deterrence and Strategic Culture: Chinese–American Confrontations, 1949–1958 (Ithaca, 1992), 220–22; Zhai, Dragon, the Lion, and the Eagle, 170, 173–74; and Tillman Durdin, ‘Chou Asks for U.S. Talks on Easing of Formosa Crisis; Washington Sees Terms’, New York Times, 24 April 1955.