ABSTRACT
On the eve of Communist takeover, foreign and native business interests, and the CCP Central Committee looked forward hopefully to restoration of trade and commerce in the disrupted economy of Shanghai. Communist officials, after entering the city, took steps to elicit the confidence and co-operation of the urban business community in achieving these goals. Within little more than a month, however, natural calamities, coupled with Nationalist efforts to prevent the revival of international trade in Shanghai aggravated the already strained economy, triggering a wave of uncontrollable labor disputes adversely effecting Sino-American relations. This chapter examines these events and their impact on the China Weekly Review and the foreign press, as it struggled to define its position within the new revolutionary situation.
