ABSTRACT
This book explores seven subjects which challenge the U.S.–Taiwan alliance during the Cold War: the offshore islands, the mainland counteroffensive, Tibet, Taiwan’s secret operations in the Asian neighborhood, the Chinese representation in the United Nations, the Vietnam War, and Taiwan’s Soviet and nuclear gambits. Why are these stories worth being told or re-told? From the offshore islands along China’s mainland to Southeast Asia’s Indochina mainland and archipelagos, and from the Indian subcontinent to Tibet in Inner Asia, these stories illustrate the secrecy and enmity at work behind the supposedly ideologically propelled anticommunist alliance across the Pacific Ocean. They also present divergent leadership perceptions toward key issues such as the rollback of Chinese Communists on the mainland, Chinese representation at the United Nations, and nuclear proliferation. A reassessment of these subjects hopefully will proffer fresh insights into the nature of bilateral relations and present a somewhat unfamiliar and revisionist view of arguably one of the strongest bilateral relationships throughout the Cold War.
