ABSTRACT
The American decision to refuse diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China following the Chinese Communist defeat of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists in 1949 and the US domestic debate that followed it was a watershed event in American foreign relations and initiated a dynamic in American politics that continues to present day. From a general standpoint Tsou's description of US failure in China has validity in characterizing a pattern in US foreign policy related to non-recognition and broken diplomatic relations. In each case the US pursued contradictory policies towards state in question prior to its revolution, backing authoritarian leaders who favored American interests but neglecting the welfare of their populations. For many Americans, loss of China, stalemate in Korea and McCarthy's charges of domestic communist subversion coalesced. According to David Halberstam, the 'loss' of China affected American public opinion in a way that perhaps no other country could have done:To America, China was a special country, different from other countries.
