ABSTRACT
In a news conference in January 1950, President Truman said the United States would not intervene in the Chinese conflict by aiding Taiwan's defense or providing its government with military assistance. Truman also declined to send significant aid to anti-Communist rebels in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and allowed private trade between the PRC and the United Slates. The United States rejected China's demands that it withdraw United States support for Taiwan and agree to the PRC's joining the United Nations. The PRC denounced the agreement as an effort to 'legalize' the United States occupation of Taiwan. The USSR also gave Mao security as he concentrated on maintaining the revolution at home, ending privileges from the imperial era, and securing China's border regions. The Chinese were unsuccessful in getting the United States to lift the United Nations embargo and to raise the level of the talks to the foreign ministerial level.
