Abstract
Revolutionary China became engaged in a direct military conflict with the West over events in Korea at the end of October in 1950. Soon after crossing the 38th parallel in June North Korean troops had driven the South Koreans towards the southern tip of the peninsula. The North Korean victory did not last long. The military situation was changed dramatically when American forces under the command of General MacArthur landed at Inchon on 15 September; very quickly the tide of military fortunes turned against the North Koreans. By the end of the month UN forces which were primarily comprised of American troops had pushed them back to the 38th parallel. The UN objective of restoring the status quo in Korea had been achieved. The question then was whether or not its forces should push on to eliminate the North Korean regime and establish a unified Korea friendly to the West. The US decision to advance northwards beyond their initial objective prompted China’s military involvement in Korea.’
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Notes
A useful account of the Korean War with extensive references to British attitude is P. Lowe, The Origins of the Korean War (London: Longman, 1986).
H.C. Deb, Vol. 481, Foreign Affairs Debate, 30 November 1950; Attlee’s announcement in Col 1440; A record of Truman’s press conference on 30 November 1950 in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1950 (Washington D.C.: 1965) pp. 724–28.
R Jenkins, Truman (London: Collins, 1986) p. 178.
FO to Washington, 14 August 1950; Washington to FO, 16 August 1950; Washington to FO, 31 August 1950, Prem 8 1156. Dalton to Attlee, 30 November 1950, Dalton papers 9/9/108; Dalton diary 30 November 1950; Cabinet discussions CAB 128/18; also see Ben Pimlott’s Hugh Dalton, (London: Jonathan Cape, 1985), p. 592;
Kenneth Morgan, Labour in Power 1945–51 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984) p. 427.
Anthony Eden, The Memoirs of Sir Anthony Eden, Full Circle (London: Cassell, 1960) p. 5.
John Colville, The Fringes of Power, Downing Street Diaries, 1939–1955 (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1985), p. 633.
On Anglo-American special relations in this period see A. Seldon, Churchill’s Indian Summer: The Conservative Government, 1951–55 (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1981), pp. 387–388.
A study of the Conference by a participant is James Cable, The Geneva Conference of 1954 on Indochina (London: Macmillan, 1986).
Eden’s first meeting with Zhou was recorded in E. Shuckburgh, Descent to Suez: Diaries 1951–56 (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1986) pp. 183–4.
Eden’s own account of the dinner meeting is in Anthony Eden, The Memoirs of Sir Anthony Eden: Full Circle (London: Cassel, 1960) p. 123.
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© 1992 James Tuck-Hong Tang
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Tang, J.TH. (1992). From Confrontation to the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations. In: Britain’s Encounter with Revolutionary China, 1949–54. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22349-7_5
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