Evelyn Goh, Constructing the U.S. Rapprochement with China, Ch6

, Constructing the U.S. Rapprochement with China, 1961-1974: From “Red Menace” to “Tacit Ally”, Cambridge, 2005, Ch6, 124-149

The researcher had been owned the process U.S.-China rapprochement during Nixon Administration to Henry Kissinger’s description. It is fact that his book remains its worth to be verified by scholars even today. His performance will have to gone down in history as the ideal of Realist. Newly declassified documents, however, shows different aspect from Kissinger’s description. Although Kissinger underestimated the role of the Depart of State in his book, these documents revealed that East Asian Bureau was engaged in an active reformulation of China policy during the first two months of 1969 and Kissinger accepted their policy concept. Their China policy’s focal point was Taiwan problem. Washington needed to find a way forward that would avoid the difficulty of “two China” or “One China and one Taiwan” policy which neither China nor Taiwan accept. They recommended the policy review of US force presence in Taiwan if PRC agree to renounce the use of force in the Taiwan Strait. HAK was cautious on this plan at first because he thought that Beijing wasn’t serious about improving relations with the United States and wanted to open dialogue with Washington mainly as leverage against Soviet Union.