In the course of its century as a British colony, Americans quickly established themselves in the economic, social, and religious life of Hong Kong but never developed major direct national interests in the territory. During the first half of the twentieth, American policymakers began to consider Hong Kong within the larger framework of its policies towards and objectives in China. Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt championed China's right to recover the territories it had lost to European colonialism, both out of practical considerations as well as the advancement of its idealistic blueprint for a new international order. But faced with a very delicate situation when the time had come to end the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the United States bent to realistic interests and considerations and the Great Britain restore its rule over Hong Kong.; The spread of the Cold War to East Asia revived the question of Hong Kong's fate. The victory of the Chinese Communists on the Mainland China threatened the survival of British control of Hong Kong. That posed a major dilemma and challenge to Washington. The United States understood that Hong Kong was indefensible, but it was unwilling to concede the territory and its people to the Communists. The problem was soon compounded by the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. The United States was therefore caught between its anticommunist crusade and desire to deny Hong Kong to the PRC, on the one hand, and its fear of another direct military confrontation with Beijing.; Fortunately for the United States and Great Britain, the Chinese Communist leadership excluded Hong Kong from the struggle against colonialism.; The present study is the first attempt to provide a systematic and comprehensive overview of United States involvement in Hong Kong from the middle of the nineteenth century to the 1970s. It demonstrates that Hong Kong served as a polyhedron in Sino-American relations in the twentieth century. It is hoped that this effort will stimulate further research that will enlarge our understanding of the American presence in East Asia and China's reciprocal response. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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