Western versus Chinese realism: Soviet-American diplomacy and the Chinese Civil War, 1945-1950.

摘要

This dissertation addresses two distinct but related disciplines: diplomatic history and International Relations theory. In terms of the former, the body of this study analyzes the diplomatic interaction among the Kuomintang (KMT), Chinese Communist Party (CCP), United States, and Soviet Union during the Chinese Civil War on the basis of research in recently opened archives in Russia, Taiwan, and China. The evidence presented herein challenges the traditional "loss of China" view of the Civil War and argues that the two Chinese parties had a common foreign policy, aimed primarily at ending more than a century of imperialism in China while the two Western powers sought to secure implementation of the Yalta agreement in China.; In terms of International Relations theory, Chapter Two introduces a Chinese version of political realism on the basis of classic Confucian and Legalist texts on inter-state relations. As in the classic realist texts in the West, power politics is the principal theme in these classic Chinese texts. The practise of power politics, however, differs in the Chinese tradition with alliances and the balance of power rejected in favour of geo-politics. The end result of inter-state political interaction also differs: anarchic division is the norm in the West whereas hierarchic unity is the norm in China.; The common appreciation for power politics is seen as the primary determinant for the outcome of events in the diplomatic history of the Civil War. In Chapter Three (August 1945 to June 1946), the Western parties dominated the diplomatic interaction as the presence of Soviet and American troops in China compelled the Chinese parties to agree to the Yalta agreement and political negotiations. In Chapters Four, Five, and Six (July 1946 through February 1950), the Chinese parties dominated as first the KMT and then the CCP acquired the means to resist Soviet-American pressure for a negotiated settlement to the Chinese Civil War. Chapter Seven, the conclusion, assesses the relevance of Chinese realism to the diplomatic history of the Civil War, Chinese foreign policy today, and International Relations theory more generally.