Strait Rituals: China, Taiwan, and the United States in the Taiwan Strait Crises, 1954–1958

Pang, Yang Huei

ISBN 10: 9888208306 / ISBN 13: 9789888208302

Published by Hong Kong University Press, 2019

About this Item

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Seller Inventory # ria9789888208302_new

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Strait Rituals: China, Taiwan, and the United States in the Taiwan Strait Crises, 1954?1958
• Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9888208306
• ISBN 13: 9789888208302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The two Taiwan Strait crises took place during a particularly tense period of the Cold War. Although each incident was relatively brief, their consequences loom large. Based on analyses of newly available documents from Beijing, Taipei, and Washington, Pang Yang Huei challenges conventional wisdom that claims Sino-US misperceptions of each other’s strategic concerns were critical in the 1950s. He underscores the fact that Washington, Taipei, and Beijing were actually aware of one another’s strategic intentions during the crises. He also demonstrates conclusively that both “crises” can be understood as a transformation from tacit communication to tacit accommodation. An important contribution of this study is a better understanding of the role of ritual, symbols, and gestures in international relations. While it is true that these two crises resulted in a stalemate, the fact that all parties were able to cultivate talks and negotiations brought relations, especially between the US and China, to a new and more stable level. Simply averting the threat of war was a major achievement. Strait Rituals is an important micro-history of a significant moment during the Cold War and a rich interpretation of the theoretical use of multiple points of view in writing history. It sets a new standard for understanding China’s place in the world.

About the Author

Pang Yang Huei is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. Previously, he was an editor of a military journal at the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College. At the moment, he is working on his second and third books. One examines the role of the People’s Republic of China at the denouement of the Vietnam War. The other covers East Asia nuclear weapons and energy development.