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FOREIGN OFFICE FILES FOR CHINA, 1949-1976

(Public Record Office Classes FO 371 and FCO 21)

Part 1: Complete Files for 1949

Publisher's Note

This microfilm project addresses a crucial period in Chinese history, from the foundation of the People’s Republic, in 1949, to the death of Zhou Enlai and Mao, the arrest of the Gang of Four and the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976.  It charts how a country estimated to contain 40% of the world's population struggled to regain its independence from foreign domination, and to become a leading contender in world affairs.

Part 1 of this series covers the crucial year of 1949, which witnessed the final triumph of the Communist forces, the exile of the Nationalists to Formosa/Taiwan, and the official establishment of the People's Republic of China.  It also witnessed intense discussion on the part of Britain and the western powers concerning their relationship with the new regime in Peking, resulting in the British government's prompt recognition of the Communist government in January 1950.  It is this action, in stark contrast to the USA's decision to continue to regard the Nationalist regime on Formosa/Taiwan as the legitimate Chinese government, that helps make these documents so crucial.  For the British took a pragmatic approach to the realities of the situation in China, allowing her to maintain a day-to-day relationship with China to a much better degree than the USA, which was hampered in her actions by a strong domestic anti-Communist lobby.  The continuing presence of British diplomats and consuls in China during and following the Communist take-over provided the Foreign Office in London with a constant stream of detailed reports and memoranda on events and attitudes within the country.

The roots of the Communists' success go back to the formation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, but it was not until the involvement of China in World War Two that they became a dominant force in Chinese politics.  With the entry of Japan into World War Two, the Chinese who had been fighting the Japanese forces in China since the 1930's, suddenly found they had acquired powerful allies.  As war progressed and the prospect of an Allied victory began to look more certain, pressure was taken off the Chinese to provide a united front against the Japanese invaders.  Thoughts began to turn towards the post-war political settlement as each side began to prepare for the inevitable power struggle that would follow Japan's withdrawal.  By 1945 both Nationalists and Communists held sway over considerable portions of China, and exercised power in their respective areas, but the final Japanese surrender, created an immediate power vacuum that needed filling.  It was the better organised communists, adopting a policy of political moderation to attract broad support, who proved the more able to fill this political void.  Nevertheless, despite the Communist successes, the Nationalists, were still a force to be reckoned with, and civil war between the two competing sides began inearnest.   Despite western backing for the Nationalists, the Communists made steady progress, and by 1947, the tide began to turn decisively against the Nationalists, who were further hampered by the temporary  withdrawal of US economic and military aid.  By December 1948, the Nationalist cause was looking all but lost on the mainland; the Communists controlled Manchuria and most of North China, and were steadily advancing southwards.  By the spring of 1949 they had captured Peking, the former Nationalist capital city of Nanking and the important trading city of Shanghai.  The remains of the Nationalist forces began to withdraw to the Island of Formosa/Taiwan which was being built up as a bastion from which to launch a counter attack.  By the summer Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang Party organisation had moved to Formosa and Taipei was named as temporary capital of China.  Meanwhile on the mainland the establishment of the People's Republic of China was officially announced in Peking on the 1st October, and the mammoth task of re-building the country along socialist lines began.

1949, the year covered by Part 1 of this collection, was a pivotal year in the history of modern China.  From the beginning of the year, the tone set by British officials in these documents paints a pessimistic picture of Nationalist fortunes, accepting that it is only a matter of time before the Communists triumph.  The erosion of Nationalist authority and power is portrayed in vivid detail as town after town and city after city falls to the steady advance of the Communists; the British Consulate-General at Tsingtao provides a particularly graphic and compelling account of the Communist take over of that city:

Thursday 2 June 1949

General Liu sailed away at about 9.45 am leaving behind about 2,000 troops.  Then wholesale looting commenced at the Wharf.

10.30 am:       Communists at Syfang.

Noon:             Communists had arrived and had taken over the Custom House and at once stopped the

                      looting on the Wharf.

1.30 pm:         More Communists crossing the golf course...

2.00 pm:         Heard the report that 2,000 troops left behind tried to commandeer a Norwegian coal

                     vessel and force the Captain to take them out.  This consulate telephoned the Officer in

                     command of the troops and the argument took long enough to allow the Communists to

                     settle the dispute.

4.00 pm:         Communists took over the Bank of China and the Central Bank of China.

4.30 pm:         Communists now coming in from all directions.

6.15 pm:         They took over the government offices, but the flag was not hauled down... Communists

                      arrived quite unprepared to take over as they did not expect to come in until the end of

                      the week.  There do not appear to be many here yet.

A most marvellously quiet and peaceful take over. 

The troops on entering Tsingtao looked very weary, foot sore and weather beaten, ages vary from 15-50 all wearing apparently new uniforms, the khaki varying very much in colour, from greenish to a ghastly mustard, the political forces wore grey uniforms.  There are many women in the forces.  The troops do not appear to have much in the way of equipment, this is probably due to the main force not having arrived yet, but they apparently have enough to keep peace and order however.  From general appearances, it is a mystery how they walked through the nationalists.  The foreign community have settled down much relieved that the occupation has at last taken place...” [FO 371/75764]

The continual infighting and factionalism of the ruling Nationalist Kuomintang Party is also reported back to the Foreign Office with disfavourable comments and is often contrasted to the discipline of the Communists.  When the Communists finally assumed full control of the mainland, the only surprise to the British was the speed of their final take over.  The Western powers had hoped that it might take the Communists a year or more to establish a central government with authority extending over all China, thus giving them a breathing space in which to avoid the thorny question of recognition.  The establishment of the People's Republic in the autumn of 1949 and the subsequent Soviet recognition meant that the issue could no longer be dodged, and the debates which resulted in Britain's recognition of the Peking government in January 1950 are covered in detail.

These events in China had a tremendous impact on the world situation.  The years after the end of the Second World War saw an intensification of the struggle between the competing ideologies of communism and capitalism, as both sought to provide a model for future economic development, particularly to the newly independent countries.  China's sudden entry into the socialist camp, proved a tremendous blow to the forces of capitalism, and seemed to tip the balance away from the West.  The assumption of China's seat in the Security Council by the Communists was a situation that the West was particularly keen to avoid and one of the main reasons for America's continued support of the Nationalist government on Formosa and her refusal to recognise the People's Republic.  Nowhere outside of China was the Communists' success felt more keenly than in the USA, where conspiracy theories and paranoia regarding the 'loss' of China to the forces of world communism abounded.  Typified by the McCarthy 'Un-American Activities’ investigations that opened in 1950, fear of communist subversion created a powerful domestic anti-communist lobby that further hindered the development of American relations with China.

America's unambiguous opposition to the new regime in Peking, and the increased hostility of the nation against communism in general, meant that whilst she increasingly relied on British intelligence to find out about events inside China, interest was also shown in Britain's relationship with China and her new Communist rulers.  As the following extract shows, the UK’s policies toward the new regime in Peking could have unforeseen consequences, as well as giving a good sense of the tensions that underpinned the ‘special relationship:

"Dear Department

We enclose a memorandum dated 28th November 1949 by His Majesty’s Consul-General at New York, reporting certain views which were expressed to him by a prominent Republican about the United Kingdom’s intention to recognise the Chinese communist government.  The gist is that the United Kingdom’s evident desire to recognise [Mainland China] is combining with other existing factors to produce a hostile Republican attitude to the United Kingdom, which may adversely affect British prospects for completion of the Marshall programme..."       [FO 371/75826]

In another letter, to the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, Britain’s sensitivity to international reactions to her policies, and the entangled nature of the Far Eastern situation are revealed:

16 December 1949

We cannot indefinitely go on ignoring the effective government of a vast territory like China.  I shall be happy if the French government take a similar decision, but if you cannot I shall understand the special difficulties of your position arising out of the Indo-China situation.... I earnestly trust that our recognition of China will not add to your difficulties in Indo-China - my considered view is that worse dangers would flow from non-recognition than from recognition of China - and I hope that neither your own authorities on the spot, nor Bao Dai and his administration, will misinterpret our action...."       [FO 371/75826]

Whilst the majority of the files in this series deal with events on the mainland, Formosa is also covered in detail.  The following extracts are taken from the Summary of Events in Formosa During the Months of May to September, 1949 and show the interest that British diplomats took in events on the island:

The fall of Nanking and Shanghai have had a far reaching effect on Formosa.  Throughout the month of May [Kuomintang] Party officials and wealthy Chinese continued to arrive and after the capture of Shanghai and evacuation of Tsingtao vast numbers of troops flooded the island congesting the ports and occupying all schools and other suitable buildings... The influx of rich and influential refugees with their gold bars, and luxurious limousines was a matter of wonder and disgust to the local people and even aroused adverse comment in the Government and Party controlled press.  The Taipeh Central Daily News described these refugees as ‘political rubbish’ and asserted that ‘black fury was burning in the hearts of the people’...

While the central government itself moved to Canton, much of the Kuomintang Party organisation moved to Formosa and after the arrival of the Generalissimo a shadow Kuomintang Government began to take shape.  Now most of the leading Government and Party officials are established in Formosa and the five Yuans have set up offices here.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established an office in Taipeh and the Overseas Affairs Commission has been transferred to Formosa...while the Government itself is remaining in Canton and will move to Chungking when the latter falls, it is evident that substantial sections of the Government Departments, and the majority of the Legislative Yuan members intend to establish themselves in Formosa and the Tsungtsai’s Office at Tsaoshan near Taipei which has now grown to the proportions of a government will be the main policy making body under the Generalissimo.

One of the points of dispute between Chiang Kai-shek and Li Tsung-jen is believed to have been the former’s reluctance to give adequate military or financial support to operations on the mainland and it appears that he prefers to retain the majority of the country’s gold and many of his best troops including the Navy and Air Force for the defence of Formosa with the object of making it into a bastion against the Communist flood and a refuge for the Kuomintang.  Tao Hsi-sheng, one of the Generalissimo’s spokesmen, recently described Formosa as a base for world democracy and resistance against totalitarian aggression and as a future link between China’s anti-communist combat and other democratic countries...” 

[FO 371/75793]

A total of 45 files, entitled "Events leading to the formation of a communist government of the Peoples Republic of China", record the progress of the Revolution and the eventual triumph of Mao Tse Tung and the Communist Revolutionaries.  A large grouping of 21 files covers Recognition of the Communist Government of China, in particular discussions between Britain and other governments on the question of recognition of the two rival governments.  Other files in Part 1 give a background report on events in China in 1948; brief biographies of leading communist personalities in China; details on relations between China and Hong Kong; relations between Hong Kong and Macao; weekly and monthly summaries of events in China in 1949; the move of the Chinese Government from Nanking; Soviet-China relations; with numerous files on the Economic situation in China and British Commercial interests in China.  There are 6 files specifically on Formosa/Taiwan; and the famous incident involving the attack upon HMS Amethyst in Yangtze River is well covered by a total of 11 files.  Further folders document the Chinese National Government blockade of ports under communist control and the closure of Chinese territorial waters; British shipping in the region; the position of British subjects in China; evacuations from Shanghai; compensation for the bombing of British ships by Chinese Nationalist air forces; British Coal Mining interests in China; the move of Chinese National Airways Corporation to Kai Tek airport in Hong Kong; Sovereignty issues regarding Kowloon and the New Territories; as well as details of the likely impact of events on the situation in Indo-China, Burma and Malaysia.  The wider availability of all these files, made possible by this microfilm edition, opens up many new possibilities for research and sheds light upon the complex web of national and international repercussions that the Communist victory created.  The first full year of Communist rule in China is covered in Part Two of this series, which provides the complete Foreign Office Files for China for the year 1950.

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