Hooper, Beverley
Description
When the Chinese Communists came to power during 1949, they were faced
with a diminished but still substantial Western presence in their
country, the representatives and symbols of a century of imperialist
activity in China. The present study analyses the process whereby, in
the four years following their victories in the major cities, they
effectively eliminated that remaining presence from China. It takes
issue with those analysts who see the question basically in an immediate
foreign...[Show more] policy context. They argue that there were two distinct phases
in the Communists' treatment of the Western presence - a period of
moderation followed by one of far more extreme measures - and that the
outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, and more particularly China's
entry into the war four months later, marked a decisive turning point or
watershed in their policies and actions.
This study argues that the Communists' treatment of the remaining
Western presence was determined by more basic, long-term factors: their
strong anti-imperialism (both as successors to a century of reaction
against imperialism in China and as ideological adherents to the Leninist
theory of imperialism) and their firm commitment to establishing a
socialist society. The combination of these two factors precluded any
future role for the existing Western presence in China. The Communists'
decision to permit Westerners to remain temporarily in China and even to
continue their activities was prompted, not by a policy of moderation,
but by pragmatism in the interests of avoiding economic and social disruption
during the immediate takeover and transitional 'New Democracy'
periods. Having decided not to expel the Western presence outright, the
Communists astutely utilized it for their own material and political
purposes, in particular to help establish and consolidate their authority.
At the same time, the Communist authorities - from the earliest
months of their rule - exerted strong economic, psychological and at
times physical pressures on the Western presence. Pressures on individual
interest groups varied according to their involvement with past
imperialism, the degree of their incompatibility with socialism, and
particularly their immediate usefulness or otherwise to the authorities.
While Western economic and educational establishments were generally When the Chinese Communists came to power during 1949, they were faced
with a diminished but still substantial Western presence in their
country, the representatives and symbols of a century of imperialist
activity in China. The present study analyses the process whereby, in
the four years following their victories in the major cities, they
effectively eliminated that remaining presence from China. It takes
issue with those analysts who see the question basically in an immediate
foreign policy context. They argue that there were two distinct phases
in the Communists' treatment of the Western presence - a period of
moderation followed by one of far more extreme measures - and that the
outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, and more particularly China's
entry into the war four months later, marked a decisive turning point or
watershed in their policies and actions.
This study argues that the Communists' treatment of the remaining
Western presence was determined by more basic, long-term factors: their
strong anti-imperialism (both as successors to a century of reaction
against imperialism in China and as ideological adherents to the Leninist
theory of imperialism) and their firm commitment to establishing a
socialist society. The combination of these two factors precluded any
future role for the existing Western presence in China. The Communists'
decision to permit Westerners to remain temporarily in China and even to
continue their activities was prompted, not by a policy of moderation,
but by pragmatism in the interests of avoiding economic and social disruption
during the immediate takeover and transitional 'New Democracy'
periods. Having decided not to expel the Western presence outright, the
Communists astutely utilized it for their own material and political
purposes, in particular to help establish and consolidate their authority.
At the same time, the Communist authorities - from the earliest
months of their rule - exerted strong economic, psychological and at
times physical pressures on the Western presence. Pressures on individual
interest groups varied according to their involvement with past
imperialism, the degree of their incompatibility with socialism, and
particularly their immediate usefulness or otherwise to the authorities.
While Western economic and educational establishments were generally subjected to less severe pressures than were missionaries, in particular
Catholics, the pressures exerted on all groups were directed towards
their eventual eradication from China. The Communists' actions during
the Korean War period, while admittedly of increased intensity, largely
represented the continuation and the culmination of earlier pressures.
Indeed, the ideological intensity of the period gave the Chinese
Government, which had consistently proclaimed an official policy of
protecting foreign nationals, a 'legal' pretext to bring to completion
its underlying aim of eliminating the Western presence from China.
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