Ch.+29-+Cold+War+in+Asia+and+the+Pacific

__Cold War in Asia and the Pacific

**Communism in China **__ China faced much political chaos during the years of WWII. The United States had supported the government of Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang was the leader of the Chinese Nationalist, or [|Kuomintang], party. His government was corrupt and unorganized; and Chiang was an unable leader who avoided facing the problems strangling China. Nonetheless he was the only leader that would have some chance of keeping Communism out of China. Thus, during the years of WWI, The U.S., applying the Containment Policy, supported and helped Chiang's government.

As World War II came to a close, and the Cold War saw its initial stages, and the old Chinese civil war between Chinese Nationalists and Communists arose. The Chinese Revolution had begun. The Chinese Communist party was led by [|Mao Zedong], an ally of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Communist leader. Almost immediately, the U.S. knew that many Nationalists were abandoning the Kuomintang party to join Mao and his Communists. President Harry Truman did not respond by sending in U.S. troops to fight alongside the Nationalists, instead he backed Chiang with aid, hoping to see some progress. In 1946, hoping to negotiate something and end the Chinese civil war, Truman sent George Marshall to China. The negotiations, however, did not prevail. After a few months of fighting, Chiang's Nationalist forces were being pushed off mainland China. In 1948, Truman convinced Congress to supply the Nationalist government with $400 million. The money, however, ended up with the Communists due to the corruption and weakness of the Nationalists. The Nationalists were driven from all of mainland China by 1949, and the Communists had taken control. Chiang and his party fled to the once Japanese island of Formosa, or Taiwan. Although Mao successfully established a Communist government in China, [|Chiang] established his government in Taiwan and claimed that it was the only Chinese government. The U.S. refused to recognize Mao's government in mainland China in Beijing (the People's Republic of China) until much later. This created another danger zone for the U.S. in terms of Communist rivalry.

Many Americans were furious at what Truman had done. They believed that he had let China fall to Communism in front of his eyes and not done anything. To make matters worse, Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin signed a Sino-Soviet pact in 1950, which led to fear about spreading Communist power.

__**American Influence in Japan **__ Japan had been the number one rival of the United States during World War II. The bombing of Pearl Harbor and the dropping of the atomic bombs of Nagasaki and Hiroshima prove this fact. As the war ended, however, the U.S. established strong influence in Japan. Truman knew that if the U.S. was to do something about Communism in Asia and the Pacific, and increase its foreign influence, Japan had to be revived. He knew that Japan's economy had to be reconstructed in order for the U.S. to establish influence in the Eastern Hemisphere. Thus Japan soon became the base of the United States in the Pacific. After WWII, Japanese generals were tried for crimes and executed. As the Cold War started, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur was given the power to lead the reconstruction of Japan. A parliamentary democracy was established in Japan in May 1947 by its new constitution. The new constitution also heavily limited the military abilities of Japan and made Japan dependent on the U.S. for military protection.

In 1951, the U.S. and Japan signed the U.S.-Japanese Security Treaty, which ended the occupation of Japan. In returned, Japan had to surrender its control of Korea and some Pacific islands. In 1951, another treaty ended the formal occupation of Japan; however, it also allowed the United States to keep troops at military bases in Japan. The reason for this was to protect Japan from outside enemies. Communism was the main, and virtually only, enemy that might have taken over Japan at the time. As a result of this U.S. control of Japan, Communism or Communist forces were unable to occupy Japan in the future years.

__**The Philippines **__ The Philippines had been under U.S. control ever since the U.S. received it, along with some other processions, with its victory in the Spanish-American War in 1898. The United States had used the Philippines for numerous wars and conflicts that had taken place outside of the Western Hemisphere. Following the act passed by Congress in 1934, on July 4, 1946, the Philippines was made into an independent republic. The U.S. did, however, keep some naval and air bases in the Philippines during the Cold War.

__**Sources **__  __**External Links**__
 * American History (textbook) - Alan Brinkley
 * United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination (AMSCO) - John J. Newman and John M. Schmalbach
 * The Princeton Review: Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam (2010 Edition) - Tom Meltzer, Jean Hofheimer Bennett, and Susan Babkes
 * Picture: Chinese Communism - []
 * Picture: U.S. Bases in Japan - []
 * Picture: U.S. and Filipino Flags - []
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 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Spartacus Educational: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[]