Post-Mortem on American Mediation in China
| Published date | 01 September 1947 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070204700200302 |
| Author | Michael Lindsay |
| Date | 01 September 1947 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Post-Mortem
on
American
Mediation
in
China
Michael
Lindsay
A
post-mortem
is
useful
if
it
reveals
something
about
the
disease
from
which
the
patient
died,
which
can
help
in
avoiding
similar
deaths
in
the
future.
In
this
case
the
disease
is
not
a
unique
one.
There
were
very
obvious
analogies
between
the
American
position
in
China
and
the British
position
in
Greece.
Also
the
results
seem
to
indicate
the
necessity
for
the
rethinking
of some
basic
principles
in
foreign
policy
if
similar
frustrations
are
to
be
avoided
in
the
future.
General Marshall's
mission
to
China
started
with
an
excellent
formulation
of
United
States
policy
in
the
President's
statement
of
December
15,
1945.
The
basic
aim
was
a
"strong,
united
and
democratic China" and
the major
obstacles
to
this
were
correctly
diagnosed
as
the
existence
of
an
independent
Communist
party
army
which
made
political
unity
impossible
and
the
form
of
the
National
Government
as a
"one-party
government"
operating
under
a
theory
of
"Political Tutelage."
There
is
no
reason
to
suppose
that
this
aim
was
unattainable.
General Marshall
found
that
there
were
moderates
in
both
the
main
parties
who
agreed
in
wanting
a
strong,
united,
and
demo-
cratic China
and
who
were
prepared
to
compromise
to avoid
civil
war.
They
had
the
support
of
most
of
the
minor
parties
and
the
main
body
of
unorganized
public opinion.
However, in fact
the
United
States
completely
failed
to
attain
its objectives
and
the situation
when
General Marshall
left
was
very
much
worse
than
in
December,
1945.
The
reasons
for
this
failure
are
obviously
complex
but
there
is
one
major
factor
which
has
been
very
little
discussed.
This
is
the
legal
and
diplomatic
traditions within
which
the
United
States
has
operated.
The
United States
has
usually
operated
in
terms
of
the
legal
forms
of
the
situation
and
has
seldom
been
willing
to
take
official
notice
of
the
divergence between
legal
forms
and
reality.
As
a
result
American
action
has often
been
diverted
so
that
its
actual
200
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