Before WWII, China mattered little in international relations. Afterwards, it was recognized as one of the victorious allies, it secured a permanent seat in the UN’s Securty Council, and it had become a central player in East Asian Affairs. Negotiating China’s Destiny examines this transformation in China’s international position, which occurred despite its military weakness. The book examines the end of Western imperialism in China, the efforts of the Nationalists to engage with its wartime Allies, the UK, the USSR, and the USA, its dealings with surrounding states and peripheral areas, inclu ... More

Before WWII, China mattered little in international relations. Afterwards, it was recognized as one of the victorious allies, it secured a permanent seat in the UN’s Securty Council, and it had become a central player in East Asian Affairs. Negotiating China’s Destiny examines this transformation in China’s international position, which occurred despite its military weakness. The book examines the end of Western imperialism in China, the efforts of the Nationalists to engage with its wartime Allies, the UK, the USSR, and the USA, its dealings with surrounding states and peripheral areas, including India, Tibet, Vietnam, and Korea, and its approach to Japan in defeat. Written by scholars from China, Japan, Europe, and the USA, it adopts a genuinely global perspective on a key shift in international relations whose repercussions have become truly into focus only now with China’s rise as a world power.