Mao Zedong and the Taiwan Strait Crises
Abstract
During the Taiwan Strait crises of 1954-1955 and 1958, the world media was flooded with fear of imminent Chinese invasion of Taiwan. However, in both cases, Mao Zedong never intended an actual invasion, and both crises ended through diplomatic compromise. Paying special attention to the memoirs of Chinese military commanders and the newspaper Cankao Xiaoxi, this chapter examines Mao’s decision-making during the Taiwan Strait crises. It attempts to take Mao’s perspective, assess the limits of his calculations, and shed light on the rationales behind Mao’s appearance of aggressiveness. Regardless of militant propaganda, this chapter demonstrates that Mao was extremely cautious not to provoke the US, and never planned to wage large scale warfare against the US or Taiwan.
