CONTENTS United States policy toward Asia. China's dominant national characteristics. The elements of Communist China's national power. Communist China and the United States in Vietnam.. United States policy toward Communist China... Communist China and the United Nations_ UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD ASIA Perhaps never before in the history of our Nation has the problem of our relations with Asia loomed so large in the consideration of U.S. foreign policy. American involvement in Asia--a continent which is the home of one-half of the world's population-has deep roots which reach back in history to the age of the sailing clippers and the early Christian missionary effort. More recently, during the past 25 years, we have been involved in fighting two wars in Asia. We are currently engaged in a large-scale effort of assisting the people of South Vietnam to combat Communist-led aggression.We also maintain extensive economic-trade and aid-and cultural relations with a score of nations in that area-from Korea, Japan, and Formosa on the northeast, all the way to India and Pakistan on the southwest. In addition to these significant and, at times, historic ties with Asia, the advance of Red China to the rank of a nuclear power and the deepening crisis in Vietnam now argue for a careful review of our policy toward that region of the world. Because of these reasons the subcommittee having just recently completed a searching and fruitful study of the Sino-Soviet conflictturned its attention to this larger and more complex problem. The subcommittee initiated a series of hearings on U.S. policy toward Asia which began on January 25, 1966. These hearings were designed to explore a wide range of issues and problems which affect U.S. policy in Asia. To that end, the subcommittee took testimony from more than three dozen witnesses. Among them were scholars and specialists, State Department officers, businessmen, former U.S. officials, clergymen, and representatives of organizations with Asian interests. It was not the purpose of the subcommittee during these hearings to call into question or dispute current U.S. policies in Asia. While some of the witnesses were critical of those policies, others defended them vigorously. We sought only to elicit as much information as possible on the subject, and to obtain a wide range of views. The success of these aims, we believe, is demonstrated in the printed text of the hearings. The subcommittee believes that this record provides a comprehensive and useful document for policymakers, students, and all Americans who are particularly interested in the formulation of our foreign policy. At this point, we wish to thank sincerely all the witnesses who testified. Without exception, they brought their best to this effort. Their cooperation was essential to the success of these hearings and is most appreciated. All too often, perhaps, those who have specialized knowledge in foreign affairs are not sufficiently consulted in the 62-849-06-2 day-to-day business of conducting America's relations abroad. Therefore, the hearings provided a chance for such persons to be heard in the legislative branch and, through it, in the appropriate sectors of the executive branch. This dialog between the Government and informed private citizens is important to the policymaking process in our democratic society. The subcommittee is pleased to have provided a forum for this interchange. Although the hearings dealt with a wide variety of subjects relating to all parts of Asia, the central topic which repeatedly commanded our attention was the rise of Communist China and its implications for U.S. policy. The reason for this seems obvious: China is the largest and the most populous nation in Asia. Its population, as a matter of fact, approximates the combined populations of the United States, Western Europe, and the Soviet Union. Any way you look at it, mainland China is a colossus among nations. Admittedly, today it is a colossus with clay feet because its effective powereconomic and military-is not commensurate with its size; nevertheless the power potential is there. What concerns us and what has a bearing on the future of Asia and on the structure of peace and order in the world is how this power is going to be used on the world scene. As the record of the hearings shows, there is no simple, clear answer to this question. However, the hearings did produce a number of indications, some drawn from China's behavior in the past, and some from the performance and pronouncements of the current Communist regime. In the summary which follows, we will attempt to examine these to discover whether they present any obvious pattern-one which might give some clues regarding Red China's future relations with the outside world. CHINA'S DOMINANT NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS To begin, we must go back in time and recall some of the dominant characteristics of China's march through nearly 4,000 years of history. A number of witnesses who appeared before our subcommitteenotably Professors Powell and Clubb and General Griffith-commented on this subject. From these discussions there emerges a pattern of several dominant themes which found expression in China's past and which today repeat themselves in Communist China's attitudes and actions. First, there is the consistent theme of Chinese superiority in relation to the outside world. From their early existence, the Chinese considered their culture, their philosophy-the entire arrangement of their society-to be better than anything to be found outside of their land. And they held their truths to have universal applicability You can sum up this attitude in these words: "China possesses the one, the sole truth-and this truth is valid for the entire world." This outlook pervades the entire history of the Chinese nation. Through the centuries, it has shaped China's attitude toward its neighbors and toward the more distant world of the West. It admitted no compromise and rejected all other values. It preache the supremacy of the Chinese way in relation to the entire outside world. Second, there is a certain steady, rhythmic pulse to China's march through time: the pulse of periodic expansion and contraction. When China has been strong within her borders, she has moved to |