phase. As the Communist armies swept south and consolidated
their hold on the country Britain was one of the first to
recognise the new regime (on 6 January 1950). But the move
seemed to win little credit. Indeed it only prompted
Communist demands for further concessions, including the
ending of our de facto recognition of the Nationalist
authorities in Taiwan. Frustratingly, the British discovered
that their new Chargé d'Affaires in Peking was simply "the
British negotiating representative", sent "for the purpose
of carrying on negotiations concerning the establishment of
diplomatic relations". It was the first touch of the
Kafkaesque style that was to become only too familiar in
succeeding years. Though the Nationalist Chinese Government
had been notoriously difficult and demanding, their
successors proved much more so. To the traditional list of
nationalist grievances and prejudices they added a new layer,
derived from
from Marxist-Leninist and Maoist dogma. British
businessmen in particular suffered under the new, harsh
conditions; their properties were
and
expropriated or made
worthless; and they themselves were often reduced to the
condition of hostages against the continuing remittance of
sterling to pay local staff.
Whatever disposition the new regime may have had to come
to terms with the Western world once they had settled into
place, any hopes were dashed by the outbreak of the Korean War
in June 1950. It was Stalin's war, rather than Mao's; but it
brought a fatal rigidity to the Far Eastern scene. Lines were
drawn that were not to be easily erased. British and United
States troops
troops soon found themselves engaged in ferocious
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