Double-Edged Sword: Nuclear Diplomacy in Unequal Conflicts The United States and China, 1950-1958 (Praeger Studies in Diplomacy and Strategic Thought)

271 Pages·2000·1.49 MB·English

by  Appu K. Soman

DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
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DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
Nuclear Diplomacy in
Unequal Conflicts: The United
States and China, 1950–1958
APPU K. SOMAN
Praeger Studies in Diplomacy and Strategic Thought
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Soman,AppuKuttan,1951–
Double-edgedsword:nucleardiplomacyinunequalconflicts:theUnitedStatesand
China,1950–1958/AppuK.Soman.
p. cm.—(Praegerstudiesindiplomacyandstrategicthought,ISSN1076–1543)
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN0–275–96623–2(alk.paper)
1. Nuclearweapons—UnitedStates. 2. Nuclearweapons—China. 3. United
States—Foreignrelations—China. 4. China—Foreignrelations—UnitedStates.
5. UnitedStates—Foreignrelations—1945–1989. 6. China—Foreignrelations—1949–
1976. I. Title. II. Series.
UA23.S527 2000
355.02'17'0973—dc21 99–027719
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:1)2000byAppuK.Soman
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,without
theexpresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:99–027719
ISBN:0–275–96623–2
ISSN:1076–1543
Firstpublishedin2000
PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.praeger.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
Abbreviations xi
1. Introduction 1
2. Setting the Stage 15
3. The Limits of Nuclear Coercion: Nuclear Diplomacy in the
Korean War 57
4. A ‘‘Rash and Quixotic Policy’’: The Taiwan Strait Crisis of
1954–1955 115
5. ‘‘Who’s Daddy’’ in the Taiwan Strait? The Offshore Islands
Crisis of 1958 165
6. Conclusions 213
Bibliography 237
Index 251

Preface
This is a study of the role of nuclear weapons in the American policy
toward China in the 1950s. I have followed a traditionalist approach,
focusing exclusively on power as the determining factor in inter-state
relations.Factorssuchasgender,race,andculturemaywellhaveplayed
asignificantroleintheSino-USconfrontationsIanalyze.However,apart
from the odd comment, I did not find very persuasive evidence of their
role. Nor, I must confess, did I look for evidenceofsuchinfluenceswith
very great diligence.
Thisstudydrawsontheworksofotherscholarswhohavestudiedthe
Korean War and the Taiwan Strait crises of the 1950s. To a significant
degree,italsobenefittedfromthereleaseofnewUSdocuments.Itmust,
however, be kept in mind that major gaps remain in archival sources.
The lackofaccesstosubstantialvolumesofdocumentationhasallalong
made the task of historians of American foreign relations difficult. The
problem is particularly acute when the topic relates to nuclearweapons.
This manuscript was at the copy editing stage when Robert Norris,
William Arkin, and William Burr disclosed in an article in the Novem-
ber/December 1999 issue of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that the
United States had stored nuclear weapons in several countries in the
1950s. Appendix B of a partially declassified US government document,
titled ‘‘History of the Custody and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons:
July 1945 through September 1977,’’ on which the article was based,
listed the US overseas basesandcountriesinwhich,startingin1950,the
United States had prepositioned complete nuclear weapons and non-
nuclear components of such weapons. While releasing the document,
Pentagon officials had deleted the names of several countries from the
viii PREFACE
list.However,theauthorscorrectlydeducedtheidentityof25outofthe
27 locations of US overseas nuclear stockpiles.1 It turns out that the
United States had moved complete nuclear weapons to Okinawa and
non-nuclearcomponentstoJapanduringDecember1954–February1955,
only weeks before the Eisenhower administration held out nuclear
threats against China. Nuclear weapons were also carried by severalUS
naval vessels stationed in the Pacific.
The new evidence called for some hasty revisions of the manuscript,
but obviously the lastword hasnotbeensaidonthetopicofUSnuclear
diplomacy toward China. Already, the new documentation calls into
questionsignificantareasofnuclearhistoryrelatingtoJapanandEurope.
The claims in this study on the Sino-American crises are made with the
full understanding that the release of even a single new document can
substantially challenge them.
Generous assistance by many individuals and institutions made this
study possible. At Vanderbilt University, I can never thank Thomas
Schwartz enough for all he did to help me. His guidance was valuable
inplanningthisstudy,conductingresearchforit,writingit,andrevising
it. Without his encouragement and unfailing support, I honestly do not
know how I could have completed it. He patiently read more drafts of
this manuscript than I can remember and offered insightful comments
and suggestions. To Peter Zarrow, too, I owe a great deal. He also read
several drafts and offered very valuable comments and advice. Sam
McSeveney, Michael Bess, Paul Conkin, and David Bartlett also offered
helpful advice. Lewis Perry and James Epstein, in their capacity as di-
rectorofgraduatestudies,wentoutoftheirwaytomakethingseasyfor
me.ErnestMay,AkiraIriye,BruceCumings,andOdeArneWestadread
an earlier draft and gave me useful comments on it. At the Institute for
Defense and Disarmament Studies, Randall Forsberg was a source of
great encouragement. She too read drafts of the manuscript and gave
me extremely insightful comments. She also generously allowed mefull
use of the institute’s facilities.
Vanderbilt University, the Harry S. Truman Library Foundation, the
Eisenhower Institute of World Affairs, and the Institute for the Study of
World Politicsoffered generousfinancialhelpthatmadetheresearchon
thisprojectpossible.ImustalsothankthestaffoftheJeanandAlexander
Heard Library at Vanderbilt, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library,
the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, the National Archives
and Records Administration, the Public Records Office in London, the
Seeley Mudd Library at Princeton, the Butler Library at Columbia, and
theHooverInstitutionatStanfordfortheirassistance.Anearlierversion
of Chapter 5 was published as an essay in the Journal of American-East
Asian Relations, winter 1994. I am grateful to Imprint Publications, Inc.
PREFACE ix
for permission to reprint it. At Praeger, it has been a pleasure to work
with Heather Staines and John Donohue.
My wife’s unstinted support made it possible for me to devote the
time necessary to completethisproject.Mychildrencheerfullyrefrained
from making demands on my time that they had a right to. Myparents,
brothers, and sisters in India were always a source of support. My
mother and father passed away before they could see this in print. This
book is dedicated to them.
NOTE
1. Robert Norris, William Arkin, and William Burr, ‘‘Where TheyWere,’’The
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (November/December 1999); Office of the Assis-
tant to the Secretary of Defense (Atomic Energy), ‘‘History of the Custody and
Deployment of Nuclear Weapons: July 1945 through September1977,’’andAp-
pendix B to this document, ‘‘Chronology Deployment by Country 1951–1977,’’
available on the National Security Archive (NSA) web site. The ‘‘History ofthe
Custody and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons’’ is available at URL
www.gwu.edu/(cid:1)nsarchiv/news/19991020/04–01.html and will be cited here-
after as ‘‘History of the Custody and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons,’’
NSAwebsite.AppendixBisavailableatURLwww.gwu.edu/(cid:1)nsarchiv/news/
19991020/04–46.html and will be cited hereafter as ‘‘Deployment by Country
1951–1977,’’ NSA web site.
Norrisetal.couldnotidentifyoneofthecountriesinwhichUSnuclearweap-
ons were stored and they mistakenly identified Iceland as one of the locations.
The Pentagon, breaking its long-standing policy of neither confirming nor de-
nyingtheexistenceofUSnuclearweaponsinforeigncountries,deniedthatIce-
land was one of the countries in the list. The authors subsequently concluded
that the two locations were the Japanese islands of Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima.
RobertNorris,WilliamArkin,andWilliamBurr,‘‘HowMuchDidJapanKnow?’’
The Bulletin of the AtomicScientists (January/February2000).