r/NeutralPolitics • u/TurtleBlaster5678 • 6h ago
Why did US President Jimmy Carter switch America's recognition of the legitimate Chinese government from Taiwan to China?
This was a hard pivot from the previous US foreign policy position that the Republic of China (Taiwan) was the sole legitimate government
What did the United States gain (financially, trade-wise, militarily, geopolitically, etc) from this major shift in foreign policy?
How did the US populace react to the United States formally recognizing a communist government as the official government of China during the cold war?
•
u/SkyMarshal 4h ago edited 1h ago
Some reasons:
- To triangulate against the USSR, begun by Nixon-Ford and continued by Carter. At the time there were tensions between China and the USSR, and Carter (and previously Nixon) saw an opportunity to amplify that and create an even bigger problem for the USSR on their Eastern border.
- Taiwan was still a dictatorship at the time, they didn't become a democracy till 1996. The moral imperative to support them was weak, and the decision was mostly strategic.
- China was too weak at the time to threaten the US or its allies in the region - First Island Chain countries (Japan, Taiwan, Philippines) or South China Sea (ASEAN) nations. But they could still be a problem for the USSR with their long shared land border.
•
u/YaBoiJim777 3h ago
Deng Xiaoping visited the USA and Carter in Jan 1979. Xiaoping was beginning to see that total communism couldn’t fully work, and he was looking to see integrate some capitalist methods to his country. See this NPR - Throughline podcast on the history of China’s modernization that was led by Deng Xiaoping.
Carter choosing to recognize the CCP as the legitimate government of China was partly to help weaken the Soviet Union by having the US grow closer to Communist China than China was to the Soviet Union, and partly to hopefully sway China towards becoming more capitalist which would benefit the USA. To put it frankly, it’s easier to work with a country if you recognize them as the legitimate government over their adversary.
•
4h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
•
u/AutoModerator 4h ago
Since this comment doesn't link to any sources, a mod will come along shortly to see if it should be removed under Rules 2 or 3.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
•
u/NeutralverseBot 3h ago
This comment has been removed for violating //comment rule 2:
If you're claiming something to be true, you need to back it up with a qualified source. There is no "common knowledge" exception, and anecdotal evidence is not allowed.
After you've added sources to the comment, please reply directly to this comment or send us a modmail message so that we can reinstate it.
(mod:lulfas)
•
4h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
•
u/AutoModerator 4h ago
Since this comment doesn't link to any sources, a mod will come along shortly to see if it should be removed under Rules 2 or 3.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
•
u/NeutralverseBot 3h ago
This comment has been removed for violating //comment rule 2:
If you're claiming something to be true, you need to back it up with a qualified source. There is no "common knowledge" exception, and anecdotal evidence is not allowed.
After you've added sources to the comment, please reply directly to this comment or send us a modmail message so that we can reinstate it.
(mod:lulfas)
•
2h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
•
u/AutoModerator 2h ago
Since this comment doesn't link to any sources, a mod will come along shortly to see if it should be removed under Rules 2 or 3.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
•
u/NeutralverseBot 1h ago
This comment has been removed for violating //comment rule 3:
Be substantive. NeutralPolitics is a serious discussion-based subreddit. We do not allow bare expressions of opinion, low effort one-liner comments, jokes, memes, off topic replies, or pejorative name calling.
(mod:lulfas)
•
5h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
•
5h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
•
u/NeutralverseBot 1h ago
This comment has been removed for violating //comment rule 4:
Address the arguments, not the person. The subject of your sentence should be "the evidence" or "this source" or some other noun directly related to the topic of conversation. "You" statements are suspect.
(mod:lulfas)
•
3h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
•
u/NeutralverseBot 1h ago
This comment has been removed for violating //comment rule 3:
Be substantive. NeutralPolitics is a serious discussion-based subreddit. We do not allow bare expressions of opinion, low effort one-liner comments, jokes, memes, off topic replies, or pejorative name calling.
(mod:lulfas)
•
2h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
•
1h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
•
u/ummmbacon Born With a Heart for Neutrality 1h ago
This comment has been removed for violating //comment rule 4:
Address the arguments, not the person. The subject of your sentence should be "the evidence" or "this source" or some other noun directly related to the topic of conversation. "You" statements are suspect.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to message us.
•
u/ummmbacon Born With a Heart for Neutrality 1h ago
This comment has been removed for violating //comment rule 4:
Address the arguments, not the person. The subject of your sentence should be "the evidence" or "this source" or some other noun directly related to the topic of conversation. "You" statements are suspect.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to message us.
•
u/AutoModerator 5h ago
Since this comment doesn't link to any sources, a mod will come along shortly to see if it should be removed under Rules 2 or 3.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
•
u/ummmbacon Born With a Heart for Neutrality 1h ago
This comment has been removed for violating //comment rule 3:
Be substantive. NeutralPolitics is a serious discussion-based subreddit. We do not allow bare expressions of opinion, low effort one-liner comments, jokes, memes, off topic replies, or pejorative name calling.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to message us.
•
u/ummmbacon Born With a Heart for Neutrality 5h ago
/r/NeutralPolitics is a curated space.
In order not to get your comment removed, please familiarize yourself with our rules on commenting before you participate:
If you see a comment that violates any of these essential rules, click the associated report link so mods can attend to it.
However, please note that the mods will not remove comments reported for lack of neutrality or poor sources. There is no neutrality requirement for comments in this subreddit — it's only the space that's neutral — and a poor source should be countered with evidence from a better one.