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This book re-visits the history of the Korean War of 1950-1953 from a Chinese perspective, examining Chinese strategy and exploring why China sent three million troops to Korea, in Mao's words, to "defend the homeland and safeguard the country"-giving rise to what became the war's common name in China. It also looks into the relatively neglected historical factors which have redefined China's security concerns and strategic culture. Using newly available sources from China and the former Soviet Union, the book considers how interactive the parameters of defense changes were in a foreign war against Western powers, how flexible Chinese strategy was in the context of its intervention, and how expansive its strategic cultural repertoire was at the crucial moment to "defend the country." Providing a re-examination of China's military decisions and strategy evolution, this text narrates the story of successive generations of Chinese leaders and provides a key insight into security issuesin China and Northeast Asia today.
List of contents
Introduction: National Security and Defense Strategy.- Tributary State and Transnationalism.- Post-war Geopolitics and Self-reliant Defense.- Active Defense: From Manchuria to Korea.- From Defense-Offense-Defense.- Build New Defense and Negotiate China's Security.- Conclusion: War Legacy and New Strategic Concerns.
About the author
Xiaobing Li is Professor of History at University of Central Oklahoma, USA. He authored and co-authored The Cold War in East Asia, China’s Battle for Korea, China at War, Voices from the Vietnam War, A History of the Modern Chinese Army, Voices from the Korean War, and Mao’s Generals Remember Korea.
Summary
This book re-visits the history of the Korean War of 1950-1953 from a Chinese perspective, examining Chinese strategy and exploring why China sent three million troops to Korea, in Mao’s words, to “defend the homeland and safeguard the country”—giving rise to what became the war’s common name in China. It also looks into the relatively neglected historical factors which have redefined China’s security concerns and strategic culture. Using newly available sources from China and the former Soviet Union, the book considers how interactive the parameters of defense changes were in a foreign war against Western powers, how flexible Chinese strategy was in the context of its intervention, and how expansive its strategic cultural repertoire was at the crucial moment to “defend the country.” Providing a re-examination of China’s military decisions and strategy evolution, this text narrates the story of successive generations of Chinese leaders and provides a key insight into security issuesin China and Northeast Asia today.
