Chang Su-ya, 2011, Saved by the Korean War? U.S. Policy toward Taiwan, 1950-1953, 343 pages, Taipei: Acropolis Publishing Co., Ltd.

Cross-Strait relations between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China, as well as United States policy toward both, originated during the Korean War—a war that Taiwan officially did not take part in but that nevertheless greatly influenced Taiwan’s development. Scholarly consensus holds that the United States “saved” the ROC and Taiwan due to the Korean War. This book, however, does not fully agree with this judgment. It points out that the United States did not decide to save the ROC’s Nationalist simply due to the eruption of the Korean War or the PRC’s intervention in the fighting; nor did Washington refuse to recognize the PRC government due to Cold War ideology. Rather, Washington policymakers gradually elevated Taiwan’s military and political usefulness for the U.S. during the war, and adjusted U.S. policies accordingly. This book thus argues that U.S. policy toward Taiwan during the Korean War was largely based on pragmatic and opportunistic considerations.