Chen Jian is C. K. Yen Professor of Chinese-American Relations at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the
University of Virginia, Professor of History at the University of Virginia, and Zijiang Visiting Professor at East
China Normal University.
Summary
This comprehensive study of China's Cold War experience reveals the crucial role Beijing played in shaping the
orientation of the global Cold War and the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The success of China's Communist revolution in 1949 set the stage, Chen says. The Korean War, the Taiwan Strait
crises, and the Vietnam War -- all of which involved China as a central actor -- represented the only major "hot"
conflicts during the Cold War period, making East Asia the main battlefield of the Cold War, while creating conditions
to prevent the two superpowers from engaging in a direct military showdown. Beijing's split with Moscow and rapprochement
with Washington fundamentally transformed the international balance of power, argues Chen, eventually leading to
the end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the decline of international communism.
Based on sources that include recently declassified Chinese documents, the book offers pathbreaking insights into
the course and outcome of the Cold War.