Of all the western imperial powers, the USA acted most favourably towards China in the first half of the 20th century. ... The USSR sheltered China under a "nuclear umbrella" from possible American aggression and was the only conceivable source of development aid as it offered the only model of communist development. ...
Balancing military power along with a willingness to use that power, challenging communist aggression wherever it raised its head had been the dominate theme since the Truman Administration. ... Essentially, it caused doubts regarding the usefulness of the chosen means towards containment: not only was success unrealized, but the war had become grossly expensive relative to American lives and its resources (435). ... Although a lull in the tensions between the two was welcome, the shift towards parity between the two nations was difficult for a country with a historically absolutist and morali...
