[Dave Musgrove]

Recently declassified documents reveal a surprising story about how Chiang Kai-Shek planned to take back China from Taiwan http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 183412.stm

[Attalus_uk]

Interesting Article. I wonder what would of happened, had they launced the invasion and then run into trouble? Would the U.S have come to their rescue?
I think the U.S would of felt honour bound to defend Taiwan and would of been sucked into a general war in the Far East..

Could the U.S of won a war against China in 1968?

[hiphophistorian]

i think if taiwan had initiated the conflict, the US would not necessarily have to get involved

[Randal]

There are three very good reasons the U.S. would not have initiated or backed up a Taiwanese invasion of main-land China ... 1) the resources needed to successfully move into and keep a foothold in China would have been too great; 2) the American public wouldn't have supported it, large-scale protests of the Vietnam War were already underway; and 3) the time to set-up and maintain a Chinese government friendly to western powers - not to mention regional rivals - had come and gone. Mao was in charge and the Cultural Revolution was on its way.

Honestly, I'm surprised that Chiang Kai-Shek was still as active as he was in trying to fight his way back to power in the mid-1960s. Considering the various personalities however, I probably shouldn't be.