Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty
| Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of China | |
|---|---|
Five years after the agreement is signed, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower greets crowds in Taipei while on parade with Republic of China leader Chiang Kai-shek.
|
|
| Type | Defense Treaty |
| Location | Washington D.C. |
| Effective | March 3, 1955 |
| Expiry | December 31, 1979 |
| Parties | |
| Citations | 6 U.S.T. 433; T.I.A.S. No. 3178 |
| Languages | |
The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty (Chinese: 中美共同防禦條約; pinyin: Zhōng Měi Gòngtóng Fángyù Tiáoyuē), formally Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of China, essentially prevented the People's Republic of China from taking over the island of Taiwan during 1955–1979.
Some of its content was carried over to the Taiwan Relations Act.
In the context of Cold War and the confrontation between capitalism and communism worldwide, the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of China secured the island of Taiwan from invasion by the People's Republic of China in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War on mainland China.
Rather than taking a multilateral approach to their alliances and treaties in East Asia, as had been done in Europe with NATO, the U.S. decided on a bilateral approach with its Asian allies (Japan, South Korea and Taiwan), known as the “San Francisco system” or hubs-and-spokes system. Because the politics in Asia ranged from democratic to authoritarian, it would be difficult to find common value base for multilateral relations. Furthermore, the countries in Asia did not all face one common threat, like the West did with the Soviet Union. It was therefore considered more beneficial to pursue bilateral relations.
The treaty was signed on December 2, 1954 in Washington, D.C. and came into force on March 3, 1955.
...
Wikipedia