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But
Roosevelt was dissatisfied with Chiang, as the latter seemed to be
half-hearted about the struggle against the Japa- nese invaders. "As a
matter of fact," he said, "there's only one point to our work in
China——we must make China continue fighting, to distract the Japanese
army. And America is sure that to support China is to protect our own
security and interests, and that's necessary to the Allies' cause."
Roosevelt
hoped this meeting would enhance China's standing as one of the four
great powers （China, America, Russia and Britain）, and provide symbolic
support for Chiang. From November 21 to 22, 1943 representatives from
China, America and Britain arrived in Cairo. Chiang held extensive talks
with Roosevelt and Churchill from the 22nd to the 26th. Since Burma had
fallen, China was facing extreme difficul- ties on the battlefield and
so it was very important to reopen the China-Burma Road. Chiang Kai-shek
suggested that the counter-attack in Burma required Britain to transfer
its navy to Bengal, so that Burma could be taken back by both naval and
land forces, and the China-Burma Road could be opened again to serve as
China's supply line from the southwest. Churchill, however, was in
favor of finishing the war in Europe first. The issue of a joint
counter-attack against the Japanese in Burma was left in the air.
On
the evening of November 23, Chiang and Roosevelt held a long secret
discussion about China's resistance to Japan and Sino-American
relations.
Regarding China's standing as a world power, Roosevelt
thought that the country should be treated as one of the four powers
with an equal voice to the other three in major world affairs. Chiang
expressed his enthusiastic agreement. Roosevelt also suggested that the
Republic of China take back Manchuria.
PrefaceIn
recent years, China's reform and opening-up movement, as well as her
rapid development, have drawn increasing attention from foreign coun-
tries anxious for an insight into what has always been a mysterious land
for them. At the same time, China needs to open up to the international
commu- nity as much as possible, so as to integrate herself smoothly
with the rest of the world.
However, rarely do we see books on
China's evolution by local authors becoming popular with foreign
readers, and there are even fewer widely-read books that cover Chinese
history, culture, current situation and challenges. This is why I
readily agreed when Mrs Zhang Haiou, deputy chief editor of New World
Press, asked me to compile a book about Chinese history. I knew I would
meet many challenges, but it would be worthwhile.
The idea for this
book came from Mr Lin Liangqi, former deputy chief editor of China
International Publishing Group. He has worked on media and cultural
exchanges between China and the outside world, and is well experienced
in this field.
