Ideology and Practice in the Far Eastern Policy of the United States: 1945

This essay attempts to show that the Far Eastern policy of the United States, from its inception in 1844 until 1945, demonstrated a rather reasonable consistency despite its periodic zigs and zags. But unfortunately in 1945 there ensued a new and disastrous ideological trend in the Far Eastern diplomacy of the United States. Since practice usually follows theory, the practical consequences of this unhappy policy switch were tragic for China and the world. It is well, in this connection, to recall the perceptive words of the American philosopher, George Santayana: 'Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.' The Open Door : 'Enforcement” by Rhetoric From 1844, the year that Caleb Cushing signed the Treaty of Wanghia, until 1900, 'The American policy of respect for the territorial integrity of China had the effect of a purely selfdenying ordinance.' It did not oblige the United States to defend China. But Secretary of State John Hay realized that his first Open Door note of September 6, 1899, which attempted to secure equal commercial opportunity for all in China, would be impotent unless China maintained complete sovereignty over her own territories.