China, 1945

We’ve had a number of distinguished speakers at HNC since our Fall semester started (including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus) – but one of the more interesting ones was Terry Lautz, an U.S.-China expert and former V.P. of the Henry Luce Foundation who is now at Syracuse University. Lautz recently authored a book about John Birch — a name I remember well from my childhood, since the John Birch Society was a strong anti-communist, right-wing political organization active in the U.S. in the 1950s and early 1960s. Birch himself was a Baptist missionary in China who became a soldier — and unfortunately became the first American killed by Communists immediately after the war with Japan had ended.

Lautz suggests that there was plenty of blame on both sides for that fatal incident – Birch probably suffered from what today would be called PTSD, and his actions were not necessarily appropriate given the situation…. but Communist soldiers also over-reacted. His name was subsequently adopted by an organization which became synonymous with right-wing extremism – but Lautz makes the case in his book that Birch himself probably wouldn’t have become a member.

A couple of other books similarly document that fascinating transition period – China, 1945. Richard Bernstein, a former New York Times reporter, has written one with just such a title. It’s a very detailed and even-handed description of the complicated political period at the end of World War II, as U.S. and Soviet allies maneuvered into a new adversarial face-off…. with China one very important playing field in a complicated world-wide strategic game. Another book, The China Mirage by James Bradley, covers a longer historical period – but shows how Chiang Kai-Shek’s ‘China Lobby’ was able to build upon American misperceptions about the country (fostered by Christian missionaries, Henry Luce’s media empire, and simple naïve idealism) to support a corrupt and very unpopular political regime. Critics have noted that Bradley’s book makes it seem that all major decisions about China’s domestic situation were made in Washington – certainly an unwarranted overstretch. But the book is absorbing and very well-written…. and another window onto a complicated and extremely interesting place and time.