From Negotiation to Confrontation

After Britain’s recognition of the Beijing government, policy-makers in London expected that formal diplomatic contact and channels would be set up smoothly. They were to be disappointed as their expectation failed to materialize. Beijing’s immediate response was not entirely negative; the new leaders in China expressed a willingness to establish diplomatic rela-tions. The problem for Britain was that recognition was considered by the new Chinese leadership merely as a first step towards normal diplomatic relations which required negotiations. The Chinese side’s insistence for negotiations proved to be only the first of many hurdles that the British government had to cross in implementing their China policy of ‘keeping a foot in the door’. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.