Hong Kong and San Francisco: Anglo-American debate on East Asia and the Japanese peace settlements

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Britain’s position over the Japanese peace treaty was conditioned by close attention to American regional policy. Although the British government disagreed with the Truman administration over Washington’s refusal to recognize the People’s Republic of China, its conduct of the Korean War and some aspects of the peace settlements with Japan, there remained considerable, if unequal, Anglo-American co-operation. Questions relating to the fate of Hong Kong also had to take into account US strategy in East Asia and, despite American attempts to isolate the PRC that caused severe disruption to Hong Kong’s long-established commercial and financial roles, the territory gained some compensation through American political and economic liberalism towards Tokyo. The presence of the US Seventh Fleet also served to ensure some sense of security to a beleaguered Hong Kong. By the early 1950s it was apparent that Britain and all other governments had to reckon with the predominance of American power in the Asia-Pacific. The San Francisco peace settlements saw the United States as the West’s sole remaining champion in a divided and tense region.