Japan, Communist China, and Export Controls in Asia, 1948?52

Abstract

The origins of international export controls against Communist countries after World War II have not received extensive treatment from scholars. Several works discuss the relatively narrow issue of whether or not such controls were beneficial to the United States, but they tell only part of the story.1 Initially, export controls were an integral part of U.S. policy for the postwar reconstruction of non-Communist countries. In Europe, such restrictions were originally designed as part of the Marshall Plan aid program. In Asia, too, export controls and U.S. efforts to reconstruct non-Communist regions developed together. Both export controls and Washington's reconstruction policy were designed to obtain an international equilibrium in Asia favorable to the United States.2 The evolution of America's export control policy against Communist China and its connection with U.S. plans for Asian reconstruction can be examined through the actions taken by the governments of the United States, Great Britain, and Japan. Although America's allies accepted the U.S. viewof the Soviet Union and communism, they disagreed with Washington on control levels. With its preponderant military and economic power and the specter of communism, however, the United States won over its allies and enlisted their cooperation for the postwar reconstruction of non-Communist regions.