Taiwan Strait War 1954-1955

After being defeated on the mainland, the Chinese Nationalist (Kuomintang) government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled to the island of Taiwan to continue its fight against the victorious Communist government, led by Mao Zedong. In addition to Taiwan, the Nationalists also controlled several island chains in the Taiwan Strait that could serve as forward bases for attacks or even an invasion of mainland China. For the Communist government, recovering the islands was considered an internal matter but the leadership recognized the limits posed by American support for the Nationalists and it wanted to avoid another direct confrontation with US armed forces. Limited military action, however, served to focus world attention on Taiwan. On September 3, 1954, Chinese began shelling Quemoy (Kinmen) Island for political purposes – two Americans were among those killed on that day – while plans were made to invade the Dachen Islands.

The bombardment of Nationalist-held Quemoy Island and the Matsu Islands was intended to be a distraction and the American government, led by Dwight D Eisenhower, did view the artillery exchange as part of a Chinese plan to invade Taiwan; the US Seventh Fleet took up positions to defend Taiwan. In an effort to deter China, the US signed a mutual defense treaty with the Nationalist government of Taiwan on December 2nd; the treaty also prescribed the territorial limits of this defense and American policy regarding the defense of Quemoy and Matsu was ambiguous. Meanwhile, the Communist government committed itself to the invasion of Yijiangshan Island.

On January 18, 1955, some 5,000 to 10,000 troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) invaded Yijiangshan Island and overwhelmed the 1,086 Nationalist troops defending it. This was the first large-scale coordinated air, sea, and land operation the PLA had ever conducted. The success of the operation now made the Dachen Islands vulnerable and the Nationalist government, under American pressure, agreed to evacuate. From February 8th to 12th, the US Navy carried out Operation King Kong, as the evacuation was called. Over 15,000 Nationalist civilians and 11,000 military personnel, as well as weapons, vehicles, and supplies, were removed from the Dachen Islands. The US Seventh Fleet also deployed seventy vessels, including six aircraft carriers to defend the operation against Chinese attacks. However, China did not interfere. During this time, American officials were discussing the use of atomic bombs in the expected Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The Communist government had no such plans. On April 23, 1955, Zhou Enlai made a conciliatory statement about the tense relations between China and the US and an undeclared truce took hold.

Notes

[1] Clodfelter reports 1,200 Chinese casualties (killed and wounded) at Yijiangshan; Chang and Di report 393 killed and 1,024 wounded. It is unclear where additional battle deaths were incurred.

[2] Clodfelter reports 720 Nationalist battle deaths at Yijiangshan; Chang and Di report 519. Li reports 800 casualties at Quemoy.

References

Chang and Di, 1500-1524; Clodfelter, 1151; COW153; Dupuy and Dupuy, 1428; Elleman, 64-65; Li, 196-7.

Gordon H Chang; He Di. The Absence of War in the U.S.-China Confrontation over Quemoy and Matsu in 1954-1955: Contingency, Luck, Deterrence. American Historical Review, 98(5). 1993.

Bruce A Elleman. Taiwan Straits: Crisis in Asia and the Role of the U.S. Navy. Rowman and Littlefield. 2015.

Xiaobing Li. China at War: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. 2012.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

East Asia

Belligerents

China, Taiwan, USA

Dispute

Territory

Initiation Date

September 3, 1954

Termination Date

April 23, 1955

Duration

7 months, 3 weeks
(233 days)

Outcome

Unresolved Truce
(Chinese victory)

Fatalities

Total: 2,370
China: 1,003^[1]
Taiwan: 1,367^[2]
USA: 2

Magnitude

3.4