ANZUS and the Early Cold War

After the end of the Dien Bien Phu Crisis, this chapter moves on to explore trilateral responses to the 1954-55 Taiwan Straits Crisis in Northeast Asia. Similar to the previous chapter, friction in the ANZUS relationship also manifested during this crisis when US and British policies clashed. The US consulted with Australia much more closely about strategies for ending the crisis, which made for an interesting difference of views with regards to the feasibility of defending the islands. Moreover, the NZ role in Operation Oracle also makes this chapter particularly interesting for a New Zealand audience, as policymakers played a key role with the US in attempts to mitigate the crisis through a resolution in the United Nations. Finally, this chapter exposes underlying trilateral views regarding diplomatic recognition of the People’s Republic of China, which invariably complicated the way in which each country wanted to mitigate hostilities.