REC-PP-10
Nuclear Weapons in the Taiwan Strait (July 2020)
Gregory Kulacki
During the Taiwan Strait Crisis, which began in the fall of 1954 and ended in the fall of 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower prepared to attack the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with nuclear weapons to protect the government of Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. US officials involved in the crisis believed credible US threats to use nuclear weapons deterred escalation, and those beliefs played a formative role in the evolution of US nuclear weapons policies that call for the first use of tactical nuclear weapons in a military crisis when victory using conventional weapons is not assured. This examination of the crisis, which includes consideration of documentation from PRC and Soviet archives, calls that belief into question.
★ Full text of REC-PP-10 (PDF) is here.
★ List of RECNA Policy Papers is here.
