Document created: 20 August 02
Air & Space Power Journal - Fall 2002

War Wings: The United States and Chinese Military Aviation, 1929–1949 by Guangqiu Xu. Greenwood Publishing Group (http://info. greenwood.com), 88 Post Road West, Westport, Connecticut 06881-5007, 2001, 264 pages, $64.95.

The transfer of lethal technology, the problem of governmental corruption, the dangers of national division, and the competition between US and European firms over the Chinese market may all sound like elements that complicate contemporary relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). However, in this fascinating new book, we can see how they have been long-standing issues between the two powers. By reading this richly detailed account of US and Chinese relations that span the years of Nationalist China and the birth of the PRC, the reader will gain a unique perspective for understanding how America’s relationship with China might evolve in the future.

The book is a solid account of China’s historic preoccupation with national unity and that country’s perception of how a new technology of the times—airpower—could help achieve this goal. The author begins in 1926 with the Nationalist Party’s attempt to consolidate its power over local warlords, who remained fairly powerful in their provinces. As a largely rural country trying to shake off its feudal past, China lacked a modern transportation infrastructure, such as roads and railways, that the Nationalists could use to extend and consolidate their rule. Without an indigenous aviation industry, China had to look outside its borders for assistance and found it in the United States, among other countries. So begins a relationship that became both beneficial and troublesome for each but which remains a central focus for many members of the international community.

The most interesting quality of the book is the way it resonates with the reader’s own knowledge of present-day China. The promise of airpower as a tool for national unification continues to occupy the imagination of the PRC’s present leaders. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force is seeking to rapidly modernize its force structure to conform to the senior leadership’s belief that air operations across the Taiwan Straits would prove critical to any military victory.

Written chronologically, in clear and concise sentences, War Wings details the equipment and types of aircraft sold to China between 1929 and 1949 but does not descend into monotony. The strength of the book, however, lies in its description of Chinese domestic politics and the role that individual Americans played in this 20-year period—witness the interesting account of Jimmy Doolittle and Claire Chennault assisting China in its campaign against Imperial Japan. Some of the tactics employed by these two men in China were later adopted by the United States during World War II. In many respects, China became a laboratory for their ideas about the effective employment of airpower.

Continuing through the book, the reader is struck by how the past conjures up images of the future. After the fall of China to the communists, Mao Tse-tung gained control of many of America’s aircraft that had been part of Nationalist China’s force structure. This raises an interesting question about American assistance to Taiwan: What happens to American military hardware sold to Taiwan over the decades if peaceful reunification between China and Taiwan occurs?

The resonance of this study with the future also highlights one of the book’s most obvious oversights—the omission of a map of China during the time under consideration. War Wings is full of references to cities and provinces whose names have changed. Although the book includes a map of present-day China, it does not help the reader who may not know the current locations of old “Bei-ping” and “Canton.” This fault, however, does not detract from the book’s informativeness, relevance, and significance.

Paul Rexton Kan, PhD
Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.

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