Publication

This paper analyzes the motivations behind China’s decision to enter the Korean War. The author argues that the rationale for China’s intervention carries strategic lessons for the contemporary crisis on the Korean Peninsula, as well as for Sino-American relations. Utilizing declassified Russian documents made available at the Cold War International History Project, this paper concludes that it was the battle of Inchon, along with additional pressure from Stalin, which triggered China’s eventual entry into Korea.