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| From Recognizing the Republic of China to Urging China to Join the War：Diplomacy Between the US and the Beijing Government， 1913－1918 |
| Wang Di |
| Department of History， University of Macau， Macau 999078 |
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Abstract In the early 20th century， the United States adopted an attitude different from other world powers on China. During the period， the Chinese believed that the US was the only country that could intervene and prevent Japan's expansionary policies in East Asia. After Woodrow Wilson became president in 1913 and appointed Paul S. Reinsch to serve as the US minister to China， China-US relations became closer. The US became the first major Western country in the world to recognize the Republic of China. In 1915， the US publicly opposed the “Twenty-one Demands” proposed by Japan. Subsequently， the US actively promoted China to the Allies， laying the foundation for the Paris Peace Conference to recover Shandong's sovereignty. Examining the relationship between the US and the Beijing government from 1913 to 1918 and the US’ China policy will enhance our understanding of Chinese diplomacy in the Paris Peace Conference and the reasons for the failure to recover Shandong's rights. The US believed that China's territorial integrity and freedom from foreign powers' control were in its own interests. Therefore， the interests of China and the US were consistent. However， it did not necessarily mean that as soon as China had the US’ support， China's domestic and international problems could be easily solved. After carefully observing the China diplomacy and China-US relations， the conclusion is very clear that relying on the support of foreign forces would ultimately not be able to solve China's own fundamental problems.
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Received: 17 November 2020
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2020, Vol. 59 
