About the book (from jacket flap):
H. Maclear Bate’s book…is the only British account of the present-day situation by a trained observer from first-hand knowledge, since the author was the first British correspondent to be received by Chiang Kai-Shek for three years. Maclear Bate spent his boyhood in the Far East, where his family associations go back over a century; he has a great many Chinese friends and he was allowed, during his visit, a freedom of movement denied to other British correspondents and even to the British Consular staff.
His book is completely frank. After an account of the history, geography, economy and social life of the island, he examines the contemporary situation from all angles. The conflicting policies of the United States, Great Britain and the Dominions regarding the recognition of the Chinese Communist Government, the adverse criticisms of Chiang’s administration, both here and in the United States; the potential strength of his forces; his problems; his influence as a centre of potential Chinese “resistance”, the attitude of Hong Kong and the Philippines, are among the high controversial matters frankly and fully discussed. There is also at the end of the book a chronology of events in Formosa, the first of which has ever appeared in the English language.
