The United States and the Guomindang (Kmt) Forces in Burma, 1949–1954: A Diplomatic Disaster

As Mao Zedong’s armies swept to victory in 1949, thousands of Guomindang (KMT) troops fled into northern Burma. The newly independent country they entered was near collapse. Burma had not recovered from the devastation of World War II and also faced two communist rebellions and several insurgencies in ethnic minority areas. The KMT troops complicated Burma?s relations with the new People?s Republic of China (PRC), fed traditional suspicions of the Siamese, and poisoned relations between the United States and Burma for years to come. This article explores the dynamics of the KMT issue, how it bitterly divided American diplomatic opinion, and how it was temporarily resolved in 1953 and 1954.