A Policy Calculated to Benefit China: The United States and the China Arms Embargo, 1919-1929

Stephen Valone takes the first in-depth look at China arms embargo (1919-1929) and places it in the larger context of United States foreign policy. Until now historians have focused on the formation of the Second Banking Consortium as the US’ primary weapon against Japan’s aspirations in China. Valone explores the crucial role that the China arms embargo concurrently played in limiting Japan’s intentions. The embargo’s ostensible goal was to inhibit the flow of weapons into China forcing rival Chinese factions to negotiate their differences at the conference table. The United States’ deeper motive was to roll back Japan’s influence and defend its Open Door policy in China. Valone’s diplomatic history concludes with a positive assessment of the embargo as a tool of US foreign policy.