(China - 1949 - The exit strategy got a bit muddled)

October 2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the Kuomintang (Nationalist) regime in China and the beginning of the Communist takeover of China.

Clearly evident was the amount of confusion over who was doing what and where they were going that even diplomats were hard pressed to keep up with the rapidly unfolding events.

As witness, this particular broadcast from October 1, 1949. A program produced by United Nations Radio called "Memo From Lake Success", which featured an interview by Nationalist Chinese Representative T.F. Tsiang regarding allegations the Soviets were supplying the Communist insurgents with arms and moral support. The week prior, accusations were made during press conferences quickly organized by the injured parties with denials from Andrei Vyshinksy, the Russian representative.

Dr. T.F. Tsiang: “The Soviet Union has given force, direct and indirect, with moral and material support to the Communist insurrection in China.”

Andrei Vyshinsky: “The statement of the representative of the Kuomintang regime is nothing but a slanderous attack against the Soviet Union.”

Despite the bickering back and forth, China had fallen to the Communists of Mao Tse-Tung by the time this broadcast aired. So the allegations and finger pointing were something of a moot point.

But that was just the start.