These islands are off the coast of mainland China.
Who is CKS and why did he come to Taiwan?
Chiang Kai-Shek is the leader of the Nationalists (KMT) who fought against the Communists led by Mao Ze-Dong. CKS fled mainland China after Mao and his Communists took over the nation in October of 1949, and he ended up here, in Taiwan.
Was CKS's move to Taiwan a sign that he and the KMT had decided to give up the fight against Mao and the Communists?
Why does the US change its mind about defending Taiwan?
Why doesn't Mao finish the Chinese Civil War by invading Taiwan in 1950?
Mao does not invade Taiwan and completely destroy any possibility of Nationalist uprisings on the island because his first priority was "to assist the [North] Koreans". Perhaps Mao believed that the issue of Taiwan could be dealt with later, since it really is a tiny island.
In what ways can we say that smaller allies like China and Taiwan were able to make the superpowers (the US and USSR) do things they did not want to?
Both China and Taiwan, represented respectively by Mao and Chiang, were using islands such as Quemoy and Matsu to manipulate the actions of the US and the USSR. Chiang was able to obtain a defense treaty which "bound the US to the defense of Taiwan", and later on, force the US to threaten Mao with the use of nuclear weapons to protect the offshore islands.
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