A group of American Foreign Service officers and journalists in
China during and after World War II - collectively known as "the
China Hands" - were accused of disloyalty, and in some cases treason,
for reporting on events as they saw them. Faced with the ethical
dilemma of what a public official's responsibility is when one believes
one's government's policy is wrong, these men and women wrote
what they considered to be the truth. Forty years later, their celebrated
experiences provide a case study for the exploration of larger
questions about U.S. foreign policy, relations between the United
States and East and Southeast Asia, and ethics and diplomacy. This
volume combines the perspectives of former China Hands themselves
looking back upon their personal experiences with those of noted
scholars; together the two groups explore the China Hands' legacy
and its meaning for the future.
Paul Gordon Lauren is director and professor of ethics and public
affairs at the Mansfield Center at the University of Montana.