U.S. At War: Enter the Chinese

After six weeks of secret discussions, the first phase of the Dumbarton Oaks conference ended; the Russians went home, the Chinese moved in. The Chinese had everyone's sympathy. They, like everyone else, knew that they were there largely to put their own thoughts on record, and then to give approval to what had already been agreed to by the U.S., Great Britain and Russia. At the public opening session China's spokesman, Dr. Wellington Koo, got applause even from the supposedly callous correspondents.

The first phase had ended with the Big Three in approximately...