'China expert'), sometimes translated as "old China Hand", refers to a foreigner who shows a familiarity with, or affinity for, Chinese language and culture.
[3] The United States Army maintained a training station in Tianjin, and its officers, including future General George Marshall, were called "Old China Hands.
Colonel David Barrett and John S. Service reported favorably on the strength and capabilities of the Communist led forces compared with the Chinese Nationalists.
Many China Hands argued that it would be in American national interest to work with the communists during the war, and to maintain relations if, as many government and civilian experts expected, they gained power.
Theodore White, correspondent for Time magazine was among the many journalists who visited Yan'an and described the effectiveness of communist political mobilization.
[12] The journalist Edgar Snow and his wife used extraterritorial status of foreigners to protect themselves when they assisted student protest movements in 1936, disseminating anti-government materials to the Chinese.
[17] Patrick Hurley testified to Congress that the China Hands had subverted his mission and General Albert Wedemeyer blamed the State Department for failing to act.
[citation needed] Senator Joseph McCarthy expanded these accusations to include Owen Lattimore, who had served as personal adviser to Chiang at the beginning of the war.
[18] Career trajectories slowed down for the remaining State Department China Hands, but a few eventually attained ambassadorships: James K. Penfield (Iceland), Philip D. Sprouse (Cambodia), and Fulton Freeman (Colombia and Mexico).
[21][22] [23][24] These collections include correspondence, diaries, photographs, unpublished memoirs, official documents, artifacts, and oral histories, and reflect the lives of refugees, foreign entrepreneurs, missionaries, diplomats, and members of the military (including the China Marines) who lived and worked in China during the first half of the 20th century.