US-China relations in the 1950s: how American bishop became political pawn
James Edward Walsh, was arrested in Shanghai in 1958 and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for ‘plotting to overthrow the new China’. His early release was seen as a ‘significant step in the thawing of Sino-US relations’
“Bishop Walsh: Held As ‘Political Hostage’ – American Charge” ran a South China Morning Post headline on December 18, 1958.
“The [United States] State Department accused the Chinese Communists to-day of making a ‘political hostage’ of Bishop James Walsh, a Roman Catholic missionary,” the story continued. “The Bishop, a native of Cumberland, Maryland, disappeared in Shanghai about October 18. The Communists admitted on Friday that the Bishop had been arrested.”
Walsh, who had spent 30 years in China, had refused repatriation in 1955, saying he wished to continue his work with the Chinese and would have to be “dragged out of China”.
On March 19, 1960, the Post reported that “A Shanghai People’s Court [yesterday] sentenced […] Walsh to 20 years’ imprisonment, [according to] Peking Radio. The broadcast said Bishop Walsh was arrested in October, 1958, on charges of ‘plotting to overthrow the new China’.”
Reporting reaction on March 28, the Post said US vice-president Richard Nixon had described the accusations as “trumped up charges”.
