Editing Cairo Conference (section)

=== International relations ===
After the outbreak of the [[Pacific War]], the [[British Empire]], the [[United States]], and the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] signed a new treaty, formally renouncing their extraterritoriality in China and upholding China's sovereignty.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Fairbank |first=J. K. |title=The Cambridge History of China Volume II |publisher=[[Cambridge]] |year=1991 |isbn=9780521243377}}</ref> On January 11, Britain and the United States issued a joint declaration, announcing the abrogation of all unequal treaties against China over the past century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hsu |first=C. Y. |title=The Rise of Modern China |publisher=[[OxfordUniversityPress]] |year=2000 |isbn=9780195125047 |pages=607}}</ref> On the other hand, [[China–United Kingdom relations|Sino-British relations]] were not harmonious, as it became apparent that the British [[sphere of influence]] in [[East Asia]] was crumbling.

In 1942, the Chinese government was both surprised and angry when the British did not agree to the Chinese National Army's military interference in Burma (now Myanmar). China wanted to end imperialism, but British imperialism had a long history. [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] also held on to the conservative British colonialist mindset and refused to believe that Asians could unite and fight for an Allied victory<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=van de Van |first=H. J. |title=War and Nationalism in China: 1925–1945 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2012 |isbn=9780415514996 |pages=40}}</ref> He was also prejudiced against China and did not want it to become a world power.<ref name="WSC_Closing the Ring"/>

Politically, the [[United Kingdom]] was both suspicious and contemptuous of China to the point of hoping to isolate it. The British feared that China's strong independence from Western powers could influence [[independence]] movements in its [[Colony|Asian colonies]], such as [[British Raj|India]], where discontent was already brewing. They were therefore reluctant to spend material or troops to assist China. Even if both the [[Kingdom of Italy]] and [[Nazi Germany]] surrendered, the British Navy still preferred to field its spare forces in the Pacific Ocean, rather than Burma. Lord [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|Alan Brooke]], the British [[Chief of staff|Chief of Staff]], was even more contemptuous of China.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Wu |first=S. Y. |title=Churchill and Wartime Britain, 1939–1945 |publisher=[[Taiwan Commercial Press]] |year=1993 |isbn=9570506512 |location=Taiwan}}</ref>

There was a fundamental difference between the British and the Americans in their post-war expectations. Churchill wanted the post-war world to be dominated by the United Kingdom and the United States, but Roosevelt envisioned a new world in which the European colonialists would grant independence to their colonies and shape [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s vision of [[self-determination]] for all countries alike. Furthermore, Roosevelt wanted the [[Four Policemen]] (the United States, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Republic of China) to guide and guard the post-war world from potential conflicts. That was partly due to the rise of the [[Soviet Union]], as US military experts became increasingly worried of the Soviet Union losing or making peace with [[Nazi Germany]], since that meant Britain would be defeated as well. The US was not confident of winning the war even if it had mobilised all its forces into the European battlefield. Hence, the US military believed that consolidating relations with the Soviet Union was necessary for victory.<ref name=":1"/>