This study of Sino-American crises in the 1950s sets out to define the most important crisis system in the Far East in terms of the behaviour of the United States and the People's Republic of China and of the crisis interactions which occurred between them. By comparative case study, it demonstrates how Sino-American crises functioned in Korea, Indochina and the Taiwan Straits; by cumulative case study, it elucidates the pattern of strategic interactions evolving through crises over time. Also, the analysis of Sino-American crises makes it possible to broaden the scope of crisis theory, by applying it to areas outside the Soviet-American relationship and by investigating the role of crises within wars as well as before or in lieu of wars. It contributes to an understanding of the roots of the triangular relationship that existed between Washington, Moscow and Peking in the context of shared crisis experience.