 The history of China after the revolution is that the CPC did not pursue a slow gradual change in the economy as some believed in 1944 . Regardless , 25 years later Service believed that American cooperation with the CPC might have prevented the excesses that occurred under Mao Zedong 's leadership after the war . After the same number of years , John Davies , in his memoir , Dragon by the Tail , defended his belief that the CPC would have been a better Chinese ally for the U.S. than the Kuomintang . Davies believes that the U.S. interests would have been better served allying with the CPC based on Realpolitik practical considerations . Allying with the CPC would have prevented it from allying with the Soviet Union , and lessened the risk and anxiety that the U.S. and the world experienced in the Cold War . In the " Lost Chance " theory , the United States missed the opportunity to build a friendly relationship with the CPC and prevent their later alignment with the Soviet Union . Service and Davies reported in good faith what they saw at the time . 
