Editing United States Asiatic Fleet (section)

===Chinese detachment===
From 1901 to 1937, the United States maintained a strong military presence in China, to protect  trade interests in the Far East, and to pursue a permanent alliance with the Chinese Republic, after long diplomatic difficulties with the Chinese Empire. The relationship between the U.S. and China was mostly on-again off-again, with periods of both cordial diplomatic relations accompanied by times of severed relations and violent anti-United States protests. China's central government was relatively weak in comparison to the local influence of regional warlords. Armed renegade soldiers and boatmen prowled the Yangtze River ready to seize any vessel unable to defend itself.<ref name=tsw>{{cite journal |last=Wylly |first=Thomas S. |year=1986 |title=The Pearl of the Orient |journal=Proceedings |volume=112 |issue=2 |pages=138&139 |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] }}</ref>

The cooks, bakers, stewards, and [[mess]] attendants were exclusively Chinese aboard all gunboats and cruisers in Chinese waters. These men did not wear naval uniforms, but wore traditional Chinese civilian attire. They wore black satin slippers and a [[Beanie (seamed cap)|skullcap]] with a decorative button on top. The remainder of their clothing was made of white satin, consisting of long, rather loose pantaloons tied around the ankles and a short jacket fastened in front with [[Frog (fastening)|frogs]]. Not considered part of the ships' crew were the Chinese girls who lived aboard sampans tied to the stern of each gunboat while moored at Shanghai. These sampans would shuttle members of the gunboat crew ashore upon request. The girls also painted the gunboat and polished [[brightwork]] in exchange for the ship's [[garbage]].<ref name=tsw/>

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Asiatic Fleet was based from China, and the image of the "China Sailor" developed, as many U.S. Navy members remained at postings in China for 10–12&nbsp;years,  then retired and continued to live there. The classic film ''[[The Sand Pebbles (film)|The Sand Pebbles]]'' is a dramatization on the life of the China Sailors.

The U.S. military also created several awards and decorations to recognize those personnel who had performed duty in China. The [[China Service Medal]] and [[Yangtze Service Medal]] were all military medals which could be presented to those who had performed duty in China.

With the approach of [[World War II]], the U.S. military in China was slowly withdrawn to protect other U.S. interests in the Pacific. With the rise of Communist China, there was no further U.S. military presence in mainland China, a status which continues to this day.

Early in November 1941, the [[United States Department of the Navy|Navy Department]] ordered Hart to withdraw the fleet's [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] and gunboats stationed in China. Five of the gunboats were moved to Manila; {{USS|Wake|PG-43|2}} was left with a skeleton crew as a radio base and was seized by the Japanese on 8 December; and {{USS|Tutuila|PG-44|2}} was transferred to the Republic of China Navy under [[Lend-Lease]].

The majority of the [[US 4th Marine Regiment|4th Marine Regiment]] was stationed at Shanghai, and other detachments were at [[Beijing]] (Peking) and [[Tianjin]] (Tientsin). These troops were loaded onto two passenger liners, {{SS|President Madison|1921|2}} and {{SS|President Harrison|1921|2}}, on 27–28 November (at either Shanghai or Qinghuangdao) and arrived in the Philippines on 30 November-1 December.

''President Harrison'' returned to Qinghuangdao for the remaining Marines, but was captured by the Japanese on 7 December. Those Marines who had reached the Philippines were tasked with defending the naval stations, particularly [[Mariveles Naval Section Base|Mariveles Naval Base]].