港英政府合併三所中文私立專上學院為香港中文大學，既是回應社會訴求，也是為了加強社會管治與經濟發展需求。港府雖然主導中大的成立過程，但從新大學的構思、籌組、命名，到校長招聘、機構設置、人員聘用，乃至校園建築物規劃，美國的基金會都發揮了不容忽視的影響力。這是由於三所成員書院自創校以來便與美國深有淵源，致使美國的影響力在新大學的籌辦過程中延續下來。另一方面，在首任校長李卓敏帶領下，新大學的學科領域在為香港建立本土經濟建設模式之餘，更強調以美國為中心的國際化色彩。本文顯示，美國在香港縱然有意識地避免與中國武力衝突，但為了圍堵共產主義意識形態，則更著意在文教領域建立親西方的思想價值觀。以美國的文化冷戰策略及對華政策為視角，可見中大被塑造成一座對照民主世界與共產中國的文化地標。香港也被視作窺探共產中國的前哨站，成為美國文化冷戰中心與情報中心，反映了複雜的社會政治氛圍。相關探討有助於觀察戰後香港高等教育發展的歷史脈絡，加深了解英美在香港高教現代化過程中扮演的角色；當然，也有助於理解香港社會文化的獨特性。

The British-Hong Kong government merged three Chinese-language private post-secondary colleges to form the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), not only in response to social demand, but to strengthen social governance and the needs of economic development. Granted that the Hong Kong government dominated the establishment of CUHK, American foundations exerted a strong influence from the conception, organization, and naming of this new university, to the recruitment of presidents, institutional setup, personnel hiring, and even the layout of the campus buildings. This deep involvement was inevitable since the three colleges had received United States (US) funding since their establishment. Under the leadership of President Li Choh-ming, the disciplines of the new university were set-up to emphasize establishing a local economic construction model, while continuing to strengthen Hong Kong’s internationalization as US-centric. This article shows that the US consciously avoided military conflict with China in Hong Kong, but in order to contain the communist ideology, the US deliberately sought to promote the pro-Western values of the Cultural Cold War in culture and education. From the perspective of the US Cold War strategy and US policy towards China, CUHK was to be molded as a cultural beacon that accentuated the contrasts between the democratic world and Communist China. Erstwhile Hong Kong was also developed an outpost for spying on Communist China and became a US cultural Cold War and intelligence center, giving rise a complex socio-political atmosphere there. The discussion elucidates the historical context of post-war Hong Kong's higher education development and offers an appreciation of the role of the US in the modernization of Hong Kong's higher education.