Transcript U.S.-China Relations

U.S.-China Relations
• Institutions
• Ideologies
• Interests
Maoist Era (1949 - 1976)
• Main foreign policy makers
– Mao Zedong (CCP and PRC Chairman)
– Zhou Enlai (Premier and Foreign Minister)
Cold War
• Alliance with Soviet Union in 1950s
– Mao Zedong: ``lean on one side”
• Alliance with ``Third World” in 1960s
– Replaced ROC in United Nations in 1971
• Normalize with United States in 1970s
• Alliance with United States in 1980s
Break the Ice in 1970s
• PRC-USA adversary in 1950s and 1960s
• Growing threat from Soviet Union
• Mao said to Edgar Snow in 1970: ``If
Nixon would come I’ll talk with him”
• ``Ping-pong diplomacy” in 1971
Nixon in China (1972)
Ford in China (1975)
Deng Xiaoping’s Strategies
• One Focus
– economic modernization
• Two themes: ``peace and development”
– relatively peaceful world is favorable for
domestic economic construction
– trade, investment, and economic cooperation
Diplomatic Relation (1979)
• 1978-12-16: ``Joint Communiqué on the
Establishment of Diplomatic Relations
between the People's Republic of China
and the United States of America"
• 1979-01-01: P.R. China and the U.S.
formally established diplomatic relations at
ambassadorial level
Deng Xiaoping visits US
Post-Cold War
• PRC perceives a world with ``only one
superpower but many great powers”
• PRC’s principal national interest defined
as economic modernization
• PRC diplomacy seeks to maintain
conditions conducive to continued
economic growth
PRC Strategies since 1996
• Reassure neighbors that China’s
development doesn’t pose threat but offers
opportunities
• Partner (but not ally) with major powers
(U.S., Russia, European Union, Japan,
etc.)
Great Power Partnerships
• Stable relations w/o targeting 3rd party
• Promote extensive economic relations
• Downplay disagreements on domestic
issues in the interest of working together
on matters of shared concern
• Routine official visits, especially military
exchange & summit meetings
Cooperative Partnership
• “Constructive strategic partnership”(1997)
• Cooperative working relationship
– trade and investment
– UN security council
– export controls of military technology
– fight against international terrorism
– contain tensions in Korea and South Asia
Taiwan Issue
• Most sensitive issue in PRC-US relations
• 3 US-PRC Joint Communiqués
– 1972, 1978, and 1982
• Taiwan Relations Act (1979)
• Visits to US by high officials from Taiwan
– Does it violate 1978 Communiqué?
• Arms sale to Taiwan
– Does it violate 1982 Communiqué?
1972-02-28 Communiqué
• The U.S. side declared: The United States
acknowledges
– that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan
Strait maintain there is but one China
– that Taiwan is a part of China
1978-12-16 Communiqué
• Reaffirm the principles agreed on by the
two sides in the Shanghai Communiqué
• US recognizes the Government of the
PRC as the sole legal Government of
China.
1978-12-16 Communiqué
• Within this context, the people of the
United States will maintain cultural,
commercial, and other unofficial relations
with the people of Taiwan
Diplomatic Relation (1979)
• The U.S. announced
– the severance of its diplomatic ties with the
Republic of China (Taiwan)
– the withdrawal of its troops from Taiwan
– the ceasing of the U.S.-R.O.C. Joint Defense
Treaty
• within 1979
1982-08-17 Communiqué
• P.R.C-U.S. Communiqué: U.S.
– does not seek to carry out a long-term policy
of arms sales to Taiwan
– arms sales to Taiwan will not exceed the level
of those supplied in recent years
– intends gradually to reduce its sale of arms to
Taiwan, leading, over a period of time, to a
final resolution
Tests of the Partnership
• US bombed PRC embassy in Belgrade in
1999
• Mid-air collision of US and Chinese
military planes in 2001
• Human rights in China
– Political dissidents
– Religious freedom