U.S.- China Relations

President Nixon's historic trip to China in February 1972 marked the beginning of a new era in Sino-American relations. For the first time since 1949, the two countries established high-level official contacts and transformed their relationship from confrontation to collaboration. Over the subsequent twenty years, however, U.S.-China relations have experienced repeated cycles of progress, stalemate, and crisis, with the events in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 the most recent and disruptive example. Paradoxically, although relations between the two countries are vastly more extensive today than they were twenty years ago, they remain highly fragile. In this eagerly awaited book, China expert Harry Harding offers the first comprehensive look at Sino-American relations from 1972 to the present. He traces the evolution of U.S.-China relations, and assesses American policy toward Peking in the post- Tiananmen era. Harding analyzes the changing contexts for the Sino-American relationship, particularly the rapidly,evolving international environment, changes in American economic and political life, and the dramatic domestic developments in both China and Taiwan. He discusses the principal substantive issues in U.S.-China relations, including the way in which the two countries have addressed their differences over Taiwan and human rights, and how they have approached the blend of common and competitive interests in their economic and strategic relationships. He also addresses the shifting political base for Sino-American relations within each country, including the development of each society's perceptions of the other, and the emergence and dissolution of rival political coalitions supportingand opposing the relationship. Harding concludes that a return to the Sino-American strategic alignment of the 1970s, or even to the economic partnership of the 1980s, is less likely in the 1990s than continued tension or eve

As relations between the United States and China move into a period of intense activity and sensitivity, this timely book addresses the impact of domestic factors in both countries on their post-Cold War/post-Tiananmen relations. The contributors examine the issue from a number of distinct perspectives: the increased impact of domestic factors in both countries due to changing strategic circumstances; the politics of China policy in the United States, with emphasis on the role of interest groups vis-a-vis Congress, the media, and other domestic institutions; the importance of domestic factors in U.S.-China economic conflicts; the combined impact of domestic factors in both China and the United States on the most important conflict of interest in U.S.-China relations -- the Taiwan issue.

"David M. Lampton has written an extraordinary book. Systematic and comprehensive, highly original and interpretive, it captures the complexity of Sino-American relations as no other book has done."--Michel Oksenberg, coauthor of "Policy Making in China: Leaders, Structures, and Processes"

"Lampton paints a comprehensive and compelling picture of the up-and -down relationship between the U.S. and the PRC during the last fifty years. He offers clear insights into the underlying causes of the sometimes dangerous problems experienced in the past. He also offers sound prescriptions for how to make the relationship more constructive in the future. This book is a must-read for senior officials in the next administration."--William Perry, former United States Secretary of Defense and currently Professor at Stanford University

"David Lampton brilliantly describes the complex interplay of conditions, constraints, and personalities that have shaped the Sino-American relationship since the end of the Cold War. His keen eye, careful scholarship, and broad access to top leaders over three decades are apparent from his colorful quotations that open each chapter to his astute conclusions. His fresh, balanced, and insightful analysis is a 'must read' for those who aspire to understand and better manage a relationship that is key to peace and prosperity in the twenty-first century. Happily, this seminal work is as readable as it is scholarly."--Carla A. Hills, former United States Trade Representative and currently Chairman and CEO of Hills & Company

Documents the history of U.S. security management wiht China from 1971 to the present, examines the arguments for and againist conducting activiites with the People's Liberation Army, and recommends a program of military-to-military activities based on existing constraints and realistic goals.

The first comprehensive account of China policy during the Kennedy years, this study profiles John F. Kennedy as a man whose inner struggles and disparate characteristics made for an unpredictable foreign policy. While he was often a hostage to the Cold War, to constrictive perceptions of the domestic climate, and to the image of a predatory China, Kennedy recognized Washington's finite capacity to shape events on the China Mainland. With the possible exception of a preventive strike against China's nuclear installations, he was also reluctant to run the risk of a military confrontation with Beijing. On the eve of his assassination, Kennedy may have even contemplated a China policy departure during his second term.

In Confronting Communism, Victor S. Kaufman examines how the United States and Great Britain were able to overcome serious disagreements over their respective approaches toward communist China. Providing new insight into the workings of alliance politics, specifically the politics of the Anglo-American alliance, the book covers the period from 1948 -- a year before China became an area of contention between London and Washington -- through twenty years of division and to the gradual resolution of Anglo-American divergences over the People's Republic of China beginning in the mid-1960s. It ends in 1972, the year of President Richard Nixon's historic visit to the People's Republic, and also the year that Kaufman sees as bringing an end to the Anglo-American differences over China.

Kaufman traces the intricate and subtle pressures each ally faced in determining how to approach Beijing. The British aspect is of particular interest because Britain viewed itself as being within "three circles": Western Europe, the Atlantic alliance, and the Commonwealth. Important as well to British policy with respect to China was the concern about being dragged into another Korean-style conflict. The impact of decisions on these "circles", as well as the fear of another war, appeared time and again in Britain's decision making.

Kaufman shows how the alliance avoided division over China largely because Britain did the majority of the compromising. Reliant upon the United States militarily and financially, most U.K. officials made concessions to their Washington counterparts. Readers of Confronting Communism will come away with a better understanding of alliance politics. They will learn that suchdecision making, for both Great Britain and the United States, was a highly complex process, one which posed serious challenges to the Anglo-American alliance. Despite those challenges, accord between London and Washington prevaile

This book provides an analysis of American intervention in China from World War II to the rapprochement Richard Nixon began in 1972. It traces the origins of U.S. interest in China, based on Roosevelt's hope of using China as a partner to preserve peace in East Asia. It analyzes the U.S. failure to recognize that most Chinese supported the Communist revolution, and the U.S. support of the Nationalists. It covers the Chinese role in the Korean War and the U.S. misconception of that role. The work considers the adoption of Taiwan as an American protectorate and the flirtation with atomic war to protect Quemoy and Matsu. Finally, it considers the decades-long U.S. policy of denying Communist China a seat at the UN and Nixon's decision to recognize China.