FREE ESSAY ON CHINA AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

CHINA AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

China and American Foreign Policy
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cold War was over, making the U.S. the only
superpower left in the world. This has made the international system much more tranquil,
and relaxed. The only country potentially powerful besides the U.S., is China. Many
Americans fear China, not only because they are communist, but also because of their huge
population. Their population is 1.3 billion people, which accounts 1/5th of the world's
population. As one of the only potential superpowers in the world, it would be in the
best interest of all Americans if the U.S. and China became allies, instead of enemies.
Peace and development, economic prosperity and social progress, are goals that both of
these two countries share. Unfortunately the world is full of many destabilizing factors.
We have to figure out how to make the 21st century peaceful and stable, despite all of
these factors.
The U.S. and China are two awesome nations. One, being the largest developed nation in
the world, the other one being the largest developing country in the world. Both are
already permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The two countries also
share common interests in making sure peace and stability is not only done in Asia, but
the world at large. We both share common responsibilities in the promotion of global
cooperation, and in the prevention of weapons of mass destruction, the crackdown on
terrorism, drug trafficking, and other cross-border crimes, along with many other chief
areas of primary concern. For example, there is a huge potential for cooperation between
countries in the following areas: environmental protection, culture, energy, preventing
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, promoting global economic cooperation,
cracking down on international terrorism, cross-border crimes along with many other areas
(5).
China has been a communist country since the communist revolution took place in 1949,
since then China has been ruled by the dictator Mao Tse-Tung. However the Chinese
dictator died in September 1976, he was hailed abroad as one of the worlds' great
leaders. Certainly one of the more impressive aspects of the Chinese communist
government, has been the willingness of the people to protest against it (3, pg. 4).
China has been in a state of revolution and reform since the Sino-Japanese war of 1895.
As a result of Japan's victory over Russia in 1905, China's constitutional reform
movement gathered momentum. This forced the Manchu government by public opinion to make
gestures of preparation for a constitutional government, an act to which reformers in
exile responded enthusiastically by establishing a Political Participation Society
(Cheng-wen-she) (1, pg.84). 
The apparent willingness of the Manchu government to consider constitutional 
reform naturally removed some of the assumptions for revolution and impeded its progress.
This helped to sharpen the already intense conflicts that occurred between the reformists
and the revolutionaries. In efforts to check this unfavorable tide, the Chinese student
revolutionaries in Tokyo extended their war of words to physical combat. Unfortunately
the revolutionaries victory over the reformists in Tokyo was not equal to (5=Zhaoxing,
Li, "Seeking Common Ground,"
http://www.nyu.edu/globalbeat/asia/china/06221998zhaoxing.html) 
(3= Moody, Peter, "Chinese Politics after Mao," copyright 1983, pg. 2) 
(1=Liew, K.S., "Struggle for Democracy," copyright 1971, pg. 84-87) 
its battlefield victories against the Manchu government in this period. Instead they
suffered many discouraging reverses. The failure of the uprisings on December 1906 caused
the entire revolution to move to the southern provinces along the Hong Kong/Indo-China
border (1, pg. 86).
Between 1907 and 1908 six unsuccessful uprisings in South China were underwent by the
Chinese League in South China. Do to deaths of Emperor's and Empress's, control of the
government fell into the hands of younger, very inexperienced Manchu prince's. The
intolerance and animosity these prince's held towards non-Manchu statesmen, and overhasty
indiscreet execution of centralization policy, cost them the service and affection of
loyal and able Chinese officials. At the same time the reformers discredited themselves
by having internal squabbles over money (1, pg.87).
While all of this turmoil was going on in the country of China, its foreign relations
were worsening. British troops entered Tibet, while the Russians pressed for treaty
revisions respecting its trade relations with Mongolia and Sinkiang. The revolutionaries
felt the urgency of overthrowing the Manchu dynasty as the prerequisite for dealing with
their difficulties with foreign nations. They felt that the time for saving China was
running out, and they must get rid of the incompetent Manchu's (3). 
In 1911 the Chinese revolutionaries were not aware of the necessity or the techniques for
organizing the masses for revolution. The majority of the Chinese did not even take part
in the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Participation was confined to students, soldiers,
members of secret societies, and some government officials. It is said that the
revolutionaries' neglect of socialist principles greatly contributed to the failure of
the 1911 revolution. This is because they failed to broaden the basis of their revolution
to include peasants. This 1911 revolution provided China with its very first chance at
adopting democracy, but its failure drove many to take the opposite course of action.
Many began to doubt the validity of democracy under Chinese conditions, after this
revolution failed (1, pg. 198-200).
The Pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing and other cities from April to June 1989 were
more than just an episodic expression of popular discontent with the Chinese government.
Of prime importance was the non-violent nature of the protesters. The extraordinary
self-discipline of the one-million-strong demonstrations was a testimony to the
population's collective awareness that violence would only destroy the movement's moral
force. China's leaders fostered profound distrust, and mutual suspicion among the
population by cynically manipulating popular discontent and encouraging strife for their
narrow ideological goals. In contrast, 1989 witnessed the forming of a genuine civil
society in urban China as popular consciousness was created among the different groups
and individuals. The massive support for the student movement in 1989 indicated a
profound rupture between state and society, and in the long-lasting divisions between the
intellectuals and the "people" (2, pg. 131-3). 
Most of the U.S.'s problems in its relations with China stem from human rights abuses
that their government has done to its people. In the spring of 1989, an unprecedented
popular movement in Beijing and other cities peacefully challenged the authority of the
government, only to be crushed by military force. Chinese tanks and machine guns crushed
student pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen 
Square, which killed, wounded, and imprisoned thousands of peaceful protesters.
(2=Saich, Tony "The Chinese People's Movement" copyright 1990, pg. 131-133)
In the immediate aftermath of China's greatest political crisis since the communist
takeover in 1949, the regime attempted to regain legitimacy that was lost during one
night's carnage by the People's Liberation Army that resulted in over a thousand innocent
civilian deaths. To defend the crackdown on both the domestic and the international
fronts the Chinese government warned that any recurrence of popular protests would be
summarily crushed (2).
China was our ally in WWII, fighting against Japan. But after the communist revolution of
1949, things changed, China became an enemy. The estimated annual defense budget of china
is $8.7 billion dollars, however the expenditures have been estimated at ten times that
amount at $87 billion dollars. That is still less than a third of what the U.S. defense
budget is at $265. $87 billion 1/3 of Americas defense budget is not a lot of money
considering the fact that there population is almost three times the size the U.S. has.
The political fallout from the Tiananmen crisis shaped much of China's political
landscape after 1989. Extensive organizational measures were adopted to squelch political
conflicts within the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army, and to
tighten control over colleges, factories, and villages. The lessons of the 1989
pro-democracy movement was that a ruling Communist party could not tolerate
liberalization (4,pgs. 1-3)
The serious hard-line communist resisted any, and all of the propositions that would
involve any political change that might threaten the one-party dictatorship, thus
condemning Western Cultural and political influence in China. Moderate components in 
the party, forced on the defensive by the 1989 crackdown, appealed for incremental 
(4=Sullivan, Lawrence R., "China Since Tiananmen" copyright 1994, pgs. 1-2) 
institutional alterations and advocated even bigger openness to the West. The pair agreed
that unless high-level corruption was stopped, the country faced dissolved political
instability. Some among the leadership even feared a similar breakup to that of
Yugoslavia (4, pg. 2).
Despite outward appearances of strength, the Chinese leadership has been revealed as
weak, divided internally, and unable to keep up with the forces of change that has been
sweeping much of the Communist world. While the leaders maintain short-term power, they
cannot maintain without upkeep of the key sectors of their urban society. The present
policy prescriptions can be summarized as "back to the future." The old politicians who
dominate China's politics dream of a bygone "golden age" when political stability and
solid economic prospering under an essentially Soviet-style economy, when it was clear
who the friends and enemies were (2, pg.viii). 
China and the U.S. have been through many different phases of friendship together. We
have gone from allies (WWII) to enemies (Cold War). There has been a great deal of
tension between the two countries over human rights violations, like the Tiananmen Square
massacre that happened in 1989. In this massacre thousands of Chinese students were
murdered for holding pro-democracy demonstrations. This resulted in an angered President
George Bush suspending all high-level governmental exchanges. After having been suspended
in 1951, most-favored nation status was restored to China in 1980 conditionally under the
Jackson-Vanik freedom-of-emigration amendment of the Trade Act of 1974 and must be
renewed annually (7, pg. 2). 
(7=Pregelj, Vladimir, "Most Favored-Nation Status of China,"
http://www.fas.org/man/crs/92-094.htm) 
"Most Favored Nation Status (MFN) can be withdrawn from China in several ways: (1) by
appropriate direct legislation enacted through regular legislative process; (2) by using
the specific means provided in the Trade Act of 1974 for denying MFN status to a country
that had it restored under that law, i.e., by the fast-track enactment of a joint
resolution disapproving the mid-year annual renewal of the Jackson-Vanik waiver authority
with respect to China, if such renewal is recommended by the President, or (3) by the
President's failure to recommend such renewal with respect to China in the first place
(e.g., for noncompliance with the Jackson-Vanik requirements). China also can lose its
MFN status if the agreement is terminated, upon notice, at the end of a term or if the
3-year extension of the U.S.-China trade agreement does not take place because the
President declines to make the required determination (7, pg. 3 paragraph 5)."
"In 1995 the Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, anticipating the
1995 Presidential extension of the waiver, on May 23, 1995, held a hearing on the
U.S.-China trade relations and renewal of China's MFN status. The extension itself,
without additional conditions, took place on June 2, 1995, by Presidential Determination
95-23 (60 FR 31047; H.Doc. 104-82) and was followed by the introduction of resolutions
disapproving the extension (H.J.Res. 96 and S.J.Res. 37). H.J.Res. 96 was reported
adversely (H.Rept. 104-188), considered under a rule (H.Res.139;H.Rept. 104-194) and
tabled July 20, 1995, by a yea-and-nay vote of the House (321-107). This action precluded
the enactment of the companion measure (S.J. Res. 37)(7, pg. 4 paragraph #3).
China is a country that has been victimized by foreigners many different times throughout
history. It was not until the twentieth century that China started to recover some degree
of self-government, and independence. Many believe that China will become more like the
western countries, meaning more materialistic, non-ideological, and this will result in a
freer culture and politics. China is currently emerging as a great power, and a potential
rival to the U.S. in the Pacific Ocean. It is felt they are trying to replace the U.S. as
the dominant power in Asia, meaning the U.S. is seen as a chief obstacle to its own
strategic ambitions. This can be seen as an attempt of China to account for centuries of
humiliating weakness, and establishing China as a center for a global civilization. This
is feared because this will challenge U.S. global supremacy. What is the U.S. so afraid
of? Is it, that the county with a fifth of the worlds population is trying to become the
worlds second biggest superpower? 
In 1994 President bill Clinton renewed China's most favored nation trading status, this
guaranteed China's privileged access to U.S. markets. Currently many U.S. companies do
business in China making huge profits. With U.S. corporations making a ton of money in
China, does this mean that Capitalism is only a step away in China?
China poses very little of a military threat to the U.S., even though they are currently
engaged in one of the most extensive and rapid military build-ups in the world. This is
said, because China is the third-largest nuclear power in the world, and the only one in
Asia. There is little to fear though, China's most advanced warplane is the equal to the
late 1960s U.S. warplane. Even better is the fact that the Japanese aircraft's are much
more superior to their Chinese counterparts. China can not offset Japan's ability to
produce a 21st century aircraft. China is very distant from occupying a power plant,
avionics, and metallurgy engineering that are essential to make a plane that can take-off
and land on an aircraft carrier in any type of weather (4, pg. 36-38).
The U.S. must offer China much more than just the opportunity to follow the rules. They
must come up with a new and appropriate policy of engagement that will require
acknowledging the Chinese interests that will accommodate both of our countries. This is
needed to prevent nuclear proliferation on the Korean peninsula. We must also accommodate
the Chinese interests in Sino-Pakistani security ties. These steps will require
Washington DC to admit the economic causes of trade imbalances and how the Chinese
government has limited ability to make sure their domestic laws and their international
commitments work (3, pg.89-91).
Of course these steps give the U.S. little guarantee that the engagement of our two
countries will really work. It will take negotiations on both sides to make hard policy
adjustments and to seek a compromise to a solution. Washington will have to guard the
unilateral interests that it has. This means maintaining current duty stations in Asia
where U.S. soldiers are deployed. Retrenchment would do more to effect the Sino-American
bilateral equilibrium of power than any combo of Chinese Military and economic platforms
would. This U.S. should not rely on compulsive measures for Chinese cooperation. These
compulsive measures would produce a renewed sense of tension in Sino-American relations
that would result in heightened instability in East Asia. The U.S. has such a strategic
head start on China, causing Washington to have the break of sitting back and watching
China modernize before they go adding a more positive approach to the China-U.S.
relations 6, pg.3).
China is vulnerable to neighboring countries that crowd China on all borders. This
results in serious security problems within Chinese borders. This has caused U.S.
(6=Yebai, Zhang, "Sino-U.S. Relations," (http://www.china2thou.com/9910p2.htm)
President Bill Clinton's problems dealing with China. In 1998 Bill Clinton was accused of
looking the other way to the internal abuses, and the exportation of harmful weapons, and
their aggressive behavior in the international arena. This is believed to go on because
he took secret campaign contributions to his party from the Chinese. It is hoped that
eventually all of the facts and mysteries concerning China will all be sorted out and
dealt with appropriately. Hopefully the election of George Bush, a new, hopefully
competent U.S. President, can get things taken care of more appropriately than Bill
Clinton did. 
Over the long term, it is felt that we are most likely to be dealing with China, no
longer ruled by the communist party but with a reform-minded leadership. This should be
on the minds of future policy-makers tackling short-term strategic issues. Even before
the events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, foreign business was becoming more
realistic of the China market. It is felt that China is a great source of income for U.S.
business. So why don't we give that 1/5th of the world a chance? All we can do now, is
sit back and watch the future events, to know what is going on with China, and how the
U.S. is impacted by the future developments, that China makes.