Sino-American Relations - Essay Example

Introduction Sino-American relations refer to the inter relationship between the United s and the People's Republic of China PRC" or "China") (Sino-American relations). The forces that govern Sino-American relations are often shaped by the respective power and strategy of the United States and China. The United States is currently the world's lone superpower with the ambition and capacity to exercise global primacy (Wang [1]), while China is one of the most salient rising powers on the international stage (Zhang 685). Accordingly, nothing less than the security and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region in the decades to come (Levine 92) is at stake in the often complex and multi-faceted Sino-American relations (Sino-American relations). Given the importance of Sino-American relations, this paper examines important issues in the bilateral relations between the United States and China. American and Chinese Perception of Each Other To understand Sino-American relations, it is important to comprehend the parties' perception of each other. China has for long viewed the United States as its biggest foreign policy problem because, as the only global power in the post-Cold War and post-9/11 world, the latter more than any other country, has the ability to faciliate or hinder the fulfillment of vital Chinese foreign power objectives. These objectives range from coopting Taiwan into its territory, expanding economic prosperity and securing international recognition of China's status as a great power (Levine 91). While China's policy towards the United States is an area that engages the country's leaders and many of its citizens, the reverse is not true. Since the United States currently enjoys unipolarity, and will possibly continue to do so in the next few decades, the challenge for America is: how to preserve and promote American unipolarity (Zhang 686). Thus, while the United States is aware of the rising clout of the PRC, China is not on the top of Washington's foreign policy agenda (Levine 92-93), and probably only captures American attention insofar as it affects American hegemony. Taiwan and Japan In the shadow of this asymmetry in levels of interest, major conflicts of interest or real cooperation between the two giants unfold. Generally, such issues are connected with developments in Asia because it is in this region where the United States is most likely to come into contact with China (Wang [2]). A major worrisome security problem for China in Asia is the Republic of China ("ROC") on Taiwan. American interest in Taiwan is both historical and multi-faceted. For the first 30 years of the PRC's founding, the United States did not formally recognize the PRC. Rather, it recognized the ROC as the sole legitimate government of all China and maintained diplomatic relations with it. Although the United States transferred its recognition from Taipei to Beijing in the 1979's Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations ("Joint Communique") (Wikipedia, Sino-American relations), Taiwan's claims on American sympathies, which originated in Cold War anticommunism, have continued to be reinvigorated by the transformation of the island into a vibrant plural democracy (Levine 101). Besides, American commercial, cultural and other unofficial contacts with Taiwan have continued since 1979 and indeed were acknowledged by Beijing in the Joint Communique. The United States is also a larger exporter of weaponry to Taiwan (Sino-American relations). In short, American interest in Taiwan is very much alive. To complicate matters, this interest is tied in with the United States' relations with Japan - one of its important allies in Asia. Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S.-Japanese securities alliances have strengthened instead of weakened. The relationship between the United States and Japan has grown stronger after 9/11 with Tokyo's dispatch of troops to support the occupation of Iraq and provision of substantial reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan and Iraq (Wang [2]). Tokyo's relations with Beijing, on the other hand, have been strained. Irritants such as Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine (where Japan's war deads were commemorated), Japan's ongoing publication of textbooks that downplay its war atrocities and anti-Japanese demonstrations in major Chinese cities continues to take place. In addition, right-wing forces in Japan who are wary of an impending "China threat" have been making overtures to Taiwanese pro-separation forces. In the midst of these mutual antagonism between the peoples of China and Japan, Japan has used the United States to exchange military intelligence with Taiwan (Wang [2]). These overtures between the United States, Japan and Taiwan are not surprising considering all three parties have no wish to see Taiwan becoming part of the PRC, which is expected to tip the balance of power in Asia (Sino-American relations). On the part of the United States, in particular, maintaining the status quo of Taiwan's de facto autonomy, not only serves to protect the balance of power in East Asia and hence America's globalism, it is in line with the underying differences in American and Chinese ideologies and political systems that prevent the United States from seeing China as a peer (Wang [3]). From China's perspective, however, Washington's interest in questions such as Taiwan1 is meddlesome because these are what Beijing considers domestic problems (Levine 93). China also views the growing closeness between the United States and Japan to be coming at its expense (Wang [2]). Despite these departures in perspectives between the two nations, neither the United States nor China appears interested in provoking a conflict over Taiwan. After 9/11, American intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq brought about a shift in focus by the United States to the Middle East. This results in a desire to avoid crises in East Asia (Foreign Relations of the People's Republic of China). Furthermore, a war in East Asia will be disruptive to American trading interests in the region. Indeed, the United States has taken concrete steps to assure China that it will not support Taiwnese independence by stepping in when it appeared that the ROC government was moving away from the policy of "Four Noes", where the "first No" is not to declare independence (Sino-American relations, Four Noes and One Without). On its part, the PRC has no wish to provoke war, which will derail its economic development. Furthermore, the Chinese, confident that the long term trends are in favor of unification with Taiwan, opine that there is no point in starting a war (Sino-American relations). North Korean Nuclear Issue In the field of international security, the focal point of Sino-American relations is North Korea. Both countries profess to favour a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. The Bush administration has been relying on the six-party talks and other mechanisms - such as the Proliferation Secuity Initiative - to exert pressure on Pyongyang from exporting Nuclear technology and weapons (Wang [2]). On China's part, it has tried to dissuade Pyongyang from developing nuclear weapons and has stressed its opposition to Pyongyang's withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and voted to refer North Korea's noncompliance with its International Atomic Energy Agency obligations to the United Nations Security Council (Sino-American relations). However, China has declined from joining multilateral blockages on and sanctions against North Korea (Wang [2]), which may explain American suspicion - evidenced by their accusation that the PRC has been secretly propping up North Korea as a cudgel against the United States and Japan - of China's real intention (Sino-American relations). China's Rise as a Military Power Another issue that continues to disturb Sino-American relations is an ongoing wariness, stemmed from several factors, by the United States about the security implications of China's rise as a military power. First, China's military spending has increased considerably in the past decades, while those of its ASEAN neighbours have either remained constant or decreased. Indeed, this is a trend that disturbs not only the United States, but also ASEAN member states (Morada 233). Second, the United States is also suspicious that China has been hiding its real military spending (Sino-American Relations). American discomfort with the growth of China's military power is an issue that represents a paradox in Washington's long-term strategy towards Beijing. Washington is aware that the strength of China's military power is proportionate to the advancement in Chinese economy. Unless China faces an economic collapse, its military expenditures will continue to rise (Wang [3]). Arguably, the United States does not wish for such an eventuality since many American companies have investment interests in China (Wang [3]). China faces a similar paradox. The rise in American military muscle invariably causes strategic pressure on China (Wang [3]), since the United States, as a global power, is a natural ally for China's neighbours looking to prevent the tip in the region's balance of power too much in favour of China.2 Only a decline in the United States economy will bring about a decline in its military muscle. However, such a slide, is harmful to the Chinese economy (Wang [3]), which absorbs foreign capital from and exports its finished products to the United States. Economic Issues Apart from political and military concerns, economic issues continue to play out in Sino-American relations. In a stunning reversal of its historical fantasies about the Chinese market, the United States has become the largest foreign market for Chinese exports (Lenine 104). As exports from China to the United States grow, the United States trade deficit with China exceeded $162 billion in 2004. Some of the factors that influence the trade deficit include legitimate ones, such as the high demand in the United States for labour intensive goods, which domestic output is unable to satisfy. Other factors like the array of Chinese barriers to foreign goods and services, uneven application of Chinese laws and regulations to foreign companies, special permissions required for the importation of goods, etc. (Sino-American Relations), however, elicit accusations of unfair trade practices (Levine 104). Added to these complaints is the fact that China has become one of the major international violators of intellectual property rights and has cost American software and entertainment industries billions in lost revenues (Levine 105). While these have been sources for irritation in Sino-American economic relations, China's recent accession to the World Trade Organization, have addressed some of these barriers, and may ease tensions between the two states. Furthermore, the Chinese market for American goods has been expanding rapidly, with Chinese children eating American fast food (think McKonald and KFC), Chinese consumers drinking Coca Cola and using Motorola cellular phones, and the like (Levine 105). Therefore, despite continuing difficulties in trade relations between the two countries, it is unlikely that Sino-American relations will break down over economic squabbles. Conclusion The research presented above generally shows that the relationship between the United States and China is one besetted by paradoxes. On the one hand, there are profound differences between the two powers (Wang [2]), stemmed from (i) fundamental differences between their political systems, (ii) the gap in their international status, and conflicts of interest that arise from the former two factors. On the other, both nations share parallel interests in many areas. Despite these paradoxes, there is no reason to believe that the negative undercurrents in Sino-American relations will lead to full-blown conflicts. Like all interstate relationship, Sino-American relationship is fundamentally based on interests (Wang [3]). On top of China's agenda is its economic development, which it hopes will elevate the country to the status of a great power. Due to the United States's dominance in military, economics, technology and education, China needs to maintain a close relationship with the United States to succeed in its modernization efforts (Wang [1]). On the other side of the coin, the United States needs support from China to maintain its position of primacy. This is especially so after 9/11 where China's cooperation is desired for countering terrorism and promoting nuclear nonproliferation (Wang [1]). Furthermore, increased economic engagement with China is going to ensure that the United States will be cautious in preventing all-out conflicts with China. References: _______. " Foreign Relations of the People's Republic of China." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 14 Apr. 2006 . _______. "Four Noes and One Without." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 14 Apr. 2006 . _______. "Sino-American Relations." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 14 Apr. 2006 . Levine, Steven I. "Sino-American Relations: Practicing Damage Control." China and the World: Chinese Foreign Policy Faces the New Millennium. Ed. Samuel S. Kim. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1998. 91-111. Morada, Noel M. "ASEAN and the Rise of China: Engaging, while Fearing an Emerging Regional Power." 229-238. Wang, Jisi. "China's Search for Stability with America" Foreign Affairs 84.5 (2005). Zhang, Biwu, "Chinese Perceptions of American Power, 1991-2004" Asian Survey 15.5 (2005): 667-86. Read More