China & The U.S.

The United States and China have long eyed one another from across an ideological chasm that has, at times, appeared unbridgeable. Throughout the 20th century, domestic trends within each nation have diverged such that little common ground appeared to exist between them. Indeed, for much of the 20th century, Chinese isolationism reinforced a communist agenda that did not recognize key properties intrinsic to Western society; among them: religious freedom, capitalist business practices, and a generally individualistic disposition.

In this, a range of core cultural values in the United States and China simply do not concur, and in many cases, actually conflict. As a consequence, a fundamental tension plagues US-Sino relations, creating a situation that is puzzling for its many contradictions. The US, anxious to profit from the Chinese markets and resources, is no less eager to curtail those elements of Chinese social policy that it perceives to be inconsistent with Western conceptions of human rights (Weisberger 14). At root is a series of philosophical disputes that inform both domestic policy and international relations, and lead each nation away from the other.

By some accounts, however, this is no longer the case. In recent years, the formidable fatade of Chinese communism has begun to give way to sweeping international trends that promise economic growth and, ironically, religious zeal. The indomitable tide of globalization has penetrated the shores of China a

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l upon China's domestic agenda and color its relations with the US. Bernard A. Weisberger, writing for American Heritage, characterizes the tenuous US-Sino relationship in the 20th century as one containing "more flips than a gymnastics team"; consider: "In 1924 Chinese nationals could neither emigrate to nor become citizens of the United States. Yet the American government was committed to protecting China's sovereignty. It was resolute US opposition to Japan's invasion of China in the 1930s that pointed the way to Pearl Harbor. From 1941 to 1945 American and Chinese troops fought on the same anti-Axis side, but six years later were killing each other in Korea" (14). Weisberger hints that these flips in policy can be traced to an economic/philosophic tension that has tested US-Sino relations since the Boxer Rebellion. The desire of the US to tap into the enormity of the Chinese economic resource is overwhelming for a nation that is founded on capitalist principles. However, the liberal sensibilities inherent in the American doctrine champion free association, individual rights and religious freedom, ideas that have not been embraced by the Chinese government in the 20th century. It is the conflicting philosophical de

Category: Foreign - C