CHINA-U. S BILATERAL RELATION Background: Relation between the Peoples Republic of China and the United States have generally been stable with some period of tension, especially after the breakup of the Soviet Union which removed the common enemy and ushered in a world characterized by American dominance. There are also concerns which relate to Human Rights in the PRC and the political status of Taiwan. While there are some irritants in China-U. S relation, there are also many stabilizing factors. The PRC and the U.
S are major trade partners and have common interest in the prevention and suppression of terrorism and preventing nuclear proliferation. China is also the foreign creditor; China’s challenges and difficulties are mainly internal and therefore, there is a desire on the part of the PRC to maintain stable relationship with the U. S. The China-U. S relation has been described by top leaders and academics as the world’s most important relationship of the 21st Century. Conception: Much of the complexity of the China-U. S relations comes from the images the two have themselves and of the others.
Within China there is a love-hate relationship with the U. S. One hand, American consumerism and culture are seen as stylish. At the same time, there is resentment of the American intervention into other nation’s affairs combined with a fear of American power. The Chinese are often perplexed at the stated motives of American Foreign Policy and tend to conclude that their goals (such as promoting freedom and democracy) are insincere cover for darker motives namely; to make China weak and divided. America tends to see China as a far-off and distant land.
The U. S often believe that as a part of its mission to advance freedom and democracy, it has the duty to advance the cause of human rights in china. Over the past 150 years, the Americans tended to see the Chinese people as oppressed and abused by either the Japanese in WWII and more recently by the communist party of China. America does not generally accept the notion that many Chinese support the PRC government because of its Authoritarian Nature and are critical of the Non-Democratic government ability to make decisions to benefit the Chinese people.
America also tends to believe that any Authoritarian government is necessarily intolerable – a viewpoint not grasped by most Chinese. As a result, America tends to be baffled by the suggestion that most Chinese people find American criticism of human rights “abuses” to be hypocritical and meddlesome. Country comparison: | |USA |CHINA | |AREA |3717813 Sq. m/s |3705407 Sq. /s | |POPULATION | | | |POPULATION DENSITY |80 per Sq. m |363 Sq. m | |CAPITAL |Washington, DC |Beijing | |LARGEST CITY |New York 8. 3 M |Shanghai 18. M | |GOVERNMENT |Constitution-based Federal Republic |Unitary Socialist Republic | |OFFICIAL LANGUANGE |English |Mandarin | |GDP(NOMINAL) | $14. 441 T | $4. 327 T | |GDP(PPP) | $14. 441 T | $7. 916 T | |GDP per Capita (N) | $47. 440 T | $3. 59 T | |GDP per Capita (PPP) | $47. 440 T | $5. 963 T | |HUMAN DEV. INDEX | 0. 956(13th) | . 0772 (92nd) | |FOREIGN EXCHANGE | 83. 375 M | 2. 273. 00 M | |MILITARY EXPENDITURE | $663. 7 B | $70 B | People Republic of China: Birth For 30 years after its founding, the U.
S did not recognize the PRC which was founded by Mao Tse-tong. After the WWII ended in 1945, the obvious hostility between the ROC (Republic of China) and the CCP exploded into an Open Civil War. General Douglas McArthur directed the military forces to accept the surrender of the Japanese troops thus, beginning the military occupation of Taiwan. American General Jorge Marshall tried to break the truce between the ROC and CCP in 1946 but, it did not work out and the Nationalist Cause went steadily downhill until 1949; when the communist emerged victorious and drove the nationalist from the Chinese mainland onto Taiwan and other islands.
Mao Tse-tong established the ‘People’s Republic of China’ while the Republic of China (ROC) still remained in Taiwan and the other islands. One China Policy: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) reiterated that it would not discuss diplomatic trade issues in Taiwan until new Taiwanese President Chen Shui-Bian recognizes the One China Policy One China Policy holds that there is but One China and that Taiwan is part of China. The leaders of both countries have long subscribed to the One China Policy (OCP).
Each insisting on their own government legitimacy but, the Taiwanese position has eroded over the past few decades as the People’s Republic (PR) has gained international prominence. Taiwan’s softened position is spelled out in its 1991 Guidelines for International Unification which insists only that a unified China must be “Democratic’ and “Free” not necessarily led by Taiwan. The People’s Republic position remains fundamentally unchanged. The controversy dated back to 1949 when the victorious communist established the PRC on the mainland and the defeated nationalist fled to Taiwan, where hey continued to claim sovereignty over all of China. U. S Role: Following the talks between President Richard Nixon and Chairman Tse-tong in 1972, the U. S endorsed the One China Policy in the Shanghai communique, issued jointly with the People’s Republic. The communique stated that “All Chinese on either side of the Taiwan straight maintain there is but one China, and Taiwan is a part of China. ” The U. S does not challenge the position while the U. S endorsement did not specify which government was legitimate.
President Carter formally recognized Beijing as the sole government of China in 1978 and posed its embassy in Taiwan the next year. While the U. S officially adheres to the OCP, it practice a De-facto two china policy. Under the 1979 Taiwan Relation Act, the U. S sells Taiwan military weapons and, the language of the act warns the People’s Republic that any coercive unification effort would be ‘of grave concern to the U. S U. S-China Trade War: Has a mini-trade war broken out between the United States and China? On September 12, 2009, the Obama Administration imposed a 35% tariff on tires imported from China.
In Response, China said, it will look into the price of chicken feet sent from U. S to China. Last week, the New York Times reported that tariff has been slapped on U. S imports of Chinese Solar panels. Free trade have begun to worry that President Obama might be back-pedaling on his commitment to open market. So far this year, the U. S has imported $ 159 B in goods and services form china and exported $ 35. 7 B to the Middle East. The volume of the U. S-China trade in physical goods is dwarfed in size and importance, by the trade in financial products.
The dollars American consumers and business shipped abroad for plastics, metal and cotton goods from China, return to this shores thru the purchase of financial instrument. In July 2009, China held $ 800 B of U. S treasury securities, up from $ 550 B in July 2008—according to the treasury department. China, which has surpassed Japan, is the largest foreign holder of U. S treasuries account for 23% of total foreign holdings. In conclusion, there are 5 things that the United States can learn from the world’s rising power, China. As stated in Time Magazine (Nov. 009) article “5 thins the U. S can learn from China by Bill Powell. They are the following: “Be ambitious, Education matters, Look after the elderly, save more and look over the horizon. ” China makes it clear that they didn’t become what they are today without making a lot of sacrifices. Yes, China is “a poor developing country with huge problems to confront, massive corruptions and environmental degradation…” but with its huge leap economically, any country would like to know how they do it. President Barack Obama’s first visit to China in November 15 came with a question.
He leaned over and questioned the President of China, Hu Jintao, “What are you guys doing right? ” Lesson 1 – Be Ambitious “One key thing we can learn from China is to setting goals, making plans and focusing on moving the country ahead. ”—JAMES MCGREGOR, FORMER CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN CHINA— This points out that America should look what’s ahead of them and what’s not in front. This way it will lessen the weight on their shoulders and gives them a hope for a brighter future. Lesson 2 – Education Matters They are getting the basics right, particularly in math and science. Their kids are often ahead of ours…” – WILLIAM MCCAHILL, FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF IF MISSION, U. S. EMBASSY,BEIJING— Focus more on educating the children. Help them improve because the next generation holds the future. Lesson 3 – Look after the elderly By 2030, the elderly rate will soar tremendously and there will be no more place for them to stay in the home for the aged. As much as possible let the elderly live with their families and let them help their children’s growth whenever and whatever. Lesson 4 – Save more …healthy savings rates, including government and business savings, are one of the surest indicators of a country’s long term financial health. High savings lead over time, to increased investment, which in turn generates productivity gains, innovation and job growth. In short, savings are the seed corn of a good economic harvest. ” Lesson 5 – Look over the horizon Work hard for a good future because not only it will benefit you but also your children and your children’s children. “Hard work today means a much better life decades form now for those who will inherit what he helped create. ” – ZHANG XING
