A Fragile Relationship: The United States and China Since 1972 [Hardcover]

Harry Harding (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1992

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 20 years, however, US-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 20 years ago, they remain fragile. In this book, China specialist Harry Harding offers a comprehensive look at Sino-American relations from 1972 to the present. He traces the evolution of US - China relations, assesses the prospects for the future, and presents a new framework for 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 US - 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 supporting and 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 even confrontation over such issues as trade, human rights, and the proliferation of advanced weapons. But he also explains the importance of maintaining normal working relations with China in order to promote security in East Asia, protect the global environment, and encourage an open international economy. He offers specific recommendations for US policy that would encourage a more realistic and stable relationship with China.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Aimed at specialists, this comprehensive study of 20 years of U.S. policy toward China maintains a pragmatic tone. Harding, a senior fellow at Brookings, exhaustively analyzes the "oscillating pattern of progress and stagnation, crisis and consolidation" of the U.S.-China relationship from the hopeful period in the 1970s and early 1980s to the current tension, drawing not just on government policy but on the writings of scholars and press pundits, and even on cultural exchanges. He points out that conservative commentators like the New York Times 's William Safire, not liberal academic experts, mistakenly declared that China was on the road to capitalism in the mid-1980s. Harding explains how changes inside the U.S. and China finally brought human rights issues to the forefront but cautions against idealizing the Tiananmen Square demonstrators, noting that few called for pluralistic politics. In a series of recommendations regarding issues ranging from security to human rights to academic and cultural exchanges, Harding calls for a "realistic and nuanced policy toward China." China should be seen not as a potential ally or a card to be played in global competition but as "an independent counterpart in a complex balance of power."
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Since President Nixon's historic trip in 1972, Sino-American relations have been based on differing goals, the latter seeking liberalization and moderation of Chinese policies, the former assistance in modernization without interference in China's affairs. A variety of issues have influenced the relationship: the Soviet Union, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, trade and protectionism, human rights, arm sales and nuclear proliferation, and recently the tragedy of Tiananmen in 1989, the Persian Gulf War, and the breakup of the USSR. Harding's review of the past 20 years is superb, a balanced and detailed survey which concludes with carefully reasoned suggestions for future U.S. policy. Highly recommended for informed readers as well as specialists.
- Kenneth W. Berger, Duke Univ. Lib., Durham, N.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Inst Pr (February 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815734662
• ISBN-13: 978-0815734666
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,320,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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