China Seminar Series explores current relations between U.S. and China

Lecture examines the history of U.S.-China relations and the role of each country in today’s global market.

The U.S.-China Institute kicked off the 2007-2008 China Seminar Series on October 11 with a lecture by Shiping Zheng, associate professor of political science and chair of the International Studies department at Bentley College. It was titled “U.S.-China Relations in the 21^st Century: Friends, Foes, or Competitors?”

Zheng reviewed the long and unsettled history between the United States and China. The breaking point, he said, was the Korean War, which ended all contact between the two countries from 1950 to about 1970.

During this time, U.S students could not visit China and Chinese students were not allowed to come to the United States. Contact was reestablished, albeit illegally, noted Zheng, when Henry Kissinger made a secret trip to Beijing in July of 1971. The United States wanted the Chinese to help end the War in Vietnam and contain the expansion of the Soviet Union, explained Zheng.

“These two countries came together not because they love each other or understand each other but because they were worried about the Soviet Union,” he said.

The shared anxiety over the Soviet Union through the 1970s, 1980s, and the early 1990s is what sustained China and U.S. relations, said Zheng. “Once that strategic concern disappeared, suddenly, U.S.-China relations were on very shaky ground.”

By the time the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, China was becoming a powerful global force in its own right, said Zheng. He presented the following statistics:

China is the fourth-largest economy by exchange rate
China is the world’s third-largest trading partner, behind the United States and Germany
China is the second-largest trading partner of the U.S., passing Mexico and trailing only NAFTA-member Canada
As of 2005, China accounted for nearly 15 percent of the world’s economy, placing it second only behind the U.S.
China is the third-most attractive destination for foreign direct investments, with more than $72 billion dollars invested

China also produces five million college graduates per year compared to the United States’ two million, of which 325,000 are engineers – five times more than produced by U.S colleges and universities.

While the perception is that China is a place for making cheap products like clothing, shoes, and toys, there is a growing high-tech capacity. China is creating space rockets, fighter jets, and is the third-largest car manufacturer in the world.

China will be the center of attention next summer as the Olympics take place in Beijing. Newsweek calls the 21st century “China’s century” and Time has dubbed China’s rise “the dawn of a new dynasty.”

Still, China is largely blamed for the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States and, today, more than a quarter of the nearly $800 billion U.S trade deficit is attributed to China. Most recently, China has come under scrutiny for product recalls and health concerns. Earlier this year, it increased its military spending by nearly 20 percent, but as Zheng pointed out, the total dollars spent on the military in China is nonetheless a fraction of what is being spent by the U.S.

“The consensus in the United States today is that the future of China is uncertain,” said Zheng. “China could be a force of peace or a threatening power. As long as people have an open-minded approach… that is good enough.”

To learn more, visit the U.S.-China Institute.