By Zhang Laiming, DRC & Fang Jin, Zhang Chun & Li Fan, China Development Research Foundation

Research Report, Special Issue, No.59, 2019 (Total 1687) 2019-8-8

Abstract: This paper gives a review of the major events on China-U.S. relations since the founding of New China and these events can be grouped into the following four parts. Part one gives an introduction to the events from 1949-1969 on the across-the-board confrontation between China and the U.S. When New China was founded, the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union had taken an initial shape. The U.S. took a hostile policy towards China, while China sided with the communist camp. Part two gives an illustration of the events from 1970-1989 when China and the U.S. witnessed a change of bilateral relations from the ice-breaking period to the establishment of diplomatic relations and further to a “honeymoon period”. During these years, the Soviet Union took an aggressive stance while the U.S. adopted a defensive approach and the relations between China and the Soviet Union split up. Against such a background, the U.S. intended to ease the relationship with China. Since 1983, China-U.S. relations became further close, ushering in a “honeymoon period” with strategic cooperation. Part three is related to the events from 1989-2016 when China and the U.S. experienced a period of deep economic integration. With the drastic change of Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the strategic foundation of China-U.S. relations was shaken. China’s entry into the WTO had brought about deep integration between the two economies of China and the U.S.. With the rise of China, the relations between China and the U.S. presented a competitive and cooperative manner. Part four is pertinent to the events from 2017 till now, a period of long-term frictions between China and the U.S. After President Trump took office, the US administration adopted an “American First” strategy. Consequently, China, the world's second-largest economy, is regarded as the major threat to the U.S. for maintaining its leading rule in the world, and China-U.S. relations have thus entered a long period of frictions.

Key words: China-U.S. relations, national interests, international landscape