This month marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the US. Because of America's global presence, China's relationship with it is, as President Hu Jintao (
The US plays an integral role in China's foreign policy. However, China has and will continue to assert its independence through other diplomatic channels. China's effective diplomatic strategy has allowed it to consolidate its influence in Asia. The US must therefore implement a new public diplomacy strategy aimed at preserving core geo-strategic and national interests in Asia.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's (
In a highly interdependent global economy, Beijing needs the US just as the US needs China.
Wen's meeting with US President George Bush was the third meeting between Chinese and US leaders last year. At Wen's arrival ceremony, Bush was in rare form, smiling and leading Wen near crowds braving freezing temperatures.
This was in stark contrast to the Bush administration threatening to slap trade sanctions on Chinese textiles, TV and iron-fitting products in November. The sudden change in relations demonstrates the importance both countries place on maintaining political and economic stability.
The Chinese Communist Party has staked its legitimacy on attracting higher levels of foreign direct investment and increasing overall economic growth. To do this, Beijing must continue to improve its relations both with the US and other key economic powers.
Robust economic growth, combined with effective diplomacy, has immeasurably improved China's international image. Because of this, China's diplomatic engagement has important implications for the US.
As a growing economic and military power, China is perfectly positioned in Asia. It now acts as a vital mediator between the US and North Korea. In addition, China's relations with South Korea are better than they are with the US. ASEAN now looks at China as an important economic and political lifeline.
But China's diplomacy also has important implications for US interests in the region, such as Taiwan. China has prevented Taiwan from entering the UN and from obtaining observer status in the World Health Organization. Even more surprisingly, because of strong pressure from Beijing, Bush went so far as to tell President Chen Shui-bian (
The US must recognize that while China is dependent on the US for its export markets and foreign direct investment, Bei-jing has and will continue to assert its independence through diplomatic channels.
Beijing has become very effective in using this "soft power" to consolidate its influence in Asia.
The US needs to embark on an aggressive public diplomacy strategy, de-emphasizing the "war on terror," and increasing state-level contact between the US and traditional Asian allies. It must also devote more resources to international student exchanges to improve trust and understanding at the grass-roots level.
Failure to improve America's image in Asia will lead to a weaker presence there and a smaller overall influence in the region.
Earl Carr is a research associate in East Asian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
On May 7, 1971, Henry Kissinger planned his first, ultra-secret mission to China and pondered whether it would be better to meet his Chinese interlocutors “in Pakistan where the Pakistanis would tape the meeting — or in China where the Chinese would do the taping.” After a flicker of thought, he decided to have the Chinese do all the tape recording, translating and transcribing. Fortuitously, historians have several thousand pages of verbatim texts of Dr. Kissinger’s negotiations with his Chinese counterparts. Paradoxically, behind the scenes, Chinese stenographers prepared verbatim English language typescripts faster than they could translate and type them
More than 30 years ago when I immigrated to the US, applied for citizenship and took the 100-question civics test, the one part of the naturalization process that left the deepest impression on me was one question on the N-400 form, which asked: “Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any communist or totalitarian party anywhere in the world?” Answering “yes” could lead to the rejection of your application. Some people might try their luck and lie, but if exposed, the consequences could be much worse — a person could be fined,
Xiaomi Corp founder Lei Jun (雷軍) on May 22 made a high-profile announcement, giving online viewers a sneak peek at the company’s first 3-nanometer mobile processor — the Xring O1 chip — and saying it is a breakthrough in China’s chip design history. Although Xiaomi might be capable of designing chips, it lacks the ability to manufacture them. No matter how beautifully planned the blueprints are, if they cannot be mass-produced, they are nothing more than drawings on paper. The truth is that China’s chipmaking efforts are still heavily reliant on the free world — particularly on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Tuesday last week apologized over allegations that the former director of the city’s Civil Affairs Department had illegally accessed citizens’ data to assist the KMT in its campaign to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors. Given the public discontent with opposition lawmakers’ disruptive behavior in the legislature, passage of unconstitutional legislation and slashing of the central government’s budget, civic groups have launched a massive campaign to recall KMT lawmakers. The KMT has tried to fight back by initiating campaigns to recall DPP lawmakers, but the petition documents they