Organizer and Chair: Brantly Womack, University of Virginia Discussants: Robert G. Sutter, Library of Congress; Debin Liu, Jilin University
While it is clear that the realities of Asia shape, or should shape, U.S.-China relations, it is also true that the realities of U.S.-China relations have a reciprocal effect on Asia. The purpose of this panel is to present a variety of perspectives on this complex interaction. The papers will concentrate on the areas of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Northeast Asia, and the presenters are scholars from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Beijing. The commentators are not only distinguished experts on Asia, they are also persons with unusually rich experience with the cooking-pot of American China policy.
This panel should be of general interest to AAS members in their capacities as citizens interested in the impact of Asia on U.S.-China relations and vice-versa, but it should also make a distinctive contribution to the specialist consideration of the subject. U.S.-China relations are not merely a bilateral game with secondary effects on other areas and issues. They are one of Asia's major global realities, and as such they affect the perception, articulation and course of development of other areas of Asian politics. In turn, the issues of U.S.-China relations are as often questions of mutual actions toward third-party situations as they are matters of purely bilateral concerns.
Bringing together a variety of Asian perspectives on Sino-American relations is unlikely to produce a neat formula for diplomatic success. It may not even contribute to a convergence of viewpoints. But if the distance between perspectives is not overcome, the range of perspectives reflects facets of a vast reality that is otherwise too easily oversimplified.
Hong Kong in United States-China Relations
James T. H. Tang, University of Hong Kong
This paper examines the importance of the political transition of Hong Kong in U.S.-China relations through strategic, political and economic dimensions.
For years, as a British colonial territory, Hong Kong has been part of the Western world in strategic terms. The U.S. navy has frequently made use of facilities of the port of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the territory's official status from July 1997, will be part of China. There is little doubt that the strategic shift will have an impact on U.S.-China relations.
Politically, the United States has expressed interest in Hong Kong's transition from British to Chinese rule, especially over questions such as democracy and human rights. The PRC, however, has rejected "foreign interference" in the territory's future. The two countries' Hong Kong policy is therefore a potential source of conflict.
Economically, Hong Kong has also been, if reluctantly, drawn into the trade disputes between the United States and China. Any major trade confrontation between the two would have serious implications for the territory. Yet, at the same time, Hong Kong will almost certainly remain a useful base for American commercial activities in the regions, as well as a platform for China's continuing efforts in engaging with the global economy.
The Impact of Post-Cold War Sino-American Relations on Northeast Asia
Yan Wang, Foreign Affairs College, Beijing
The end of the Cold War has ushered in a new era in international relations, and Sino-American relations have been undergoing ups and downs and even crises. It has been difficult for the United States to shift from viewing China as a Cold War "card" against the Soviet Union to a new framework for viewing the relationship. Since Sino-American relations affect the security of the entire region of Northeast Asia, the United States inevitably has to view China's role in terms of East Asia and the entire Pacific region. Ongoing and foreseeable problems of Japanese security and Korean reunification are important elements of the post-Cold War context of Sino-American relations.
The United States and Economic Interdependence Between Taiwan and China
Tse-kang Leng, Institute of International Relations, Taipei
This paper will analyze the extent to which the United States influences economic interdependence between Taiwan and China. Interdependence theorists of international politics argue that through cooperation in "low politics" such as trade and investment, a more peaceful international situation can be achieved and bilateral political disputes can be buffered. However, the economic relationship between Taiwan and China can be described as Taiwan's dependence rather than interdependence with China. Given this interpretation, Taiwan is in a more vulnerable situation in cross-Straits economic interaction. Taiwan's further economic dependence may result in final political incorporation by China.
However, this paper argues that American participation in East Asia in general and cross-Straits interaction in particular offers a leverage of power between Taiwan and China, and thus protects American as well as Taiwanese economic interests. First of all, it is in American interest to keep a balance of power or status quo in the Taiwan Strait. The status quo enables the United States to pursue its dual policies of acknowledging the "one China" principle, while promising security to Taiwan. Secondly, both Taiwan and China are heavily dependent on the American market. Taiwanese trade with China is investment driven, and the destination of most products of Taiwanese firms on mainland China is the United States. Hence, the renewal of China's MFN status further strengthens the economic interdependence between Taiwan and China.
Finally, American leadership in East Asian regional international organizations, especially APEC, has put cross-Straits economic interaction in the international arena. The enmeshment of China and Taiwan in regional and global multilateral frameworks implies that while the bilateral dependence of Taiwan on China might tempt China to take advantage of Taiwan, there would be inevitable multilateral repercussions that would make such options unattractive.
In summary, this paper analyzes American roles in cross-Straits relations from three different perspectives: political and security concerns, economic engagements, and multilateral regimes.