China's View of Foreigners

This caused American and Communist Chinese forces to fight each other during the Korean War, which began in 1949. Communist threats against Taiwan in the 1950's drove the U.S. and the Chinese Communists to the brink of nuclear war. The U.S. went to war in Vietnam in part to prevent the expansion of Chinese Communism. For the United States, China today is neither an outright enemy, nor a trusted friend. Today tensions exist because of the kind of government China has, and the actions it takes.

When the Chinese and Europeans first came into contact with each other, there was a mutual fascination for the other's culture, or way of life. The Chinese began to look at the European culture. They became interested in Western thinking. They were also beginning to look at the religion that the European missionaries were preaching about, Christianity. On the other end, the Europeans who came in contact with the Chinese were fascinated by their culture and their philosophy, mainly the philosophy of Confucius. While the two cultures seemed to be a good match, each respecting and admiring the other, it came to an abrupt halt. The end result was China and Europe both rejecting the other culture.

Stalin’s peace treaty with Hitler was of course broken quickly after it was formed by Hitler himself. Hitler too ignored history and fought with Russia in the winter and ultimately lost, helping him lose the war. Stalin caught off any foreign Russia had left with and focus on the ongoings in his country. Mao on the other hand tried to ally China With Russia after becoming communists, after it became apparent Russia had no intention in helping China become a superpower, Mao stopped depending on their alliance with Russia, not satisfied in not being a big player. For 30 years after China became the People’s Republic of China the US did not recognize them formally instead held communications with Taiwan, making Taiwan a middleman of sorts. In the Korean war the Chinese fought alongside North Korea with the help of the Soviet Union, partly due to the threat of the US’s interest in expanding in Asia, and fought against the US in the Vietnam War. In the early 70’s negotiations opened up between China and the USA, deeply confusing the Chinese people as they were the people they were taught to hate.

Since 1899, America has maintained an open door policy with China. Throughout the years, relations between the United States and China have changed with several effects on both countries caused by the open door policy.

A Chinese immigration political cartoon by Thomas Nast from an 1871 Harper’s Weekly magazine, displays criticisms of Chinese immigrants to the US on a wall (Doc. B). These complaints include, “They are dishonest and false, vicious, immoral, and heathenish”, and, “Coolie, slave, pauper, rat-eater.” These harsh comments affected the image of the Chinese. Americans made the immigrants appear inhumane and cold-hearted. Because the immigrants were stereotyped to the point they were called the “lowest and vilest of the human race,” Americans were influenced to pass the Chinese Exclusion

Playing the China card was a new way Nixon was able to integrate his idea of linkage politics. His theory was that because China was afraid of the Soviets, they may purse relations with the United States, which in return, would help control the USSR (PBS Nixon

Though termed the Tiananmen Square Massacre, this incident actually took place throughout China. What started out as a peaceful protest calling for political and economic reforms, soon turned to bloodshed. (Hu 2015)This greatly impacted China's international relationships. Contact between China and Western nations declined, official visits were suspended. Western powers imposed arms embargoes and economic sanctions, preventing the sale of military equipment, and approval of loans. (The National Bureau of Asian Research) Understanding the causes of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and its effects on China’s international relationships, aids in better understanding the nuances of this infamous incident.

Before became as a President, in 1967, Nixon had written in a magazine as a President candidate “We simply cannot afford to leave China outside the family of nations”(PBS). The reason Nixon paid so much attention on China was that he foresaw the US, the USSR, China, Western Europe, and Japan would become the major world powers. Being the world’s most populous country, China’s great potential attracted Nixon to rebuild the connection between the East and the West. The growing friction between Beijing and Moscow in the beginning of the 1960s urged the USSR withdrew all their technical supports and industrial projects in China. Nixon saw his chance. He first began to woo China in February 1969; he sent lots of positive messages towards China through third party countries such as Pakistan and Romania (PBS). Nixon’s hard working paid off by the end of 1970—China responded. Nixon successfully warmed up the relationship between China and America by sending a team of Ping Pong players to China to play. This famous political move in US-China history is called “Ping-Pong diplomacy”(PBS). Same year, Nixon sent Kissinger, his National Security Council director, secretly visited China to arrange a visit for him (PBS). Finally, on Feburary21, 1972, Nixon became the world’s focus: he visited China. However, at that time Chairman Mao was under bad health condition, the Premier Chou Enlai greeted Nixon at the airport instead. The opening

Prior to Communism in China, it was known to be a chaotic country on the brink of self-destruction. With the emergence of the party leader Mao Zedong, came a new hope, which filled its inhabitants with the belief that China would return to its former historical greatness. American and Chinese relations before 1971 were in simple terms described as “uneasy”, due to the American, Soviet Cold War. It was not until President Richard Nixon visited China and realized the high value of having China as a ally that relations between the two powers began to become positive. Unknown at the time, it is assumed in the book Chinese Lessons written by John Pomfret, that the relationships he formed with the people he met in China would change his outlook on life and Communist China forever.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon was quoted as stating that his visit to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) “changed the world…to build a bridge across sixteen thousand miles and twenty-two years of hostilities.” By meeting with Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing, Nixon took groundbreaking first steps to opening relations and formally recognizing the People’s Republic of China. The history of the aforementioned hostilities between the United States and the PRC dates back to the Chinese Communist Party’s takeover of mainland China following its civil war in the

As I understand the historical connection between China and United States, they were and in some sense still are both rivals, which began with Mao Zedong driving American-supported Chang out of China soon after the unconditional surrender of the defeat of aggressive Imperial Japan in 1945. Mao took over China and forced Chang to beat a hasty retreat to Taiwan Island. Then in l950, the world witnessed the fierce armed confrontation between Mao led China versus the United Nations' forces with the full backing of United States during the three year Korean War which eventually became a stalemate to this day. Then there was another world-shattering war between U.S. and Communist Soviet-China over the devastating Vietnam. So China had been at

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cold War was over, making the U.S. the only superpower left in the world. This has made the international system much more tranquil, and relaxed. The only country potentially powerful besides the U.S., is China. Many Americans fear China, not only because they are communist, but also because of their huge population. Their population is 1.3 billion people, which accounts 1/5th of the world’s population. As one of the only potential superpowers in the world, it would be in the best interest of all Americans if the U.S. and China became allies, instead of enemies. Peace and development, economic prosperity and social progress, are goals that both of

1900s China saw a century of fluctuating development and progress, which is recognised through various political, economic and social changes. The early division of the period encountered some change for the country yet this was not as significant as the latter change in which China’s political landscape metamorphosed into one of total contrast to the former. Foreign intervention was of course a reason and usually the root cause for the changes that occurred, particularly in the first half of the century until 1962 whereby there were still some minor influences by the foreigners but other factors seemed to have caused these later changes. It could be deduced that yes, foreign powers did have a significant influence over the transformation

China and U.S. relations are complex, but it is important to attribute historical context when analyzing contemporary issues. Prior to China establishing their global role as a superpower, their nation endured nearly a century of humiliation which began in the 1800s and concluded in the mid-1900s. Although they’ve redeemed their nationalism, the intrusion of Western imperialism created tension and hostility which lasted for years after. Also, the United States’ response to local Chinese events, such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, negatively impacted their relationship because it was an example of how American media and officials utilized knowledge about particular Chinese events and disseminated various rhetorical messages in response.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become more integrated and willing to cooperate within the global political and economic systems than ever in its history. However, there is growing apprehension in the Asia-Pacific region and the U.S. in regards to the consequences of rising in economic and military power in China. Descriptions about Chinese diplomacy in the policy and scholarly are less positive lately concerning China’s obedience to regional and international rules. There was little debate in the U.S. and elsewhere in regards to whether China was or was not part “the international community.” Scholars and experts in the early 1990s have contended