Embracing the polar bear?--Sino-Russian relations in the 1990s

Journal of Third World Studies, Fall 2002 by Deng, Peng

COMMON GROUND

Beijing's interest in good bilateral relations with Russia also resulted from the increasing uncertainly in its relationship with the West, especially with the United States. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the United States was China's "most important neighbor" because American policy toward East Asia was most decisive in shaping security issues involving Korea, Japan, Taiwan, South and Southeast Asia. Washington's diplomatic shifts in the 90s had a direct impact on China's foreign and even domestic policies.15 With the end of the Cold War, Sino-US relations entered into a very unstable period. Besieged by a Republican majority in Congress, the Clinton administration demonstrated much vacillation in foreign affairs and the Republican-dominated Congress repeatedly asserted its role in formulating and executing its own foreign policy. Since the normalization of relations between the two countries, China's policy has always been the sacrificial lamb whenever partisan politics in Washington became ugly. While moral crusaders in the capitol called for harsher measures against Beijing for what they saw as the violation of human rights, real politicians argued that the disintegration of the former Soviet Union made good relations with Beijing unnecessary. Responding to the "emergence of a powerful and possibly more dangerous China," hardliners called for the renewal of the containment policy. 16 Articles in some reputable American publications such as the Journal of Foreign Affairs portrayed China as a threat to the interest of the United States and predicted an "inevitable conflict" between the two countries. Conservative think tanks like RAND proposed a policy of "Congagement," an odd hybrid of containment and engagement, in dealing with China.17 "Get tough with China" became a popular political sport in Washington. The Fox Report in 1999 indicated how fragile the US-China rapprochement was in the face of the volatile American political culture.18

In recent years, the Chinese leaders seemed to have lost any hope of a honeymoon-like relationship with Washington. Dialogue between the two governments was difficult because of widely different values and priorities. Bickering between Beijing and Washington evolved around a host of issues ranging from the piracy of American intellectual properties on the China coast to Taiwan's presidential election. For years the two countries collided on human rights at the United Nations. The Chinese government was also alarmed by Washington's continuous interest in Tibetan affairs through its support to the Dalai Lama. This only refreshed the Chinese memory of the CIA's role in the Tibetan rebellion of 1959. To the chagrin of the Chinese leaders, ideological dispute often had economic fallout. Throughout the 1990s, the US Congress kept Beijing on its toes by its annual review of China's MFN status. If not for the efforts of moderates in the Clinton administration and the legislative body, the bilateral trade may well have been paralyzed. For years also the US proved to be the biggest obstacle to China's bid for the World Trade Organization membership. In the face of growing American animosity, Beijing had no choice but to strengthen its partnership with Russia.