Fragile Partnership: The United States and China

During most of the 1980s, the Soviet threat and commercial interests bound the United States and China in something of a strategic partnership. But in the 1990s, only commercial interests remain, and these have complicated as much as they have enhanced relations. Charges that China has diverted high-tech equipment to its military, and that it has acquired U.S. nuclear secrets through espionage, have created serious new tensions. Adherents of the “China threat” and “American hegemony” viewpoints now have additional ammunition. In recent years, two policy frameworks seem to be guiding decision makers on both sides: Globalism (neo-liberalism) and Realism. This article, after identifying the commonalities and differences of these frameworks, examines their impact in U.S. transfers of dual-use high-tech transfers to China. It is clear that Chinese corporations seek to acquire advanced technology any way they can. U.S. export-control and internal security policies are clearly lax, but instances of technology divergences and espionage do not appear to be strategically consequential. They should not be used to undermine efforts to find common ground with China, notably on Taiwan and nonmilitary areas of security.