In October 2003, China’s defense minister, Cao Gangchuan, visited the United States to meet with President George W. Bush concerning relations and military ties between the two countries.
“It’s beneficial to the two sides and the world at large for these two countries to enhance mutual understanding and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation,” Bush said. “The U.S. administration and I will continue to work for the development of Chinese-U.S. relations.”
Cao said the improvement and development of Chinese-U.S. relations not only serves the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries, but also contributes to promoting peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the whole world.
Meetings like this one between leaders of these countries in recent years have helped the relationship between China and the United States, he said.
Although there is still much work to be done, much progress has been made since President Richard Nixon visited China in 1972.
China opens to America
His efforts were pivotal in opening the country, which had been literally closed to Americans since the communist government took power in 1949.
In 1972, China and the United States issued their first pledge to work toward full normalization of diplomatic relations. This agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America was known as the “Shanghai Communique.”
It represented the end of an old era and the beginning of a new one in Chinese-U.S. relations.
Full diplomatic relations began in 1979 after the United States severed governmental relations with Taiwan and transferred diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
The U.S. acknowledged the one-China principle that says there is only one China and that Taiwan is a part of China.
Over the years since these initial meetings, different presidencies and administrations have held fluctuating opinions about China, its relationship to Taiwan, arms sales, human rights violations and trade agreements.
An economic milestone was met in 1999 when the United States and China reached a bilateral accession agreement which resulted in a dramatic opening of the China market to U.S. goods and services.
According to the State Department, the accession agreement negotiated with China benefits American businesses, workers and farmers by cutting tariffs and increasing foreign competition.
The agreement also helps ensure fair trade and protects against import surges and unfair pricing.
It also makes China more accountable to keeping commitments it has made and should promote reform in the country.
With a population of 1.3 billion people, China offers a potentially lucrative market for U.S. goods and services.
In 2001, President Bush granted China permanent trade status, formerly called the “most-favored-nation treatment.”
Bush’s proclamation has helped develop bilateral economic relations and trade between the United States and China.
However, according to William R. Hawkins, a senior fellow for National Security Studies at the U.S. Business and Industry Council, China has a trade surplus with the United States of about $120 billion this year.
“The rule of thumb that every $1 billion in the trade balance represents the gain or loss of 10,000 jobs,” Hawkins writes.
“Using that standard, the trade deficit with China could explain the loss of more than 1 million American jobs.”
Many U.S. companies and many in Congress argue that China isn’t playing by the rules it has agreed to follow.
In September this year, the Department of Commerce created a new Unfair Trade Practices Team to track, detect, and confront unfair trade competition, according to a report by Don Evans, the U.S. Commerce Secretary
“Americans are willing to compete, on even terms, with any country in the world but we will not stand for unfair competition.
We are going to aggressively target unfair trade practices wherever they occur so that we can help create American jobs and improve the economy,” said Evans.
“American manufacturers can compete against any country’s white collars and blue collars, but we will not submit to competing against another country’s choke collars,” he said.
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