Since the end of the Cold War, Chinese understanding of the United States has been multisided and multidimensional in aspects such as American politics, economics, culture, foreign policy and so on. It is quite difficult to obtain accurate statistics and precise judgment of Chinese understanding of any of these issues. “Suspicion” is an appropriate term to generalize the basic feature of Chinese understanding OF and thinking ABOUT the United States in the post-Cold War world, viewed from such aspects as the starting point of this reflection, people’s mentality, and the current situation.
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View from Chinese understanding of the United States, one thing is certain. Whoever looks at the United States in whichever aspect, base their understanding ON China’s modernization and her security including sovereignty, territorial integrity, and internal power security. GIVEN THIS ANGLE OF VISION, the image of the United States is primarily twofold: IT [OMIT. The United States] is a frame of reference for China’s modernization and, at the same time, [OMIT is] a country [OMIT that is] seeking hegemony [THROUGHOUT in] the world: THE FEAR IS THAT IT [OMIT and hence] might bully China. This bullying did occur several times in China’s history.
The two starting points from which the Chinese view the United States, THEREFORE, reflect the basic mentality of the modern Chinese IN understandING the West. As Mao Zedong once SAID, there IS a “teacher-student complex” when the Chinese ARE trying to understand the West. The Chinese [OMIT people] sincerely regarded the developed countries of the West as teachers and wanted to learn from them. HOWEVER after many frustrations, they finally DISCOVERED that “the teacher was always bullying the student.” This “teacher-student complex” has added a strong tragic element TO Chinese patriotism, EASILY movING the Chinese, particularly those intellectuals who are seriously concerned about the country.
The historical evolution of this century proves that the Chinese people’s twofold understanding of the United States has been different at different times[: AT ANY GIVEN TIME one part might be predominant while the other part is of minor influence. Sometimes, the two parts are equally valued. During the first four decades of [THE LAST CENTURY ], except FOR a small number of intellectuals who regarded the United States as an example FOR CHINA to follow, a large majority [OMIT of the people] had NEITHER any knowledge of the United States nor a positive image OF IT . [OMIT There were] some [OMIT people] in the ruling class, IT IS TRUE, [OMIT who] carried out A policy of “playing one barbarian state against another” and viewed the United States as a power to play against other powers, but [ONE SENTENCE. But], generally speaking, their efforts were to no avail.
The breakout of the Pacific War CAUSED China and the United States TO FORGE a strategic alliance. As a result, the Chinese intellectuals’ favorable impression of the United States rapidly increased. HOWEVER THIS good image soon evaporated when the United States backed Chiang Kai-shek’s unpopular government during the Civil War and later became the enemy of [OMIT the] New China after [OMIT the] Liberation. At that time, the Chinese believed that however powerful the United States MIGHT BE, it was a loser in China. After the Korean War, the notion that the United States was but a “paper tiger” became deeply rooted among the CHINESE. This was one of the ideological sources of the upsurge of the Chinese people’s anti-US mood at that time. FOR OVER 20 years from Liberation to the early 70s, the notion that the United States was an evil hegemony, A WORLDWIDE INVADER, CONSTITUTED AN absolute PART OF mainstream thinking in China. LookED AT from today, THE influence OF THIS CONCEPT was far-reaching and tremendous.
President Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 was indeed a turning point. The basis for the improvement of Sino-US relations was TOO INADEQUATE at the beginning: the leaders of the two countries had to take measures to shape a BETTER image of the other side and to make it acceptable among its own people. And these measures worked: NOTABLY, they helped rally support for Mao Zedong’s strategic adjustment. However, despite the great efforts OF the government-controlled media, the curiosity of the Chinese people outweighed their good opinion of the United States in the following ten years. Hostility still existed.
The Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held in late 1978 opened a new chapter in Chinese history. It had been the cherished goal OF THE CHINESE for the past hundred years to put an end to poverty and backwardness, to establish an independent and prosperous nation, THEREBY TAKING OUR PLACE among the nations of the world. Once THESE GOALS WERE ESTABLISHED AS the country’s primary policy, tremendous enthusiasm and motivation WERE AROUSED. It was during the Third Plenary Session that Sino-US relations achieved normalization.
China’s implementation of the openING and reform policy for the purpose of modernization, the strategic cooperation between China and the United States IN opposING the Soviet Union’s [ATTEMPTS AT HEGEMONY? Expansion], and the normalization of Sino-US relations pushed the relationship between the two countries FORWARD into a new period. Simultaneously, the opinions OF THE CHINESE towards the United States, especially those of the Chinese intellectuals, underwent considerable change[OMIT s] as well. They no longer viewed the United States as China’s enemy. Instead, the United States was considered AS PART OF an alliance to oppose hegemonism and AS the model for China’s modernization. Or, PERHAPS MORE ACCURATELY, THE UNITED STATES WAS AT LEAST one of the models.
Those young people who entered college at that time could EASILY FEEL the strong influence from Europe and the United States. They were so eager for knowledge from the Western developed countries (such as the United States) that sometimes they ADOPTED ANYTHING AND everything introduced from abroad without critical evaluation. Since the early 1980s, when the Chinese government began to select students for studying in the United States, a NEW tide has taken form for students to go to the United States to further their studies. Studying abroad IN AND OF itself has become a value OF IMPORTANCE.
Not only the intellectuals and students but also most of the Chinese immediately think of the United States when they reflect on the prospects of China’s modernization. In an abstract, OR EVEN A CONCRETE way, a considerable number would compare IN THEIR MINDS China’s current situation and their ideals with the image of the United States, REGARDLESS OF how much they knew about the United States or whether that knowledge was true or false. All things American, including its state-of-the-art science and technology, enormous economic strength, advanced education, unique culture, AND SO ON, were objects TO understand and study, TO introducE TO CHINA AND TO ADOPT. Although people accepted it as common sense that China and the United States EXHIBITED DIFFERENT STATES OF DEVELOPMENT, different historical and cultural backgrounds, and that there were various ways of development, the Chinese still hoped to realize modernization and to rise above other countries in the world like the United States by learning from the United States and making use of the American experience.
To be sure, in the 80s, after the implementation of the openING and reform policy, it was A main current of the Chinese understanding of the United States THAT to learn from the latter WAS the WAY of realizing China’s modernization. This was a unique period during the past century’s relationship between China and the United States. Problems did exist in this period, HOWEVER: the Chinese resisted and REJECTED a number of unfriendly moves by the Americans in technology transfer, China’s weapon exports, and human rights issues. But comparatively speaking, the prevailing main-current notion was that the United States was an advanced country and that China needED TO know about the United States and ACQUIRE knowledge and methods good for THE modernization drive.
