Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
1. Issue
The United States must decide on how to officially react to the Tiananmen Square
violence that occurred in China. The position taken will influence the relationship
between the United States and China in the coming years. The results of a particular
stance will have bigger effect the sooner it is adopted, so a decision on how the US will
2. Background
• The Communists gained control of China in 1949. China became a nuclear power in
1964.
• During the cold war, the Soviet Union, and not China, was considered the biggest threat
to US security. An open relationship with China has helped the United States maintain
some influence over the region and balance the influence of the Soviet Union. The
Chinese also felt somewhat threatened by Soviet power, which facilitated the
• China has since become an important trade partner with the United States.
• China’s influence in Asia has grown. Its military and economy have also grown.
• China reacted to student pro-democracy protests with extreme violence. The pro-
• The general public in the United States was angered by the violent reaction of the
Chinese government. Members of congress have called for condemnation of the act by
3. Objectives
Mariko Wakatsuki
• Pressure China to end future human rights violations against their own people
• Promote the spread of democracy in Asia and reduce the influence of communism
4. Analysis
• The development of bilateral relationships between the United States and China has been
a strategic necessity to limit the influence of the Soviet Union in Asia. The Chinese were
open to relations with the US in the 70’s because they felt threatened by Soviet
expansion. If the US reaction to the Tiananmen Square incident makes China feel
threatened, they may begin to strengthen ties with the Soviets. This will shift the balance
• The American people are angry over the brutal response by the Chinese government
Square incident is too lenient, the administration will lose public support and it will
become more difficult to accomplish other political goals of the administration. Congress
will take advantage of the weakness of the executive and try to increase the power of the
legislative branch.
• If the US responds too weakly to China, the Chinese government will feel that they can
do whatever they want and the United States will not stop them. This may lead to an
increased number of human rights violations by the Chinese government to maintain their
• A strong response that condemns the Chinese may be seen by the Chinese as the United
States trying to interfere in Chinese concerns. The Chinese consider the Tiananmen
Square incident to be a domestic concern. A strong response by the United States will
hurt support for US cooperation in China and will strengthen anti-American politicians in
China. This will hurt future Chinese relations. It may negatively impact the United
States by hurting trade and reducing the influence that the United States has in Asia.
• Because China is a nuclear power, maintaining influence over China is important for
national security of the United States. In order to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons,
China must not sell the technology to other countries. It would be especially dangerous if
China sold nuclear weapon technology to countries that are enemies of the United States.
The US can only have an influence over China’s arms sales if it maintains a good
relationship.
will likely become a superpower in Asia because it has lots of potential power and wealth
due to its size and resources. China’s cooperation will be necessary to resolve problems
that may arise in Asian involving surrounding Asian countries such as North and South
Korea. If the US does not maintain a good relationship with China, it will become very
• If the US does not criticize the Chinese for their use of violence against democratic
protesters, then may will strengthen the will of other oppressive countries to use violence
to stop anti-government groups. If the United States refuses to condemn Chinese actions
but then condemns the actions of other countries, the US will be a hypocrite and it will
5. Options
• Openly condemn the Chinese actions and take action (for example by withdrawing the
US ambassador to China).
PROS: This action would send a strong signal to China that the US does not approve of
its actions and they need to change if they want US cooperation. This might encourage
the Chinese to protect human rights better in the future. This action would also improve
the support of the American people and members of Congress who want the US to take a
CONS: This action may backfire. The Chinese may decide that they do not need US
cooperation and may more closely build their relations with the Soviets. Worsened
relations with the Chinese might hurt trade and the US economy. It would also make it
more difficult to influence situations in Asia because the US might find it hard to gain the
cooperation of the Chinese when dealing with countries around China. It might also
that rather than improve human rights, by strengthening this group in the Chinese
• Do not condemn the Chinese violence and continue to interact with the Chinese as if the
PROS: This would allow for improved relations and cooperation with China in the future.
China would see that the United States government is not going to interfere with its
domestic politics and would continue to work closely with the United States in
international matters. The United States would likely be able to count more on China to
cooperate with them in Asian politics. Trade between the two countries would also stay
CONS: Domestic support for the administration is likely to drop. This may send the
wrong message to the Chinese, so that the Chinese might feel that they can do whatever
they want and the US will not interfere. This could lead to more human rights problems.
Also, this might hurt US relations with other pro-democratic allies. Other countries may
feel that they can get away with human rights violations without punishment.
• Take the issue to the United Nations, and work with other countries to show disapproval
PROS: The United States can show that they do not agree with the Chinese actions, but
the criticism may have more impact if other countries also disapprove.
CONS: Other countries’ relations with China do not necessarily match the US
relationship, so they want to deal with the situation differently than the US. China also
has a strong influence in the UN. Any decision made by the UN is likely to be less
effective than what the US could do on its own. It will still hurt US-Chinese relations.
• Condemn the Chinese actions vocally, but do not take strong action to punish them.
PROS: This will make some Americans happy as long as the administration shows that
they disapprove. Although it may still hurt relations with China, they will not be as bad
and can be improved in the future. There will still be room for improved cooperation in
the future
CONS: Many Americans will be unsatisfied if no serious action is taken. This will hurt
the short-term support for the administration. This may still give strength to the
conservative Chinese politicians without punishing China in any real way. It may also
hurt the image of the United States among other democratic countries if the US doesn’t