Before the incident in Tiananmen Square, China’s economic and social landscapes were progressing in a positive direction, leading toward democracy and economic liberalization. In 1978, Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, in coordination with U.S. President Carter, issued a joint communiqué establishing full diplomatic relations between the two nations. Throughout the next decade, Deng launched a series of economic and social reforms meant to improve the lives of Chinese citizens, including opening up China to foreign investment, decollectivizing agriculture, and allowing citizens to own businesses. He led massive economic reform within China and attempted to dissemble the communist economic structure that weighed down the nation during the Cultural …show more content…
Andrew T.H. Tan, an Australian professor specializing in China international relations, discusses that “As Henry Kissinger recalled, China’s ‘relations with the rest of the world were the best since the Communist victory in 1949…Relations with the United States especially had made major progress.’” Cooperative relations with the United States were critically important to the Chinese leadership in maintaining security in the face of continuing pressure from the Soviet Union and in sustaining the flow of aid, investment, and trade essential to the economic development and modernization underway in China. Ultimately, China’s relationship with the United States was not only benefitting American interests in a post-Cold War society, but also furthering economic and social reform, enforcing modernization, and allowing China to become a member of the international community. The relations between the two powerful nations were strong and appeared almost …show more content…
According to Harry Harding, a professor of public policy specializing in US-Asian relations, The White House immediately released a statement saying that President Bush “deeply deplored the decision to use force against peaceful demonstrators.” The following day, the Bush administration imposed its first series of sanctions against China, including a warning against American travel to China, the suspension of military sales to Beijing, and the postponement of all high-level military exchanges. Beyond these actions, the administration waited to see how the situation in China unfolded, hoping it might not be as bad as the first reports indicated. While President Bush initially took a strong stance against the incident, he eventually realized his necessity to consider the condition and future of Sino-American relations. Professor Harding continues to note