History of Sino-American Relations
Graduate Seminar
Dr. David Lorenzo
Office: 271305
Phone: 2939-3091 ext. 51305
lorenzodav@gmail.com
lorenzo@nccu.edu.tw
Overview:
This seminar will provide an overview of the history of US relations with China,. It covers a
sample of scholarship that includes both journal articles and books. The purpose of the course is
to familiarize students with the continuities, discontinuities and complications of the relationship
between China (in the form of the ROC on the mainland, the PRC and the ROC on Taiwan) and
the U.S.
Assignments:
Students will be responsible for the following:
Reading the assignment materials and participating in general discussions
Actively participating in discussions
Engaging in in-class writing exercises
Two seven-page discussions of articles
Submission of a preliminary literature review for their paper
A final (18 page) paper
Classes:
Classes will be conducted as seminars. This means that I will lecture for only a portion of the
class time. The rest of the time will be spent either as a class or in small groups in discussing the
reading material that has been assigned.
Each class has a considerable number of readings assigned. I understand that most students have
English as a second language, and therefore do not expect that all students will be able to make it
through all the readings every week. However, students should do a minimum of three readings
every week, and for purposes of writing a paper on a topic should read all the assigned texts for
that particular topic.
Materials:
Materials will be taken from a variety of sources. Those located in books will be scanned and
available online at my website (http://www3.nccu.edu.tw/~lorenzo/). Articles will also be posted
on my website, but will also be available via JSTOR and other electronic means.
Grades:
Short papers: 25% each
Final paper: 40%
Participation: 10%
Papers
Participants will submit the following:
History of Sino-American Relations
During the classes on the 7th and 12th weeks:
A seven page paper analyzing and assessing an issue surrounding a weekly topic we have
covered (e.g., the attitude of the US during the Taiping uprising). These papers should clearly set
out the issue, generate interesting questions regarding the issue, cover ways of thinking about
that issue from a variety of perspectives grounded in scholarly sources, and discuss the
implications of issue area.
During the class of the 15th week:
A three page review of the literature on the subject of your final paper. This review shall identify
relevant articles and books, discuss their relationship with the question posed by the paper, and
assess the state of the scholarship at present bearing on the question posed.
Final:
On the day scheduled for the final exam submit the final paper. This paper will, building upon
the literature review, data, and theoretical position you build, explore a question implicated in the
study of Sino-American relations. Your paper must clearly:
Identify the question you pose
Discuss that question in light of the literature review you create
Identify the methodology and evidence you will utilize
Answer the question
Discuss the importance and relevance of your answer
Discuss the importance and relevance of your answer both generally and in light of your
literature review.
Grading Scale:
A: 100-90: Excellent work—generates several interesting insights and displays a sure grasp of
the material
B: 89-80: Good, above average work—sometimes generates interesting insights and displays a
solid grasp of the material
C: 79-70: Average work—displays a competent grasp of the material
D: 69-60: Below average work—displays a grasp of the material that is sometimes deficient
F: 59- : Unacceptable work: displays a poor grasp of the material
Course Outline and Topics (subject to change)
Week of Sept 17: Introduction:
E. Davis, ed., Chinese Perspectives on Sino-American Relations, 1950-2000, Edwin
Mellon, 2000, chaps. 1, 19.
P. Saunders, "Supping with a Long Spoon: Dependence and Interdependence in SinoAmerican Relations," The China Journal, No. 43 (Jan., 2000), pp. 55-81
Week of Sept. 24: Early Relations:
Cohen, America's response to China: a history of Sino-American relations Prologue,
Chapter 1
K. Latourette, The History of Early Relations between the United States and China, 17841844 , chaps. III, IV and V
2
History of Sino-American Relations
M. Hunt, The Making of a Special Relationship: the United States and China to 1914
(Columbia U. Press, 1983), chaps. 1 and 2
Week of Oct. 1: Late 19th Century Relations:
Cohen, America's Response to China, Chapter 2
Hunt, The Making of a Special Relationship, chaps. 3, 4 and 5.
M. Hunt, The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy, chap. 2
P. Harris, “Cultural Imperialism and American Protestant Missionaries: Collaboration
and Dependency in Mid-Nineteenth-Century China,” Pacific Historical Review, 60:3 (Aug 1991)
Week of Oct. 8: Early 20th Century Relations
Cohen, chaps. 3, 4
Hunt, The Making of a Special Relationship, chaps. 7 and 8.
Hunt, The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy, chaps. 3, 4
Jerry Israel Progressivism and the Open Door: America and China, 1905-1921, intro,
chaps 1 3, 4.
Noel H. Pugach, "American Friendship for China and the Shantung Question at the
Washington Conference,” The Journal of American History, Vol. 64, No. 1 (Jun., 1977)
Hu Sheng, Imperialism and Chinese Politics, pp. 106-175.
Week of Oct. 15: Early Relations with The Republic of China
William C. Kirby, "The Internationalization of China: Foreign Relations at Home and
Abroad in the Republican Era". The China Quarterly, No. 150, Special Issue: Reappraising
Republic China (Jun., 1997).
Hunt, The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy, chap. 4
Cohen, America's Response to China, pp. 90-134.
Cohen, The Chinese Connection, pp. 71-148.
Israel, Progressivism and the Open Door, chap. 7
Week of Oct. 22: Relations in the 1920s and 1930s
Frank Ninkovich, "The Rockefeller Foundation, China, and Cultural Change," Journal of
American History, Vol. 70, No. 4 (Mar., 1984)
Hunt, The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy, chap. 5
Cohen, America's Response to China, chap. 5.
Week of Oct. 29: Relations During WWII
Theodore White, ed., The Stilwell Papers
Warren Cohen, The Chinese Connection, chap. 8
Barbara Tuchman, Stillwell and the American Experience in China
Davis, Chinese Perspectives on Sino-American Relations, chap. 2.
Cairo Conference (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/cairo.asp)
Week of Nov. 5: Post-WWII and Early Relations with PRC:
Lloyd E. Eastman, "Who Lost China? Chiang Kai-shek Testifies," The China Quarterly,
No. 88 (Dec., 1981),
3
History of Sino-American Relations
Chen Jian, "Myth of America's 'Lost Chance' in China," Diplomatic History, Vol. 21, No.
1.
John Garver, "Little Chance," Diplomatic History, Vol. 21, No. 1
Warren Cohen, "Symposium on the Lost Chance in China," Diplomatic History, Vol. 21,
No. 1
Davis, Chinese Perspectives on Sino-American Relations, chaps. 3, 5, 6.
Hunt, Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy, Chap. 6
Cohen, America's Response to China, chap. 6.
Week of Nov. 12: The Korean War:
Michael Sheng, The Psychology of the Korean War: The Role of Ideology and Perception
in China's Entry into the War" The Journal of Conflict Studies, Vol. XXII No. 1 Spring
2002 http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/JCS/article/viewArticle/367/580
Michael Hunt, "Beijing and the Korean Crisis, June 1950-June 1951," Political Science
Quarterly, Vol 107, No. 3, 1992.
Robert Jervis, "The Impact of the Korean War on the Cold War,"The Journal of Conflict
Resolution, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Dec., 1980)
Hao Yufan and Zhai Zhihai, "China's Decision to Enter the Korean War: History
Revisited," The China Quarterly, No. 121 (Mar., 1990)
Week of Nov. 19: Relations with the ROC on Taiwan:
Summary of the Foreign Relations of the United States 1958-1960, Volume XIX, China,
http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/frus/summaries/960812_FRUS_XIX_1958-60.html
Formosa Resolution (1955)
Leonard H. D. Gordon, "Use of Force in Taiwan Strait., " The Journal of American
History, Vol. 72, No. 3 (Dec., 1985),
Nick Cullather, "Fuel for the Good Dragon," Diplomatic History, Vol. 20 No. 1, Winter
1996
CY Lin, "Legacy of the Korean War on US-Taiwan Relations," Journal of Northeast
Asian Studies, Vol. 11, Issue 4, Winter 1992.
J. Blackwell, "The China Lobby: Influences on US-China Foregn Policy in the Post War
Period, 1949-1954," The Forum, 2010.
Steven M. Goldstein, "The United States and the Republic of China, 1949–1978:
Suspicious Allies"
Week of November 26: The Vietnam War
Chen Jian, "China's Involvement in the Vietnam War, 1964-69,"The China Quarterly, No.
142 (Jun., 1995)
Michael Lumbers, "The Irony of Vietnam: The Johnson Administration's Tentative Bridge
Building to China, 1965–1966," Journal of Cold War Studies, Summer2004, Vol. 6 Issue 3
Xiaoming Zhang, "The Vietnam War, 1964-1969: A Chinese Perspective," The Journal of
Military History, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Oct., 1996)
Frank E. Rogers, "Sino-American Relations and the Vietnam War, 1964-66," The China
Quarterly, No. 66 (Jun., 1976)
Week of December 3: Normalization of Relations between the US and the PRC
4
History of Sino-American Relations
Documents relating to Nixon's trip to the PRC:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB106/index.htm;
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB145/index.htm;
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB70/
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, "Taiwan Expendable? Nixon and Kissinger Go to China," The
Journal of American History, Vol. 92, No. 1 (Jun., 2005)
Evelyn Goh, "Nixon, Kissinger, and the 'Soviet Card' in the U.S. Opening to China, 1971–
1974," Diplomatic History, Vol. 29, No. 3 ( June 2005).
James C. Thomson, "On the Making of U. S. China Policy, 1961-9: A Study in Bureaucratic
Politics," The China Quarterly, No. 50 (Apr. - Jun., 1972)
Week of December 10: Reform and Tiananmen
Cohen, chap. 9
Tucker, ed., China Confidential, chap. 7
Davis, ed., chaps. 9-10
Harding, chaps. 4-7
Week of December 17: The US, the PRC and the ROC on Taiwan
Davis, ed., chap. 11
Tucker, ed., China Confidential, chap. 6
John P. McClaran, “U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan: Implications for the Future of the Sino-U.S.
Relationship” Asian Survey, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 2000), pp. 622-640
Robert Sutter, “Bush Administration Policy Toward Beijing and Taipei,” Journal of
Contemporary China (2003), 12(36), August
Aaron L. Friedberg “The Future of U.S.-China Relations: Is Conflict Inevitable?”
International Security, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 7-45
Steven M. Goldstein and Randall Schriver, “An Uncertain Relationship: The United States,
Taiwan and the Taiwan Relations Act,” The China Quarterly, No. 165, Taiwan in the 20th
Century (Mar., 2001), pp. 147-172
Week of December 24: US and China on the Age of Terrorism and a Rising China
Al Friedberg, 11 September and the future of Sino-American relations - Survival,
Vol. 44, no. 1, spring 2002
Davis, ed., Chaps. 18-20
Phillip C. Saunders, “China's America Watchers: Changing Attitudes towards the United
States,” The China Quarterly, No. 161 (Mar., 2000)
Robert J. Art, “The United States and the Rise of China: Implications for the Long Haul”
Volume 125, Number 3, Fall 2010
David Shambaugh, "Coping with a Conflicted China," The Washington Quarterly, Vo.
34, no. 1, Winter 2011
Week of January 1: Foundations for Future Relations
Aaron L. Friedberg, "The Future of U.S.-China Relations: Is Conflict Inevitable?”
International Security, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Autumn, 2005)
5
History of Sino-American Relations
Steven M. Goldstein and Randall Schriver, "An Uncertain Relationship: The United States,
Taiwan and the Taiwan Relations Act,” The China Quarterly, No. 165, Taiwan in the 20th
Century (Mar., 2001)
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, "If Taiwan chooses unification, should the United States care?"
The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 3 (2002)
Evelyn Goh, "The US–China Relationship and Asia-Pacific Security: Negotiating Change,"
Asian Security, Vol 1, No. 3 (2005)
Peter Gries, "Tears of Rage: Chinese Nationalist Reaction to the Belgrade Embassy
Bombing," The China Journal, No. 46, July 2001
6