Li Chengpeng: A Bound Volume of China-US Grievances (Part 1)
Renowned writer Li Chengpeng analyzes the cyclical patterns of China-US relations by reviewing historical events of mutual visits and diplomatic friction between the two countries' leaders. He explores the close connection between China's economy and the trajectory of China-US relations, while dissecting the strategies, similarities, and differences of successive leaders in handling relations with the US.
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To paraphrase the opening of "One Hundred Years of Solitude," many years later, as Xi Jinping faced the long line, he would surely remember that autumn afternoon many years ago when Trump took him to see the construction site—the orderly honor guard, the blaring bugles, the dashing rifle drill, the two most powerful leaders on the planet leading the way, the hall full of guests, the clinking of glasses, and the top-tier musical performances.
In fact, he was very satisfied upon landing: fighter jets in formation, a twenty-one-gun salute, and a few soldiers kneeling there to roll out the red carpet. Although he had some difficulty walking down the stairs, seeing American children imitating Chinese and North Korean styles as they ran to present flowers, he knew, "Buddy, you really put your heart into this one." When the bombers roared across the sky, he noticed Trump flinch, but he knew he had to remain calm at that moment. This unprecedented welcome ceremony would have every frame recorded.
Xi Jinping's visit to the US was called the highest-level reception for a Chinese head of state in US history. Beyond Trump personally greeting him at the airport and the twenty-one-gun salute, there was a big push for Chinese elements: "The Moon Represents My Heart" and "Jasmine Flower." The dishes were a fusion of Chinese and Western styles: yellow pumpkin soup with wild mushrooms and scallion oil, crispy sesame-crusted sea bass with baby bok choy, roasted eggplant, vanilla panna cotta with sour cherries, ice cream drizzled with honey from the White House's own hives, and steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roasted duck, roasted chicken, roasted goose, braised pork, braised duck, soy sauce chicken, cured meat, pine nut rolls, and steamed hasma. Ah, I slipped up; that last one wasn't there.
What was actually there was the sparkling wine that Nixon drank when he visited China fifty-four years ago, and Trump's granddaughter, who could recite the "Three Character Classic" at age five, had grown up and come to help entertain, accompanied by Ivanka, who was wearing a modified Chinese-style outfit. This grand performance, this grand banquet—although the area outside was filled with protests, protests, and more protests—that didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that the two most powerful leaders on the planet had fallen in love.
From then on, the world moved toward a G2 structure, a joint governance of China and the US. Every Chinese person is very concerned about whether China's economy can improve. In fact, my view is that whether China's economy can improve depends on whether China-US relations can improve. So, what concrete results did this grand meeting achieve? Let's look at the eight-point consensus on China-US relations released by the Chinese side. The first point is to respect fairness and reciprocity; there was a chorus of applause back home.
China's greatest victory this time was obtaining a status of respect and fairness and reciprocity. Hey, I'm just curious! The "Shanghai Communiqué" fifty-four years ago already stated equality, mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. Fifteen years ago, when Hu Jintao visited the US, the two countries announced mutual respect and win-win cooperation. We aren't lacking in respect; it's just that you didn't achieve any substantive progress, so you used adjectives to hold up the facade. The second point, supporting each other in hosting meetings—does it really need to be written that we don't support each other in hosting meetings?
The third point is to hold down Iran together, and I support this one! The Iranian mullah regime really needs to be cleaned up. The fourth point, the two countries jointly recalling that they were once allies fighting side-by-side in World War II, this naturally upsets Japan. The fifth point, establishing a trade council mechanism, reaching thirty billion dollars in tariff reductions and a truce extension. Sixth, anti-narcotics. Seventh, establishing a dialogue mechanism in the field of AI. Eighth, panda diplomacy. As soon as the Chinese side's eight points were announced, the domestic population was jubilant! When someone humbles themselves to offer gifts, they must want something in return.
What is going on here? Now that the Americans are acting with such a low posture, this time the United States must listen to China. The old Americans discovered that if they continued to fight with the old Chinese, they themselves would collapse. Hey, if you blindly want to suppress China, it cannot be suppressed. But as everyone knows, every time China releases a statement after negotiating with the outside world, it always differs from other versions. In fact, the US side also released a fact sheet this time. Teacher Guo Degang once said that everything fears comparison with industry peers.
Let's compare using the US counterpart's statement. First, the Chinese statement only stated that an agreement was reached on a reciprocal tariff reduction of thirty billion dollars, while the White House fact sheet made the thirty billion dollars in goods crystal clear. Those enjoying tariff reductions are agricultural products, fish and seafood, logs and wood products, cosmetics, and medical equipment, while what the Chinese side enjoys tariff reductions on are small appliances, toys, holiday decorations, and child safety seats, etc. The Sino-US bilateral trade volume in 2025 will be four hundred and fifteen billion dollars, and this time the suggested tariff-reduced products only add up to sixty billion for both countries. What impact does this have on the entire trade war? In the past during the trade war, Chinese toys had zero tariffs, and now they are begging to lower taxes from twenty percent back down.
Why did the US side become expensive? Of course I hope Chinese products sell well, but business is business; don't open your mouth and announce that America is expensive, Britain is expensive, the European Union is expensive, Japan, Australia, the whole world, including Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea, are all expensive. People who have been expensive for a long time always hope others become expensive too. Long live, long live, long live! Second, the US implementation sheet states that China should import at least ten million tons of US coal annually in 2027 and 2028, and the Chinese side has nodded, but he didn't dare to tell the national people. Trump also urged China to increase production of refined oil products, remember it is urged.
So don't just look at the banquet where you sing passionately, asking how deep my love for you is, how deep your love for me is? You have to look at how many copies of the contract are signed, don't mess with those useless things. Also, what the Chinese side did not write is that the US side demanded that China appropriately restore rare earth export volumes. Rare earths are our country's strategic weapon! If you dare to interfere in my Taiwan internal affairs, I will not sell rare earths to you; if you dare to make irresponsible remarks about other human rights issues, I will not sell rare earths to you; if you dare not let me distill, I will not sell rare earths to you. Choking necks is normal; this world is about choking each other's necks, you choke me, I choke you, it's all the same thing. Choking back and forth, if choked well it becomes Kaká the football star, if choked poorly it can only become the goalkeeper (Kahn).
The problem is that the Chinese side didn't mention any of these strategic materials, which are much more important than toys. Shoes are worn on the feet, only one's own feet know best whether it hurts or not. Who knelt down, only their own knees know best whether they are swollen or not. The Chinese side also wanted to keep extending the truce period until Trump leaves office, but the US side believes China has not fulfilled its promises and only extended it by two months. The US and China also agreed to establish an artificial intelligence dialogue mechanism, but besides dialogue to prevent future AI out of control, do you think there is no dialogue? Are you distilling plagiarism? These AI companies that plagiarize every day and perform patriotism to cheat subsidies are just bullying the Emperor who doesn't understand computers and only uses the two-finger Zen typing method.
In short, this high-profile lobby show gave no face to grandmother Li Zi, and swept problems under the rug by pushing them to next January; the gold content isn't even worth sixteen-karat gold-plating. If you wear this big gold chain to swim, this gold chain is guaranteed to float.
A prophetic image is that Musk, Jensen Huang, Cook, Lisa Su and her husband sit at the same table eating with the US President and the Chinese head of state. Can you imagine Jack Ma, Pony Ma, Lei Jun, Pan Shiyi sitting at the same table eating with Xi Jinping? Impossible, absolutely impossible. How could Jack Ma have the qualification to sit at the table? Who needs a bicycle? Letting you live is already the boundless grace of the Emperor. Back in the day, Jack Ma wielded power and talked with Musk. Five years ago, Jack Ma disappeared, and Musk became the world's richest man. Musk asks.
Where is Jack Ma? Where is Jack Ma? Where is Jack Ma? Musk openly cursed Trump, yet he is still the world's richest man and Trump's guest of honor? Ren Zhiqiang wrote an internal letter and was sentenced to eighteen years, life and death unknown. This time it is rumored that a group of Chinese entrepreneurs also arrived in Washington, waiting outside for the notification to enter the White House for the state banquet, but the notification never came, and in the end they could only stand at attention.
The lower-level delegation was disbanded, transforming from an accompanying business delegation into independent travelers, and in the end, they could only go sightseeing with tour groups. Zuckerberg, Altman, Bezos, the CEO of Microsoft, and the CEO of Google—the titans of the American tech industry were all at the table. Do Chinese businessmen dare to sit at the table? Do they dare to eat at the same table as the head of state? Is this still called socialism? Should the red flag still be flown?
When American businessmen are dining with the President, our Chinese businessmen are busy thinking about how to pay back taxes and how to flee abroad. Damn it, is it safer to flee through Hong Kong or Vietnam? Is the trunk big enough? Can my girlfriend fit in it? This is the difference in the DNA of the two national systems. A nation built on commerce lets whoever has the most capability sit at the table; a nation built on leadership decides who gets to sit at the table. Who does the fish head face? When Hawking met the leader, he could even stand up from his wheelchair out of excitement. Hey, I'll finish this first, leader, please feel free. Clink, clink, clink. Let me say it again: whether China's economy can improve, and whether your life can improve, depends on whether China-U.S. relations can improve. If you don't believe it, look at the compiled records.
Many people care about fate. What is fate? Fate is how you summarize the past. What is the logic of fate? The logic of fate is the compiled records. Open the compiled records, and you will discover the magical phenomenon of China-U.S. compiled records. Since 1972, Chinese state media has repeatedly used two terms: first, "breaking the ice," and second, "restarting."
In February 1972, Nixon visited China; this was called breaking the ice. In January 1979, Deng Xiaoping visited the U.S.; this was called a journey of breaking the ice. In 1999, after the U.S. bombed the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia, Jiang Zemin engaged with Clinton; this was called breaking the ice. The 50th anniversary of the Shanghai Communiqué was called breaking the ice again. In 2023, Xi Jinping and Biden pressed the restart button on China-U.S. relations. Xinhua News Agency even interpreted the San Francisco meeting as breaking the thick ice. This visit by Xi Jinping to the U.S. can be expected to be a history of breaking the ice.
These words appear repeatedly in state media—one moment frozen, the next moment thawed, then frozen again, then thawed again. Are you playing with a refrigerator? So, let's first look at how these two countries, from different camps with vastly different values and no contact for years, established diplomatic relations in the first place. In the 1960s, Mao Zedong was facing internal and external troubles; internally, there was the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and externally, the Soviet Union had completely turned against him. Years earlier, before Nixon was president, he wrote an article in the famous magazine Foreign Affairs: "We simply cannot afford to leave China forever outside the family of nations... there is no place on this small planet for a billion of its potentially most able people to live in angry isolation."
Mao Zedong saw this and treated it like a treasure! How skilled he was at winning people over! He immediately told Zhou Enlai to add him as a friend and send a private message. Mao Zedong's judgment was truly accurate; thirteen months later, Nixon was elected President of the United States. History is just that bizarre. Just as Mao was struggling to think about how to meet Nixon in person, in 1971, the World Table Tennis Championships were held in Nagoya, Japan. An American table tennis player named Cohen accidentally got on the Chinese team's bus. At that time, China and the U.S. were enemies! A bus full of Chinese athletes was on high alert, not knowing what to do.
The open-minded Zhuang Zedong walked over and gave the American player Cohen a silk tapestry of Hangzhou. But this sensitive act was reported back home, and the relevant leaders thought Zhuang Zedong could not distinguish between friend and foe. That very night, Mao took sleeping pills. Everyone knows that in his later years, Mao was terrified of being overthrown, suffered from severe anxiety and insomnia, and was groggy from the sleeping pills when he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and ordered the American team to be invited to visit China. A week later, the American table tennis team arrived in China, and Zhou Enlai personally met them at the Great Hall of the People. This is called "the small ball moving the big ball," which is also the origin of the "small ball moving the big ball" story mentioned during this visit of Xi Jinping to the U.S.
So, looking at the compiled records is important. I love looking at the compiled records; otherwise, how could I have made it to today? In short, this was ping-pong diplomacy, and it was also the source of the scene in the movie Forrest Gump. History is just that fun. If that American table tennis player named Cohen hadn't gotten on the wrong bus that day, and if Mao's dose of sleeping pills had been a little higher that night and he had overslept, who knows when China and the U.S. would have established diplomatic relations? Who knows when the Chinese people would have been able to watch television, use refrigerators, or own iPhones?
As the story goes, one day, Kissinger was at a meeting in Pakistan. That night, he attended a state banquet—ah, another state banquet—and while eating, suddenly, "Oh, oh, my stomach hurts, oh, I can't take it, I've soiled my pants, I've soiled my pants, I must go into the mountains to recuperate." This veteran actor, using his excellent acting skills combining method acting and experiential techniques, successfully dodged the reporters and quietly flew to Beijing the next day. In Beijing, after successfully completing his mission, he sent a telegram to Nixon to report the good news. The text contained only one word: Eureka.
Europa is Ancient Greek, what does it mean? We all learned it in elementary school textbooks. More than two thousand years ago, Archimedes was soaking in a bathhouse when he suddenly figured out the principle of buoyancy. Excitedly, he jumped out of the bathtub, rushed out into the street bare-assed, and ran while shouting "Europa, Europa!"—which means "I have found it, I have found it." Remember, when the US and China secretly reconciled, the first message reporting the good news used the very phrase that Archimedes shouted bare-assed after discovering the principle of buoyancy: "Europa, I have found it." The US and China had found each other.
In 1972, US President Air Force One landed in Beijing, and Zhou Enlai tightly grasped Richard Nixon's hand. The Premier, who had acted in plays in his youth, was truly a good actor, with top-notch line delivery skills. He said, "You have reached across the world's most vast ocean to shake my hand." Twenty-five years had passed without contact. Nixon was also a good actor; he said, "An era has ended, another era has begun." The two men shook hands for a full minute or more. In the freezing Beijing winter, not even afraid of frostbite—so being a politician is quite hard on the hands.
Speaking of Nixon being a good actor, that very night at the state banquet he quoted a poem by Mao Zedong: "Ten thousand years is too long, seize the day, seize the hour." Old Mao was overjoyed and immediately issued orders to arrange everything, absolutely everything. Earlier, to ensure there were Yellow Sea abalones at the banquet, Zhou Enlai arranged for diving team members from Dalian to brave minus twenty degree freezing cold and dive into the sea to catch abalones. This time, to let Nixon visit the Great Wall, Zhou Enlai arranged for eight hundred thousand people to sweep the snow on the Badaling road clean overnight. This autocratic mobilization capacity left Nixon dumbfounded!
Why did Old Mao care so much about Nixon? Because he knew deeply that the one who could help China in this world was not the Soviet Union, but the United States. Mao Zedong was well-versed in history and loved reading compiled volumes; how could he not know that the Soviet Union wanted not only your money and your land, but also your life, and even wanted to brainwash you? The reason he shouted about defeating US imperialism every day was simply that Old Mao wanted to consolidate his own power. The two countries subsequently issued the US-China Joint Communiqué, and bilateral relations began to normalize.
The communiqué acknowledged that the social systems and foreign policies of the US and China had fundamental differences. On the core Taiwan issue, the communiqué stated: "The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States Government does not challenge that position, and recognizes one China." This made the Chinese Communist Party very happy.
However, the wording of the communiqué at the time used the word "acknowledge" regarding one China—acknowledge means to know and understand, rather than "recognize," which actually means to accept officially. But by the 1979 Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, "acknowledge"—to be aware of, to learn of, to understand—was translated into Chinese as "recognize." This word has been debated for over half a century, and the US and China have constantly bickered over the Taiwan issue precisely because of this word.
Yet no matter what, the US and China—countries with vastly different systems and values—after issuing the Shanghai Communiqué and renewing friendly relations, had nevertheless planted many time bombs and left behind a messy cover-up. From then on, the two countries loved and killed each other, staging a series of beautiful moments and aggravating hours. If you continue reading the compiled volumes, you will find that everything is a cycle.
On January 1, 1979, the US and China officially established diplomatic relations. On January 28, Deng Xiaoping flew to the United States. This day happened to be the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, a time when Chinese people traditionally have the habit of not going out on New Year's Day. But China had just begun reform and opening up, and desperately needed American money, American technology, and above all, American backing on the global stage. Who cared about staying home on New Year's Day? When the big boss summons you at three in the morning to grab skewers, you have to pull up your pants and go right away! On the special plane flying to the US, Deng Xiaoping said to Li Shenzhi of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences that, looking back, over the decades, every country that has maintained good relations with the US has grown rich.
Commentators praise this reception of Xi Jinping by the US President as unprecedented, but that is simply because they do not read the compiled volumes. Back then, Deng Xiaoping's visit to the US caused a sensation among tens of thousands of people. Even before he set foot on American soil, he was already the most famous foreigner in the United States. On New Year's Day in 1979, Time magazine named him the 1978 Person of the Year and put him on the cover. The cover article wrote that a sleeping giant was lying there in China—let him sleep. During the period of Deng Xiaoping's visit to the US, major and minor newspapers across the country published articles about him and analyzed him.
Xi Jinping has been included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world, but he has never been elected Person of the Year. It should be noted that these two carry completely different levels of prestige. Deng Xiaoping, however, was selected as Person of the Year twice and appeared on the cover. In terms of sensation, the only visit to the US that can compare to Deng Xiaoping's is that of Li Hongzhang in 1896. At that time, New York was also packed with people, and Americans were full of curiosity about this official from the mysterious ancient Eastern country. The same logic applies to Deng Xiaoping; he was bringing a China that was about to embark on reform and opening up, so calling it an ice-breaking journey makes some sense.
According to protocol, US President Jimmy Carter did not go to the airport to greet him, but sent Vice President Walter Mondale instead. Carter himself held a welcoming ceremony at the White House, where the five-star red flag was raised on the South Lawn for the first time, and a nine-gun salute was fired. At the time, Deng Xiaoping was the de facto leader of China, but nominally only a Vice Premier. The nineteen-gun salute was an exceptional gesture by Carter, as a Vice Premier was only entitled to seventeen.
Although Deng Xiaoping's nineteen-gun salute was two fewer than Xi's twenty-one, the protocol was still top-tier. When the cannons fire, gold flows in; when the salute fires, the future is limitless. The state banquet was extremely grand, with Oscar-winning actress Shirley MacLaine invited. During the meal, the actress told Deng Xiaoping that when she visited China, she met a Chinese professor who had been sent down to the countryside, and the professor said he was very happy to learn from the poor and lower-middle peasants. Deng Xiaoping immediately corrected her, saying that the professor was lying. The Cultural Revolution's driving of intellectuals to the countryside was a massive waste of talent. You see.
Deng Xiaoping criticized the Cultural Revolution in front of a Hollywood star, not afraid to air dirty laundry; he was sincere and very open. But that was because China needed to be brave enough to admit its mistakes at that time to win acceptance from the world. But now we are a major power; we must be awesome, we must hold our ground. The Cultural Revolution was just a difficult exploration.
After the state banquet, Deng Xiaoping was invited to take Zhuo Lin to the Kennedy Center to watch a performance. Two hundred American children sang "I Love Beijing's Tiananmen" in Chinese. You see, the US had children singing Chinese songs to welcome the Chinese leader long ago, and that day, Deng Xiaoping even ran onto the stage to kiss the children. He used extremely Westernized gestures to win over the Western world. The next day, newspapers across the US were marveling that this scene would teach many American politicians how to kiss children again. It is hard to associate this warm scene with the butcher who ordered the shooting in the square ten years later, right?
I believe that Deng Xiaoping's kissing of the children at the time was sincere, and his later order to massacre students was also heartfelt. A good actor cannot distinguish between the play and reality. Previously, Deng Xiaoping had asked Carter if he could accept 5,000 Chinese students, and Carter replied readily, "Send 100,000 over immediately." Deng Xiaoping immediately sent a large group of students to the US, among whom were many famous figures. Among these students was the famous teacher Wang Huning. In 1988, he went to the US to study, visiting more than thirty cities and nearly twenty universities in half a year. After returning to China, he wrote a book titled "America Against America."
Someone sent to the US by Deng Xiaoping to study Western civilization returned to lead China's ideology and criticize Western civilization; this is truly sigh-inducing! During that visit to the US, Deng Xiaoping visited Coca-Cola, Ford, and Boeing, saying that China should have seventy such large aircraft. At the Houston Space Center, Deng Xiaoping excitedly sat in a space shuttle simulator and said to the first astronaut to orbit the Earth, "Hey, you have become an immortal in the sky!"
He also said that one day, Chinese people would also fly into space. At the rodeo, he even put on a white cowboy hat presented by a female rider and waved in greeting, looking very Westernized. That was an era when China was tightly embracing Western civilization. Deng Xiaoping said, "We must learn everything that is advanced." He signed a series of agreements on scientific and technological cooperation, cultural exchanges, and the mutual establishment of consulates general, and China and the US officially entered a honeymoon period. At the end of the signing ceremony, Deng Xiaoping delivered a golden quote: "This is not an end, but another beginning."
As Deng Xiaoping reluctantly bid farewell to America, he said to Carter upon leaving, "We are not afraid of the American system, and the US does not need to be afraid of us." But this deep-seated fear of the American system was soon exposed. Only four years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US, they had their first falling out. The fuse was actually a nineteen-year-old female tennis player named Hu Na. She was the most talented female tennis player in China at the time, a household name, and her fame was no less than that of Li Na later on. In 1981, she won the White Cup women's singles championship, and the US invited her to train and play professionally in the US, which was a huge attraction for Hu Na.
However, the Chinese leadership did not approve it on the grounds that the list included athletes from Chinese Taipei. Thinking about it now, it is absurd! What was wrong with having a Taipei athlete? Didn't it just reflect that both sides of the strait are one family? This made Hu Na depressed. Later, when she accompanied the team to California to participate in the Federation Cup, she suddenly announced that she was seeking political asylum, on the grounds that she had been subjected to political persecution at home and that someone had forced her to join the Party.
On April 4, 1983, the U.S. government officially granted political asylum to Hu Na. Three days later, China announced the suspension of all cultural exchange programs and sports interactions between China and the U.S. This was the most serious diplomatic incident since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. What was originally a personal choice by an athlete playing tennis turned into a direct confrontation between two systems. This was also predestined, because the DNA of China and the U.S. has huge differences.
As it happened, Hu Na's defection coincided with China's protests against U.S. arms sales to Taiwan; the two matters got entangled and became the biggest political topic of that year. It is rumored that in order to protect Hu Na, Ronald Reagan intended to adopt her as an adopted daughter together with his wife Nancy. The melodramatic part is that Deng Xiaoping—who had just said he neither feared the U.S. system nor expected the U.S. to fear China—flew into a rage, listing three crimes against Reagan: first, selling arms to Taiwan; second, sending officials to attend Taiwan's Double Ten Day; and third, abducting his goddaughter.
Hu Na is from Sichuan and is a fellow townsman of Deng Xiaoping. According to folklore, she was Deng Xiaoping's goddaughter. As everyone knows, China's leaders have always been fond of women's tennis, but whether this legend is true or false remains to be verified. I am just providing a laugh for the audience.
The systems and values of China and the U.S. are different, but practical needs are an absolute necessity. China needed money, technology, and connections for its construction, while the U.S. wanted to pull China in to counter the Soviet Union and was also optimistic about the Chinese market. China and the U.S. became friendly because of a small ball, so they wouldn't turn hostile over another small ball like tennis, would they? In 1984, Reagan relaxed technology exports to China, treating China as a friendly non-aligned nation. In January, Zhao Ziyang visited the U.S. at an invitation; in April, Reagan returned the visit to China upon invitation; in July, PRC President Li Xiannian visited the U.S. at an invitation. The two countries walked out of the shadow of the Hu Na incident; Reagan promised to implement the one-China policy, and another wave of traveling to the U.S. was sparked in China.
While the previous honeymoon phase of U.S.-China relations saw many students go to study in the U.S., this honeymoon phase saw quite a few Chinese officials go to the U.S. for inspections. That year, a young Chinese county party secretary came to the small U.S. town of Muscatine with an agricultural delegation. He was neatly dressed, always punctual, and full of curiosity. He stayed at a local farmer's home—he was Xi Jinping. If General Secretary Xi had not gone to the U.S. for inspection back then...
Would he have failed to become the General Secretary later on? If Reagan had not given birth to China's second honeymoon phase, would history have been rewritten? In 1986, Reagan even encouraged China to apply to join the WTO. At that time, China's streets were filled with American pop culture: Michael Jackson, Madonna, breakdancing, Sylvester Stallone, Transformers, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Coca-Cola, KFC, and an eager NBA. At that time, U.S.-China relations were sweeter than honey.
In February 1989, Reagan left office, and George H.W. Bush became president. Just over a month into his term, he visited Beijing. He paid so much attention to China because a dozen years earlier he had served as the chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing; he was an old acquaintance of many Chinese leaders, and the Chinese called him an old friend. On this day, George H.W. Bush held a Texas-style appreciation banquet at the Great Wall Hotel, and also invited prominent Chinese dissident Fang Lizhi and his wife. But Fang Lizhi and his wife were intercepted by the police on the way. Principal Fang said, I am going to attend the banquet of the U.S. President. The policeman said, nonsense, if you weren't attending his banquet, I wouldn't be stopping you.
George H.W. Bush was stunned. From his perspective, inviting dissidents to a banquet was commonplace in the U.S., but it wouldn't work in China. Even if you were called an old friend of the Chinese people, and even if U.S.-China relations were blazing hot at the time, meeting dissidents was still an extreme disrespect to the current regime. So what if you are the President? Two beat cops of mine came and stopped you anyway. Ten years earlier, Deng Xiaoping told Carter at the White House that we do not fear the U.S. system, and the U.S. does not need to fear us. Ten years later, George H.W. Bush saw with his own eyes that China could do business with you and learn technology from you, but deep down there was an iron wall keeping American values outside.
Gunshots shattered all illusions, because the June Fourth crackdown happened. Deng Xiaoping, who claimed a decade ago to learn from everything advanced, opened fire on protesters a decade later. Led by George H.W. Bush, the entire world imposed comprehensive sanctions on China, and U.S.-China relations rapidly cooled. In 1992, George H.W. Bush announced the sale of 150 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, plunging U.S.-China relations to freezing point.
In January 1993, Bill Clinton was elected as the new U.S. president. As soon as he took office, he signed a very tough decree linking China's most-favored-nation status to human rights. Clinton said that if you Chinese do not make significant progress in human rights, I will cancel trade privileges. But in November of the same year, the political winds shifted. After various mediations, Jiang Zemin finally met formally with Bill Clinton in Seattle. This was the first formal summit between the heads of state of China and the U.S. since the June Fourth shootings, and was hailed as a major breakthrough and reset in U.S.-China relations.
Six months later, Clinton announced that the United States would continue to grant China most-favored-nation (MFN) status, and he officially decoupled MFN status from human rights issues. Clinton stated that the leverage of MFN had been exhausted, and U.S.-China relations warmed up again as a result. However, the wind changed a year later because Lee Teng-hui was promoting democratization in Taiwan. The U.S. Congress and political circles generally sympathized with and supported Taiwan, causing letters advocating for Lee Teng-hui's visit to the U.S. to flood into the White House like snowflakes, which put Clinton in a difficult position.
In May 1995, Clinton suddenly approved Lee Teng-hui's entry into the United States to deliver a speech at his alma mater, Cornell University. Clinton told his National Security Advisor that he sympathized with Lee Teng-hui very much. He also said that if leaders of the Irish Republican Army could enter the U.S., why couldn't Lee Teng-hui, who had never engaged in terrorist activities? He also complained about Jiang Zemin, saying he had been very cold and dismissive when they met in Moscow a couple of days prior. Meanwhile, the results of Lee Teng-hui's political and economic reforms in Taiwan were obvious to all. Interestingly, according to research by Mr. Lin Hsiao-ting, Lee Teng-hui had once informed Beijing through a secret envoy that he would be giving a speech at a U.S. university.
Zeng Qinghong, then-Director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee, replied that he could go, but Beijing would publicly criticize him. This conciliatory attitude was later changed after pressure from hardliners within the Party and the military, leading Jiang Zemin to take action and oppose Lee Teng-hui's visit to the U.S. in a comprehensive and fierce manner. The above content is from the new book by Mr. Lin Hsiao-ting of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, based on declassified archives and oral histories from the U.S. White House National Security Council.
Although the political systems of China and the U.S. are vastly different, their practical interests have bound them together, making it difficult for either side to easily abandon the other. It really is like a sadomasochistic relationship! And with Taiwan in the middle. After Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour, the U.S. became China's third-largest trading partner, and China became the U.S.'s sixth-largest. Clinton said that what he valued was not just economic interests; he firmly believed that as long as China was brought into the international family and its economy developed, democracy would naturally follow.
Today, many people say that Clinton was too naive back then. But at the time, Clinton firmly believed in his own judgment. In 1997, he officially invited Jiang Zemin to visit the U.S., the first official visit by a Chinese head of state to the U.S. in twelve years. In Hawaii, Jiang happily played the Hawaiian guitar and even invited the governor's wife to sing along on stage.
Once at the White House, facing questions from reporters, Jiang Zemin said that eighteen years ago, Mr. Deng Xiaoping solemnly declared here that a new era in the history of U.S.-China relations had begun. You see, the honeymoon was back. Looking back at the historical record, you will find that U.S.-China relations are always cyclical: a honeymoon period followed by hostility. It was good because of Carter's signing of the agreement, hostile because of Hu Na's defection, good because Reagan relaxed technology exports, hostile again with the elder Bush because of June Fourth, good with Clinton because of economic reform, and hostile again because of the Taiwan issue. In 1997, when Jiang Zemin visited the U.S., an American reporter asked:
"Old Jiang, do you regret the Tiananmen incident?" Jiang Zemin replied that the political turmoil had seriously damaged social stability and endangered national security. Therefore, the Chinese government had no choice but to take necessary measures in accordance with the law. Clinton criticized him on the spot, saying that the Chinese government was on the wrong side of history on this issue. Jiang retorted that concepts like democracy, human rights, and freedom should be relative and concrete, determined by the specific circumstances of each country. Jiang's viewpoint was extremely wrong.
Yet, for a Chinese head of state to publicly debate such a sensitive topic with an American president, and on live television, proved that during the U.S.-China honeymoon period, the CCP would also deliberately show some relaxation and openness. At Harvard, when protesters surrounded the venue where Jiang Zemin was speaking, a female student asked, "You have encountered many protests since arriving in the U.S.; how will you respond?"
Jiang Zemin said, "Although I am seventy-one years old, my ears are still very sharp. I think the only way is for my voice to be louder than theirs." One has to admit that Old Jiang was also a good actor; he wanted to build an image of being enlightened in front of the Americans. By June 1998, Clinton paid a return visit. At the press conference in the Great Hall of the People—right, that day was broadcast live by CCTV in its entirety—
Clinton publicly stated again that the use of force in the Tiananmen incident, which resulted in loss of life, was wrong. Jiang Zemin did not let Clinton finish; instead, he said that without taking resolute measures, it would have been impossible. Today, having such a stable situation—Old Jiang's viewpoint was, of course, very wrong.
However, in the live broadcast by CCTV from the Great Hall of the People, he unexpectedly touched upon such sensitive topics as a clash with the US president, allowing the entire nation to hear it. This must be credited to the visit of the US president. That day, Clinton got carried away and publicly supported the Dalai Lama. In response, Jiang Zemin stated that he recognized Tibet as an inalienable part of China. As I see it, the door to our negotiations remains open—is it a pleasant surprise? Is it unexpected? The Chinese head of state actually engaged in a public debate with the US president over such sensitive topics as June Fourth, Tibet, and Taiwan during a live nationwide CCTV broadcast.
Therefore, seeing the little white-collars getting all excited just because of some Chinese songs sung and Chinese dishes eaten during the US-China summit, I, Old Deng here, really want to pat you on the shoulder and say: Ah, young people, you missed out on our good old days! Venturing abroad to Shenzhen, sometimes those clothes... Back then, President Clinton and I were chatting and laughing while clashing over a series of issues including June Fourth, Tibet, and Taiwan. That scale and that height were, well, incomparably higher than later Little Hu and current Little Xi.
Two days later, Clinton even went to Peking University to debate freedom and human rights with college students. Clinton quoted Hu Shi, while Ma Nan, a female student from the Chinese Department at Peking University, rebuffed him, stating she did not believe there was any conflict between national freedom and her own freedom. She claimed that China's current prosperous development was precisely the free choice of the Chinese people. This female student from the Chinese Department became an overnight sensation due to her patriotic remarks.
What is funny is that a few years later, she immigrated to the US and married an American. Ah, the Chinese head of state actually debated June Fourth and Tibetan human rights with the US president in a CCTV live broadcast from the Great Hall of the People, and the US president could even visit Peking University and talk freely about human rights and freedom—looking back, it feels like a lifetime ago. Let me ask you, do you miss that era? And you must know that was precisely the best era between the US and China. The conclusion is that one must maintain good relations with the US. When relations with the US are good, it is when China is at its most open and beautiful.
Tomorrow I will continue broadcasting the second part of the US-China compilation, talking about how the US helped China join the WTO, and how China's golden decade actually came about. What are the two periods of US-China goodness and three periods of hostility during the Xi era, and what kind of conditions will lead to a complete rupture between future China and the US? Meeting adjourned.