One of the most remarkable stories of the last century is the emergence of China as a modern economic giant, poised at the beginning of the 21st century to become a great world power. China has embraced the technological advances of the late 20th century and has provided new opportunities for millions of Chinese to improve their lives. While problems have accompanied this transformation, China's future holds unprecedented prosperity for 1.3 billion Chinese and greatly enhanced international status for the government that is making this possible. This new textbook on the People's Republic focuses on the changes which have swept through China for the past half-century. As well as providing a coherent narrative of the major events in China's recent past, China Since 1949 also provides an integrated treatment of: - the history of women's experiences under the communist regime - the Chinese Communist Party’s treatment of ethnic minorities within China's borders and the rise of nationalism among the Mongols, Uighurs and Tibetans - the regional differences within China and the resulting tensions - the social implications of the Chinese Communist Party's attempts to control every facet of Chinese people's lives. The accompanying documents providing primary source materials, the Chronology and Who's Who of key figures help to ensure that this is an indispensable text for students studying modern China.

This authoritative study presents a chronological history of Sino-American relations since 1949, including not only foreign policy analysis but also domestic developments in both nations.

As the second volume of a two-volume set on the Chinese economic history, this book investigates Chinese economic development since 1949, uncovering the momentum, unique models, and general laws of economy in China. From the perspective of development economics, the two-volume set studies the economic history and development of China since 1912, with a focus on the quantitative analysis of economic activities. This volume describes the historical process and characteristics of the economy since 1949, then looks into the momentum and inner logic that underpin the economic development. The former part covers issues of agriculture, industry, population and labor force, urbanization and mobility, income distribution and poverty, and price changes. The latter part includes analyses on the capital formation, human resources, technological progress, institutions, macro policies, international trade, and direct investment. This title will interest scholars and students working on Chinese economic history, the Chinese economy, and modern Chinese society.

This book is a reinterpretation of China's international relations since 1949. Employing the notion and theory of international society, it offers a systematic examination of China's unique relationship with the society of states from its alienation in the 1950s and the 1960s to its political socialisation and economic integration in the 1980s and the 1990s. It explores how such a unique relationship has shaped and is likely to shape Chinese foreign policy. This book provides an entirely new perspective for our understanding of forces influencing Chinese foreign policy behaviour.

This absorbing study examines the change in American relations with China after 1949 from hostility to rapproachement, and to full normalization of the ties in 1979. Rosemary Foot goes on to examine the relationship after normalization, a period when the United States has come to view China as less of a challenge but still resistant to certain of the norms of the current international order. The book begins by examining US efforts to build, and then maintain an international and domestic consensus behind its China policy. It then looks at changing US perceptions of the capabilities of the Chinese state. It shows how American positions on Chinese representation at the UN and on the trade embargo were subtly eroded, not least by changes in US domestic public opinion. The author argues that previous explantions of American relations with China have dwelt too single-mindedly on ideas associated with the strategic triangle and that instead we need to embed our understanding of the evolution of American relations with China within a wider structure of relationships at the global and domestic level. Reviews: `A valuable interpretative analysis of US-People's Republic of China relationships...she substantially contributes to post-Soviet era theoretical understanding. Strongly recommended for courses in foreign policy, diplomatic history, and international relations.' Choice `contains much that is valuable to those whose interests are primarily on the other side of the Pacific...The chapter on American public opinion and Chinese policy is also something which is not readily found in existing accounts of China'a post-1949 foreign relations' Times Higher Education Supplement `her analysis remains cautious and astute' The Economist

This book examines US subnational engagement in foreign relations, or paradiplomacy, with China and Taiwan from 1949 to 2020. As an alternative diplomatic history of the United States’ relations with divided China, it offers an in-depth chronological and thematic discussion of state and local communities’ responses to the China-Taiwan sovereignty conflict and their impact on US diplomacy. The book explains why paradiplomacy matters not only in the ‘low politics’ of economic and cultural cooperation, but also in the ‘high politics’ of diplomatic recognition. Presenting case studies of US states and cities developing policies towards divided China that paralleled, clashed or aligned with those pursued by federal agencies, it also identifies Chinese and Taiwanese objectives and strategies deployed when competing for US subnational ties. Conceptually, the book builds upon Constructivism, redefining paradiplomacy as an institutional fact, reflective of subnational identities and interests, rather than as a subnational pursuit of foreign markets, driven by objective economic forces. Featuring new empirical evidence and a novel conceptual framework for paradiplomacy, The United States’ Subnational Relations with Divided China will be a useful resource for students and scholars of US foreign policy, the politics of China and Taiwan, paradiplomacy and international relations.

This book challenges the common perceptions of Australian dependence upon great-power allies in the conduct of its foreign relations through a critical examination of Australia's relations with the People's Republic of China. The author focuses on the economic and political dimensions of the policy-making process from the founding of the PRC in 1949 to the present era, against an analytical framework that takes into account both internal and external factors in the formulation and implementation of Australian foreign policy. Informed by political science and international relations, the book differs from the conventional literature on Sino-Australian relations, which has either focused on pure economic analysis or concentrated on chronicling historical events. The author weaves theoretical insights from political science and international relations into the historical analysis while seeking to examine the interplay between political and economic factors over time in shaping policy outcomes. The book draws not only on primary and secondary sources but also on information and insights obtained from interviews with a vast array of direct participants in the policy process, including almost all the former ambassadors from both China and Australia, covering the entire period of the diplomatic relationship. As a result, the book breaks new ground, especially from the Hawke era onwards, revealing hitherto overlooked details of interest in the policy process.

Since the victory of the 1949 revolution the incumbency of the Chinese Communist Party has been characterized by an almost relentless struggle to legitimize its monopoly on political power. During the Mao era, attempts to derive legitimacy focused primarily on mass participation in political affairs, a blend of Marxist and nationalist ideology, and the charismatic authority of Mao Zedong. The dramatic failure of the Cultural Revolution forced the post-Mao leadership to discard these discredited paradigms of legitimacy and move towards an almost exclusively performance based concept founded on market economic reform. The reforms during the 1980s generated a number of unwelcome but inevitable side effects such as official corruption, high unemployment and significant socio-economic inequality. These factors culminated ultimately in the 1989 demonstrations in Tiananmen Square and throughout China. Since Tiananmen the party has sought to diversify the basis of its legitimacy by adhering more closely to constitutional procedures in decision making and, to a certain extent, by reinventing itself as a conservative nationalist party. This probing study of post-communist revolution Chinese politics sets out to discover if there is a plausible alternative to the electoral mode or if legitimacy is the exclusive domain of the multi-party system.

The first comprehensive account of China policy during the Kennedy years, this study profiles John F. Kennedy as a man whose inner struggles and disparate characteristics made for an unpredictable foreign policy. While he was often a hostage to the Cold War, to constrictive perceptions of the domestic climate, and to the image of a predatory China, Kennedy recognized Washington's finite capacity to shape events on the China Mainland. With the possible exception of a preventive strike against China's nuclear installations, he was also reluctant to run the risk of a military confrontation with Beijing. On the eve of his assassination, Kennedy may have even contemplated a China policy departure during his second term. A calm appraisal of China's capabilities and intentions constituted the distinguishing feature of revisionist thinking during the Kennedy years. The disjointed revisionist effort settled, in late 1963, on a pedagogic course, which still implied a search for American primacy. The revisionist approach did ultimately facilitate the transformation of bilateral relations in the early 1970s. From a shorter-range perspective, however, the Kennedy era only added fuel to the fire of Sino-American confrontation. The Limited Test Ban Treaty accentuated the sense of encirclement and vulnerability in Beijing's psyche, and clouds gathered ominously over Vietnam. Kennedy does bear some responsibility for the bilateral impasse, as he personified a decisionmaker so obsessed with the objective of deterrence as to overlook the security dilemma: nonetheless, Mao's preference for a radical course, independent of Kennedy's conduct, contributed as well. Neither side was yet ready for a breakthrough.

Many books have tried to analyze the reasons for the Chinese communist success in China's 1945_1949 civil war, but Suzanne Pepper's seminal work was the first and remains the only comprehensive analysis of how the ruling Nationalists lost that war_not just militarily, but by alienating the civilian population through corruption and incompetence. Now available in a new edition, this authoritative investigation of Kuomintang failure and communist success explores the new research and archival resources available for assessing this pivotal period in contemporary Chinese history. Even more relevant today given the contemporary debates in Hong Kong and Taiwan over the terms of reunification with a communist-led national government in Beijing, this book is essential reading for anyone seeking a nuanced understanding of twentieth-century Chinese politics.