Multinational Companies And Sino-us Relations In The Multinational Factors

The rise of economic factor in international relations (IR) in the post-cold war era renders Transnational Corporations (TNCs) an increasingly important role in IR. And the duality of TNCs, that is the combination of tool and independence, decides that on one hand, TNCs serve the interests of hegemon and pose a threat to the sovereignty of nation state; on the other, for the purpose of maximization of its profits, TNCs engage in various political process and do exert a significant influence on the decision-making of foreign policy of hegemon.Apparently, China's diplomacy can benefit from this duality. Through three case studies concerning TNCs in Sino-American relations, it can be concluded that TNCs are not only the tools of America's China policy, but also an indispensable and independent decision-maker of America's China's policy. By virtue of America's domestic political system, the Group of Interests to be exact, TNCs play games with U.S government. In some cases, TNCs try to compromise with U.S government; while in others, TNCs pursues an objective that is totally opposite to the ends of America's China policy. This gaming relation indicates that TNCs can be the major source of power to maintain and promote Sino-American relations in the 21st century.After the accumulation of more than two decades, especially after the end of cold war, China has gained some experience in regard with the application of TNCs to diplomatic practice. Nevertheless, China diplomacy still lacks a systematic mechanism to take advantage of TNCs. In accordance with the development of globalization and Sino-American relations in the new century, adequate importance should be attached to the role of TNCs in Sino-American relations. What's more, a complete system is the other necessity for China's diplomacy to deal with TNCs in the long run.