After The Cold War China Studies In The United States

Researching on American China Studies will trace back to19th century, whenmissionaries who came to China studied Sinology. Their research field focused onChinese history and traditional culture for a long time. John Fairbank broughtSinology into standard China Studies, from then on, China Studies have been greatlyenriched and refined. Chinese politics and diplomacy are the important fields in ChinaStudies, which are the theoretical bases of American policy towards China. Based onthe political and diplomatic dimension is helpful to understand the U.S policy towardsChina and also helpful to response the changing relations between the U.S and China.This paper will study Post-Cold War American China Studies in time sequence.The first part will discuss American scholars’ view on China during Clintonadministration period. There are three main theories: containment, engagement, andcongagement. The second part will reveal the process of the changing attitude towardsChina, which regards China as from a rival to a partner during the Bushadministration period. The third part will analysis Obama’s friendly attitude towardsChina during the financial crisis. At the same time, Obama announces Return toAsia, giving more attention to Asian countries. By this token, there will be manyarguments on how to understand China in future. We should research American ChinaStudies rationally and objectively. Only in this way, can we build the warmrelationship between the U.S and China.