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NAVIGATING CRISES IN SINO-AMERICAN RELATIONS: APOLOGY, NATIONALISM, AND HISTORICAL MEMORY by Elizabeth S. Dahl submitted to the Faculty of the School of International Service of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Relatic ~ Dr. PatrickJmaddeus Jackson Louis W. Goodman, Dean 2006 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3222262 Copyright 2006 by Dahl, Elizabeth S. All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3222262 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © COPYRIGHT by Elizabeth S. Dahl 2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To my parents, Janet and David Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NAVIGATING CRISES IN SINO-AMERICAN RELATIONS: APOLOGY, NATIONALISM, AND HISTORICAL MEMORY By Elizabeth S. Dahl ABSTRACT Why is apology—theoretically a simple action that could mitigate a crisis situation—not utilized more frequently in international relations? Apologies are a frequent issue among Asian countries as well as in US bilateral relations and can generate significant internal and interstate debate. This project considers recent diplomatic crises in which China has requested an apology from the United States, and the short- and long term impact on international peace and stability of such discussions. Two contentious episodes are investigated: the apology debates over the 2001 EP-3E airplane collision near Hainan Island, and the 1999 NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. Most foreign policy experts interpret these incidents as indicating the on-going problem of Taiwan in the resolution of disputes between the US and China. Upon closer inspection, however, indications are that traumatic historical memories fueled the crises and prevented early resolution given the virulence of American and Chinese nationalist reaction to these episodes. In addition, these events provide a way to evaluate apology as a potential conflict resolution mechanism, indicating that gendered notions of honor and prestige often serve as stumbling blocks to the constructive resolution of conflict. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I must begin by mentioning my gratitude toward the fifty-three Chinese citizens and twenty-nine American and Chinese foreign policy experts whom I interviewed. Also, I was fortunate enough to receive one of the School of International Service (SIS) dissertation field research fellowships for 2002-2003. Otherwise, I doubt I would have been able to get such a sizable and diverse pool of interviewees, and so I must thank the selection committee for their choice. My committee of Professors Quansheng Zhao (chair), Christine B.N. Chin, and Patrick Thaddeus Jackson were unstinting with their time and energy in helping me at every step of this project. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had such a supportive, creative, and exacting committee. You have pushed me to a new level, and I am honored and grateful that you have mentored me over the years. At the School of International Service, many professors have offered suggestions along the way. I want to thank, among others, Dean Louis Goodman, Associate Dean Nanette Levinson, Professors Abdul Aziz Said, Stephen Silvia, Pek Koon Heng, Paul Wapner, James Mittelman, Gary Weaver, Mustapha Pasha, Mohammed Abu- Nimer, Michael Salla, and Simona Sharoni. Additional thanks go to American University’s Diane Singerman of the School of Public Administration (SPA) and Esther Chow of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The School of International Service also is lucky in terms of its staff. I am iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. particularly grateful to Mary Barton for her sage advice and Ali Ghobadi for helping me out with computer problems. In addition, I want to thank Helen Ives, Janice Flug, and Ignacio Moreno of the American University library staff; International Student and Scholar Services, headed by Fanta Aw; Carrie Trybulec of the International Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) Program; and Aria Bailey, Julie Wickham, Sanji Wijenaike, Terra Gargano of the Comparative and Regional Studies (CRS) Program and Asian Studies Center support staff. Furthermore, I am grateful to many of my fellow doctoral students at SIS, especially Jin Fan and her family for welcoming me to Beijing. Thanks, too, to the intelligent students who participated in an international communication research seminar in the spring of 2002 with Professor Chin. A number of them listened to my research proposal and critiqued it with as much energy and thoughtfulness as they would any other scholar. One student, Ani Castonguay, shared with me her own research on the EP-3E incident. Thanks also to Ellen Eckman, Catherine Small, Peter Yeo, Zhou Yongming, Gregory Moore, Guy Alitto, Matthew Ferchen, Gus Cochran III, and other gracious people who gave me advice along the way in China and the US. In terms of people I worked with in Beijing, I must thank Professor Youli Sun, “Florence,” and especially my wonderful friends, the “three Wangs.” Also I learned a lot from monthly meetings of an informal Beijing dissertation field research support group whose members included Helen McCabe, Hilde Becker, Sophie Richardson, David Mozina, Sun Xiaoping, Kang Wenqing, and Emma Buchtel, among others. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In addition, I want to thank those friends from my year teaching English in Nanjing for the incredible amount of work they have done to help me. In particular, Fang Ximin and Kongmei helped me at every stage of this process—I could not have done this project without their ready assistance. In addition, Colleen Mahar-Piersma, Andrew Hsieh, Normandy Madden, Fang Hong, Laura Burian, and other friends and colleagues provided me with some excellent tips. Together, theirguanxi led me to find many new friends in Beijing. Last, but not least, I must turn to thank those people whom I consider family. First, I wish to give Joy C. Miller, my “second Mom,” very grateful thanks for her generous assistance during my field research and writing phases. Also, I want to let my first Mandarin tutor, Lilin, and the rest of the Miller/Lovell clan, know how marvelous it has been that our families have become so close that we are, for all matters and purposes, relatives. You always have believed in my work and have supported me so resolutely over the years that I believe I must be doing something right. Above all, I want to thank my immediate family for their unwavering love, support, wisdom, and humor over the years. I have learned the most from you. Thanks also to my nephew, William, for entertaining me so well and keeping me focused on what is truly important in life. While many people have assisted me along the way, any mistakes in this dissertation are my responsibility alone. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................................................................... iii Chapter INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 1 1. APOLOGIES IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS.............................................14 2. CONDUCTING GROUNDED RESEARCH IN THE PRC: CONTEXT MATTERS................................................................................. 61 3. AN INVENTORY OF RHETORICAL COMMONPLACES IN PUBLIC APOLOGY AND US-CHINA RELATIONS..................................................109 4. THE 1999 NATO BOMBING OF THE CHINESE EMBASSY IN BELGRADE........................................................................................................146 5. THE 2001 EP-3E SURVEILLANCE PLANE INCIDENT............................192 6. CONCLUSION: APOLOGY, IDENTITY, AND HISTORICAL MEMORY: NAVIGATING CRISES IN SINO-AMERICAN RELATIONS................... 258 APPENDICES...................................................................................................................... 314 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................319