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The United States and China: Mutual Public Perceptions Kissinger Institute on China and the United States The UniTed STaTeS and China: Mutual PUbliC PerCeptionS EditEd by Douglas G. Spelman Kissinger Institute on China and the United States The UniTed STaTeS and China: Mutual PUbliC PerCeptionS ESSAyS BY Terry Lautz Zhang Chuanjie Li Cheng Jiang Changjian, Shen Min, Ju Hong James Fallows Zhou Qingan Robert Daly Jerome A. Cohen Wang Zhenmin Xu Yihua Richard Madsen Liu Jianfei Jamie P. Horsley Sun Zhe Ellen L. Frost Tao Wenzhao EditEd by Douglas G. Spelman ©2011 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. www.wilsoncenter.org This publication is a collaborative effort between the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Kissinger Institute on China and the United States and Tsinghua University’s Center for U.S.-China Relations. http://www.wilsoncenter.org/program/kissinger-institute-china-and-the-united-states http://www.chinausa.org.cn/en/ Available from : Kissinger Institute on China and the United States Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20004-3027 ISBN 1-933549-62-9 The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a living national memorial to President Wilson. The Center’s mission is to commemorate the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson by provid- ing a link between the worlds of ideas and policy, while fostering research, study, discussion, and collaboration among a broad spectrum of individuals concerned with policy and scholarship in national and international affairs. Supported by public and private funds, the Center is a nonpartisan institu- tion engaged in the study of national and world affairs. It establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that provide financial support to the Center. The Center is the publisher of The Wilson Quarterly and home of Woodrow Wilson Center Press, Dialogue radio and television, and the monthly newsletter “Centerpoint.” For more information about the Center’s activities and publications, please visit us on the web at www.wilsoncenter.org. Jane Harman, President, CEO and Director Board of Trustees Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chair; Sander R. Gerber, Vice Chair Public Members: Melody Barnes, designated appointee from within the Federal Government; Hon. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; Hillary R. Clinton, Secretary, U.S. Department of State; G. Wayne Clough, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; Arne Duncan, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education; David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States; James Leach, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities; Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Private Citizen Members: Timothy Broas, John Casteen, Charles Cobb, Jr., Thelma Duggin, Carlos M. Gutierrez, Susan Hutchison, Barry S. Jackson ConTents Preface 5 PArt 1: GEnErAl PErceptionS U.S. Views of china: History, Values, 8 and Power Terry Lautz chinese citizens’ Attitudes toward the 17 United States from 2001-2009 Zhang Chuanjie PArt 2: SoUrces of PErception the china Paradox and American 26 Misperceptions Li Cheng the United States in chinese 38 Students’ Eyes Jiang Changjian, Shen Min, Ju Hong the United States and china: Mutual 63 Public Perceptions James Fallows 1 Who are they, and Who are We? the 69 image of the United States in chinese Popular culture Zhou Qingan A rise Without Shine: the Global 78 Weakness of chinese culture Robert Daly PArt 3: UndErlyinG conceptual diffErEnces the United States (“the West”) and 92 china: differing conceptions of the role of law and the rule of law Jerome A. Cohen different U.S.-china conceptions of the 104 role of law: chinese Views Wang Zhenmin religion in current Sino-U.S. relations 111 Xu Yihua differing Views of religion in the United 121 States and china Richard Madsen individual rights and Group interests: 131 influence on chinese democracy Liu Jianfei 2 balancing individual rights and Group 145 interests: Who decides? Jamie P. Horsley Human rights development in china: 155 Perspectives and challenges Sun Zhe PArt foUr: Policy Impact of diffErinG PErceptionS How U.S. Perceptions of china Affect 170 U.S. Policy Ellen L. Frost chinese Perceptions of the United States: 185 impact on Policy Tao Wenzhao recent Kissinger institute on china and 200 the United States Publications 3 PrefaCe Chinese and American images of each other are notoriously volatile. Many factors are at work. Widely different histories, contrasting cultures, dissimilar development experiences, and competing values all complicate the task of forming accurate impressions of the other. In recent times, the legacy of the Korean War and the infrequency of direct contact from 1949 to 1979 played a large role. While channels of communication have multiplied since then, this has not necessarily enhanced the accuracy of mutual impressions. This volatility matters because mutual perceptions affect the way the two peoples deal with each other both officially and informally. To probe these various images, the channels through which they travel to the other side, and the specific issues which give rise to problematic mutual perceptions, the Kissinger Institute convened seventeen scholars and public figures from China and America in July, 2010. For each channel of communication -- the media, returned scholars and students, popular culture – and for each problematic issue – religion, law, individual vs. group interests – we paired one presenter from each country. The result was an insightful collection of papers that spurred interesting and enlightening discussion. We hope that the reader agrees, and that these offerings will spur other exchanges and clearer, more nuanced images across this wide but still bridgeable national divide. Our collaborator for this conference was the Center for United States- China Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Special thanks go to the Center’s Director, Dr. Sun Zhe, and his Deputy, Dr. Zhang Chuanjie, for their unfailing commitment to the project and extraordinary energy in gathering a remarkable group of Chinese participants. We also thank our American colleagues, who similarly added their considerable experience and wisdom on these sensitive and often controversial subjects. At our Institute, Michael Dalesio provided essential assistance on conference logistics and Anna Leith helped with initial editing of the papers. Finally, this publication would never have been completed without Sandy Pho’s painstaking attention to every detail of final editing, formatting, organization, and design. J. Stapleton Roy Director Kissinger Institute on China and the United States 6 PART i: GENERAL PERCePTIONS U.S. ViewS of China: history, ValUeS, and Power Terry Lautz mericans and Chinese share the same planet, but they use different roadmaps. Where Americans see democracy, Chinese see chaos. Where Americans see repression, Chinese see social order and stability.A The United States criticizes environmental pollution and currency manipulation, but China gives priority to economic development and em- ployment. From the very beginning, American perceptions of China have been divided between acceptance and rejection, admiration and contempt. These emotionally charged images loom large in the American cultural and political imagination, reflecting ambivalence and uncertainty about China and the Chinese. We read each other’s historical narratives with different suppositions. For example, Americans advocate freedom of religion and self-determination, while the People’s Republic of China (PRC) opposes interference in internal affairs. Several American presidents, including Barack Obama, have met with the Dalai Lama. When Mr. Obama was preparing for his first trip to China in November 2009, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman suggested the presi- dent should appreciate China’s opposition to Tibetan independence because he is a black president who “understands the slavery abolition movement and Lincoln’s major significance for that movement. Lincoln played an terry lautz, a visiting professor at Syracuse University and former vice president of the Henry Luce Foundation, was recently a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served as chairman of the Yale-China Association, chairman of the Lingnan Foundation, and secretary of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. He is currently writing a book on encounters between American missionaries and Chinese Communists. 8 U.S. Views of China: History, Values, and Power incomparable role in protecting the national unity and territorial integrity of the United States.”1 Most Americans thought the analogy was far-fetched. American views of China, whether positive or negative, generally have been constructed on an assumption that American values and power are superior. During the early 20th century, Americans invested heavily in encouraging China to see the world through their eyes. Many Chinese leaders—a number of them trained in the United States or in Christian colleges in China—were receptive to liberal Western ideas about education, culture and society. Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China, and
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