China and the United States in Civil-Commercial Air and Space: Specialist cultures and international relations in high-technology sectors by Alanna Krolikowski A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto © Copyright by Alanna Krolikowski 2013 China and the United States in Civil-Commercial Air and Space: Specialist cultures and international relations in high-technology sectors Alanna Krolikowski Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto 2013 Abstract Why are some high-technology sectors trans-nationally integrated while others are sites of interstate competition? This dissertation explores this question through a comparison of China- U.S. relations in two strategic, high-technology sectors: civil-commercial aircraft manufacture and civil-commercial spacecraft manufacture. Between 1989 and 2009, China-U.S. relations took strikingly different trajectories in these two sectors. In the aircraft sector, the two countries’ industries traded and integrated their activities and their civil agencies cooperated. By contrast, in the space sector, their industries did not trade or integrate, their civil agencies did not cooperate, and the two countries engaged in a form of technological competition. The divergent trajectories taken by China-United States relations in these two sectors are puzzling because both sectors present similar incentives and disincentives for both transnational integration and interstate competition. Theories of international relations do not fully explain this sectoral variation. This research indicates that this variation is traceable to underlying differences in how specialists in each sector, including technical and policy experts, implicitly reason about and represent technologies in general. In both countries, the air and space specialist communities each hold distinct understandings of the relationship between humans and technology. ii Performing representational practices that reflect these distinct assumptions, aeronautic and space specialists discursively constitute each sector and its technologies as distinct objects of policy, requiring different forms of state action. In air, these include policies adopted by both countries to enhance bilateral trade, industrial partnership, and technical cooperation. In space, these include measures to inhibit bilateral trade and cooperation while preparing for a coming bilateral confrontation. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the help of many individuals. I was fortunate to have a supportive committee, whose guidance and patience enabled me to complete this project. Their help took too many forms to list. I thank my co-supervisor Professor Joseph Wong for, among countless other things, years of mentorship and support, careful reading of many drafts, sound advice, and an introduction to the world of professional academia. I thank my co-supervisor Professor Emanuel Adler for, among so much else, years of intellectual inspiration, careful reading of many texts, and incomparably helpful and detailed feedback that was essential to my progress. I am grateful to Professor Louis Pauly for, in particular, reading several drafts, providing valuable comments, and years of patient support to my efforts. Two outside readers of this dissertation helped it immeasurably. I thank Professor Victor Falkenheim for years of learning, for embodying the ideals that I cherish in a scholar, for patiently reading many of my texts, and for posing challenging questions. I am grateful to Professor Gregory Chin for his careful reading of the final draft, rapid and detailed feedback, and illuminating suggestions for how to take this work forward. The Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto was a great home base throughout my graduate studies. Professor Steven Bernstein enabled me to defend and move forward. Carolynn Branton and Joan Kallis looked out for me and created a positive atmosphere. This project benefitted from support from the Asian Institute and the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Fulbright Foundation, the Chiang-Ching Kuo Foundation, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Inter-University Program at Tsinghua University, and other institutions. iv I am indebted to interviewees in China, the United States, and beyond who agreed to participate in this project. Their willingness to share their views, experiences, and precious time with me made this dissertation possible. Scholars and supporters in China helped tremendously with this research. I am grateful to Professor Li Shaojun of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for his advice and mentorship during my time as a visiting scholar under his care. I thank Xi Yanbin and her colleagues for assistance and support during this period. Friends and supporters at the Canada-China Business Council and diplomatic missions in Beijing helped with this phase. I thank in particular Ambassador David Mulroney, Allen Chong, and Patrice Cousineau of the Canadian Embassy and Colonel Phillip Lanman of the U.S. Embassy. I owe immense debts to many patient Chinese-language teachers. I recall with gratitude the year that I spent as a Fulbright doctoral student at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. My advisor, Professor Scott Pace, made my time at the Space Policy Institute rewarding, created research opportunities, and often changed my mind. I thank Professor John Logsdon for fascinating conversations over great dinners and the opportunity to attend one of the last launches of the Space Shuttle. I am profoundly indebted to Professor David Shambaugh, whose advice in Beijing and Washington was invaluable and whose commitment to academic reciprocity and freedom is inspiring. I thank Chirag Parik for listening to my thesis with an open mind and sharing his unmatched expertise and insight. This project benefitted from the support and insights of too many other experts to name. In particular, I thank Gregory Kulacki and David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists for unique learning opportunities, support, and sharing their expertise and network. I am grateful to Professor Gary Bertsch for helping my research in critical ways. I thank Elliot Holokauahi Pulham, Steve Eisenhart, and Brendan Curry of the Space Foundation for the excitement and v inspiration I felt at three National Space Symposia and while joining them on an unforgettable trip to China. I am grateful to Professor Tai Ming Cheung of the University of California at San Diego for the invaluable opportunity to attend the summer program on defense technology and join his research community. I will be forever grateful to many friends who made the PhD process rewarding and enjoyable. Their camaraderie made all the difference. In particular, I thank my 姐姐, Sarah Eaton, for inspiration, patient reading, and guidance, Genia Kostka for her careful reading, listening, and encouragement, Juliette Genevaz for being a terrific flatmate and friend, Seth Jaffe for his wit, insight into my texts, and great conversations, Kimberly Carter and Cliff van der Linden for our shared experience of the core courses and so much else, Bill Flanik for his patient ear and humour, Debra Thompson for advice, cheer, and inspiration, Christine Ho for being a terrific flatmate and appreciating Deng-era aesthetics, Kate Becker for great company in DC and at conferences in far-flung places, Luc Turgeon, Jenn Wallner, and Steve White for being ideal role models, Giuditta Mortola and Julia Dow for our salutary romps around Italy, Marie McDonough for being a great listener and especially so during the rough patches, and Mark Purdon for great company and conversations in the final months. I thank Tim Barrett for his invaluable support and careful reading of drafts during the early stages of this project. I am grateful to Wang Ting and Zhou Yi for their insights. Most importantly, I am grateful to my family for sticking by me during the dissertation process. In particular, I thank Viera Krolikowska for her years of optimism and patience, support for all my choices, and enthusiastic anticipation of this project’s end. vi Note on Translation With the exception of certain titles of articles and books, all translations herein are the author’s own, unless otherwise indicated. Readers may notice that the translations to English often do not read smoothly. This reflects deliberate choices about the translation and exposition of the material. I performed the analysis of the Chinese-language discourses for this research on the Chinese-language originals, rather than on their translations to English. In order to give readers of this text who do not read Chinese characters a window into this process, I aimed to provide translations that conveyed the original terms, including specific words, as directly and literally as possible. This approach came at the expense of conveying the larger meaning of the Chinese-language passages in a more natural-sounding English. vii Contents Part I: Question, theory, and methods Chapter 1: Research question Chapter 2: Theoretical framework Chapter 3: Research design and methods Part II: Air Chapter 4: The politics of bilateral trade, industrial integration, and cooperation in space Chapter 5: The prospects for bilateral relations in air Chapter 6: