China Joins the World: Progress and Prospects

CIAO DATE: 12/99

edited by Elizabeth C. Economy and Michel Oksenberg

January 1999

A product of the Study Group on Constructive Engagement with China (http://www.foreignrelations.org/public/resource.cgi?proj!96), November 1, 1995-October 1, 1996; directed by Elizabeth C. Economy; chaired by Michel Oksenberg

ISBN: 0-87609-225-3; $22.95 [Paper]

China began to redress its international isolation only 25 years ago. The changes have transformed every aspect of China’s relationship with the outside world: from exclusion from the United Nations to participation in over 150 international organizations; from a U.S. trade embargo to $300 billion dollars in foreign trade; from a handful of Chinese students studying abroad to over 100,000 participants in educational exchange programs; from one China Cable Office dispatching telegrams to over 2,000 circuit links between China and the United State alone; from a policy of self-reliance and suspicion to one of openness and integration.

What does the future hold for China and the world? Will a resilient economy combined with foreign policy restraint bring a leadership position in the international community? Or will a growing defense budget, expansive territorial claims, arms sales, and weapons technology transfers intensify concerns about China’s future course? Will China’s new generation of leaders make the compromise necessary to sustain future momentum on such major issues as Taiwan and accession to the World Trade Organization?

Elizabeth Economy and Michael Oksenberg’s volume examines the record of the last quarter century for clues about China’s future orientation. Authoritative contributors to this volume analyze China’s participation in eight different international regimes: the United Nations, arms control, human rights, trade, banking and finance, telecommunications, energy, and the environment. The chapters explore the evolution of China’s behavior and provide insights for U.S. policymakers and practitioners seeking Beijing’s cooperation in each of these regimes.

Lawrence J. Korb
Maurice R. Greenberg Chair, Director of Studies
Council on Foreign Relations