dom” into the square, modeled after the Statue of
Liberty. On June 3-4, Chinese troops violently cleared
Tiananmen Square. Video of a single, unarmed Chi-
nese man placing himself in the path of oncoming
tanks on June 5 was broadcast all over the world and
came to symbolize the incident. Americans were
horrified. Non-Communist sources estimate that sev-
eral thousand protesters were killed. The United
States reacted swiftly with a series of political and
economic sanctions but showed considerable re-
straint. China’s status as Most Favored Nation was
renewed after some debate in 1990.
Taiwan and the United States The United States’
decision to break diplomatic relations with the Re-
public of China in 1979 weakened its bond with a
Cold War ally. Relations between the United States
and Taiwan in the 1980’s were quasi-official. After
their Mutual Defense Treaty expired in 1980 and
U.S. troops left Taiwan, the United States main-
tained a diplomatic and intelligence presence on
the island. Taiwan’s defense gained an important
boost when the United States agreed to the Six As-
surances in July, 1982.
Taiwan’s economy boomed in the early 1980’s,
and its exports to the United States surged. By the
mid-1980’s, Taiwan was exporting a large quantity
of labor-intensive, low-technology products to the
United States. U.S. imports of Taiwanese footwear
alone were worth $2.2 billion in 1986. A significant
U.S. trade deficit with Taiwan led to the Americans’
demand for a stronger Taiwan dollar, which rose
from being worth 2.5 cents in 1985 to 3.5 cents in
- Taiwan’s exports to the United States shifted
to heavy industrial and high-technology products.
After 1988, full Taiwanese democracy accelerated
the island’s economic growth.
Impact The United States’ commitment to friend-
ship with China throughout the 1980’s led to a rap-
idly warming political, economic, and cultural rela-
tionship. The U.S. opposition to the Soviet Union
benefited from good relations between the United
States and China. American interest in China
surged, and Chinese students attended American
universities. Americans visited mainland China.
Against the atmosphere of American optimism
regarding relations with Communist China that led
to a visible diminution of U.S. official support for
Taiwan, the violent Tiananmen Square incident was
a sudden shock. The American public was aghast at
the killings, yet official U.S. sanctions of China re-
mained muted. Some American critics and Chinese
dissidents charged that in 1989, political and eco-
nomic motives triumphed over human rights in the
relationship between the United States and China.
Further Reading
Foot, Rosemary.The Practice of Power: U.S.-Chinese Re-
lations Since 1949.Reprint. Oxford, England: Ox-
ford University Press, 2004. Chapter 9 covers the
1980’s; extremely well researched using many
Chinese sources; views U.S.-Chinese relations in a
global context.
Link, Perry.Evening Chats in Beijing.New York:
Norton, 1992. Paints a convincing picture of Chi-
nese society and the role of young intellectuals up
to the end of the 1980’s, which the author ob-
served as a visiting scholar in Beijing from 1988 to
1989.
Mann, James.About Face: A Histor y of America’s Curi-
ous Relationship with China, from Nixon to Clinton.
New York: Vintage Books, 2000. Chapters 6-10
cover the 1980’s; the author was a journalist in
Beijing from 1984 to 1987. Argues that Americans
misjudged China’s will to promote democratic
change and considers the Taiwan issue. Photos,
notes, index.
Shen, Tong.Almost a Revolution. Reissue. Ann Arbor:
Michigan University Press, 1998. Eyewitness ac-
count leading up to and including the Tianan-
men Square massacre by a former student leader
participating in the event. Photos.
R. C. LutzSee also Bush, George H. W.; Business and the
economy in the United States; Cold War; Foreign
policy of the United States; Globalization; Olympic
boycotts; Reagan, Ronald; Soviet Union and North
America; United Nations.Chrétien, Jean
Identification Canadian politician
Born January 11, 1934; Shawinigan, Quebec
A steadfast advocate of Canadian national unity, Chrétien
campaigned vigorously against the secessionist 1980 Que-
bec referendum and helped assure passage of the historic
Constitution Act, 1982. After a brief retreat from politics,
he went on to become prime minister of Canada in 1993.The Eighties in America Chrétien, Jean 211