agree on more human rights. However, bowing to
economic interests, on May 26 Clinton decoupled
renewal of the PRC’s MFN status from China’s hu-
man rights record.
Third Taiwan Strait Crisis By 1994, the ROC was the
sixth-largest trading partner of the United States,
with American exports to Taiwan worth $16 billion,
double the amount of U.S. exports to mainland
China. In 1995, Cornell University invited its alum-
nus, ROC president Lee Teng-hui, to speak at its re-
union. Against Clinton’s opposition, the House of
Representatives voted 396-0 and the Senate 97-1 to
grant Lee a visa, which the administration issued.
Lee’s June 7-11 visit infuriated the PRC.
On July 21, the PRC triggered the Third Taiwan
Strait Crisis by conducting missile tests in the Taiwan
Strait separating mainland China from the island of
Taiwan. Initial American responses were concilia-
tory, yet on December 19, the aircraft carrier USS
Nimitzcrossed the Taiwan Strait, supposedly because
of bad weather elsewhere.
The PRC racked up the pressure in January, 1996,
by gathering troops on its side of the strait and con-
ducting live missile firings close to Taiwan beginning
on March 7. On March 8, U.S. secretary of defense
William Perry ordered the aircraft carrier USSInde-
pendenceto sail to Taiwan, to be joined by theNimitz.
Taiwan reelected President Lee Teng-hui with a
strong 54 percent majority on March 23, and the cri-
sis subsided.
U.S.-PRC Trade Accord After the crisis, both the
United States and the PRC sought to mend fences.
In August, 1996, Wal-Mart opened its first store in
southern China. During the 1996 U.S. presiden-
tial campaign, the PRC supported Clinton. U.S. ex-
ports to the PRC were $12 million against imports of
$51.5 million, creating a trade deficit of $39.5 mil-
lion. Every year both trade and the trade deficit grew
further.
The communist leadership decided to seek Per-
manent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with the
United States. PRC premier Zhu Rongji visited
Clinton in Washington in April, 1999, ready to sign
an agreement, but Clinton refused. The accidental
May 8 U.S. bombing of the PRC embassy in Bel-
grade, Yugoslavia, further soured relations.
Nevertheless, after much haggling, on November
15, U.S. trade representative Charlene Barshefsky
signed the Agreement on Market Access in Beijing.
It would eventually be passed by Congress and
signed by Clinton into law on October 10, 2000.
Impact In the 1990’s, Sino-American relations en-
tered a more troubled time. There was huge Ameri-
can outrage at the massacre of Chinese student dem-
onstrators in Tiananmen Square in June, 1989. After
his initial attempt failed to link the U.S.-PRC eco-
nomic relationship to human rights, President
Clinton reversed course. America was put to the test
when the PRC tried to intimidate the Republic of
China in 1995 and 1996.
With both the PRC and the United States decid-
ing not to let Taiwan cloud their ever-growing eco-
nomic relationship, progress was made. The trade
agreement of November 15, 1999, not only gave
both sides some much-sought advantages but also fa-
cilitated the PRC’s entry into the World Trade Orga-
nization (WTO) by December 11, 2001.
Further Reading
Foot, Rosemary.The Practice of Power: U.S. Relations
with China Since 1949.Reprint. Oxford, England:
Oxford University Press, 2004. Chapter 9 covers
the 1990’s to the mid-decade. Uses many Chinese
sources.
Hufbauer, Gary Clyde, Yee Wong, and Ketki Sheth.
U.S.-China Trade Disputes: Rising Tide, Rising Stakes.
Washington, D.C.: Institute for International
Economics, 2006. Detailed, scholarly look at U.S.-
PRC trade relations during the decade. Tables,
references, index.
Lampton, David.Same Bed, Different Dreams: Man-
aging U.S.-China Relations, 1989-2000.Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2001. Scholarly
work focusing on global, societal and personal
level of Sino-American relationship.
Mann, James.About Face: A Histor y of America’s Curi-
ous Relationship with China, from Nixon to Clinton.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999. Chapters 12 to
18 cover the 1990’s up to 1998. Detailed and criti-
cal of Clinton; evaluates Taiwan issue. Photos,
notes, index.
Suettinger, Robert.Beyond Tiananmen: The Politics of
U.S.-China Relations.Washington, D.C.: Brook-
ings Institute Press, 2003. Excellent, detailed, and
comprehensive analysis of U.S.-PRC relations
during the 1990’s.
Zhu, Zhiqun.U.S.-China Relations in the Twenty-first
Centur y: Power, Transition, and Peace.New York:
Routledge, 2006. Chapter 5 deals with U.S.-176 China and the United States The Nineties in America